The Feasibility of Building-Mounted/Integrated Wind Turbines (BUWTs): Achieving their potential for carbon emission reductions.

Abstract:

<p>This document is the final report for the project titled 'The Feasibility of Building-Mounted/Integrated Wind Turbines (BUWTs): Achieving their potential for carbon emission reductions'.</p> <p>The energy generation potential and technical feasibility of siting wind turbines in the built environment have been assessed. The study includes various configurations of Building Mounted/Integrated Wind Turbines (BUWTs), considered to be largely but not necessarily exclusively in urban areas: from turbines situated next to buildings, through turbines mounted on buildings, to turbines fully integrated into the building fabric.</p> <p>It is concluded that wind energy could make a significant contribution to energy requirements in the built environment and that a more detailed evaluation of the resource is justified. In particular, through a combination of new-build with specifically designed wind energy devices and retrofitting of (preferably certified) turbines on existing buildings, it is estimated that the aggregated annual energy production by 2020 from wind turbines in the built environment could be in the range 1.7-5.0 TWh (dependent on the distribution of installations with respect to optimal wind speed) resulting in annual carbon dioxide savings in the range 0.75-2.2 Mt CO₂. These figures represent between 1.5%-4.5% of the UK domestic sector electricity demand in 2000.</p> <p>This remains an underdeveloped area of technology with potential for the UK to establish considerable, world-leading technical expertise, building on existing strengths in the small wind turbine market and offering good job creation opportunities.</p> <p>Section 1 of this report briefly reviews the UK wind energy resource, the influence of the built environment on this resource, and the status of conventional wind energy technology, before, in section 2, introducing specific BUWT technologies and their potential advantages and disadvantages. In section 3, the main technical hurdles are reviewed and addressed in terms of whether potential solutions exist or further research and development is required. In section 4, the potential electricity production and carbon dioxide emissions savings are estimated for a range of assumptions about incident wind speed and installation rates. To achieve the estimated levels of penetration and to maximise the effectiveness of individual BUWT installations, it is concluded in section 5 that improved understanding is required in four main areas (reproduced under Recommendations overleaf).</p> <p>The successful development of Building Mounted/Integrated Wind Turbines would be assisted by further R&D in four broad areas: assessment of wind regime in urban areas, assessment of the structural implications of BUWTs, optimisation of wind turbine design for BUWT installations, and addressing various non-technical barriers. In addition, the establishment of a national test centre would facilitate the adoption and application of consistent standards for power performance measurement, noise and vibration assessment, and location/mounting and safety.</p> This report contains an executive summary with recommendations, and is divided into the following sections: <ol> <li>Assessing the Energy Generation Potential of BUWTs</li> <li>Surveying and Assessing BUWT Technologies</li> <li>Examining the Technical Solutions to the Technical Hurdles</li> <li>Assessing the Economics and Potential CO₂ Emissions Savings from BUWTs</li> <li>Producing a Research and Development Pathway to Demonstration</li> </ol> <ul> <li>Appendix 1: Detailed chart of turbine characteristics</li> <li>Appendix 2: Relative importance assigned to the 25 hurdles</li> </ul>

Author(s):

A G Dutton, J A Halliday, M J Blanch.