Domestic Wind Turbines

Over the past two years the Alternative Technology Association has been conducting research into the viability of small scale wind turbines for use in urban areas. With support from Sustainability Victoria, ATA has conducted two stages of research. The first, a desktop study researching issues which may face the emerging market for this technology, including turbine performance, planning and grid-connection. Secondly the ATA measured the wind regimes at 10 sites within 25 kilometres of Melbourne’s CBD.

Stage 2: Victorian Urban Wind Resource Assessment

In June 2009, the The Victorian Urban Wind Resource Assessment undertaken by ATA for Sustainability Victoria was launched. This report looks at typical wind regimes at 10 sites within 25 kilometres of Melbourne’s CBD and comments on the suitability of urban locations for installation of micro wind turbines.

This research indicates that of 10 sites under consideration, only two are likely to be suitable for MWT installation. One of the sites is situated in a broad open area on the seashore in Williamstown and the other is on top of a large commercial building in Melbourne’s CBD. Levels of turbulence were found to be much greater at the CBD location. Neither of these sites could be described as a typical domestic location. The gathered data suggests that common domestic sites are not likely to have sufficient available wind energy to make MWT use an attractive option.

It is recommended that further research in this area concentrate on establishing standards for measuring turbulence in urban environments, modelling the effects of turbulence parameters on MWT performance and verifying the accuracy of derived Weibull curves and manufacturer power curves in predicting MWT performance.

Report launch
The report was launched in Melbourne on 2nd June 2009.

Click here for the report.

Presenters include:

Introduction by Kane Thornton, ATA President.
Click here for the audio file.

Matthew Warren
Matthew is an environmental economist and joined the Clean Energy Council (CEC) as CEO in 2008.

Click here for the audio file.
Click here for the presentation.

John Edgoose
John is a Senior Project Manager in Renewable and Distributed Energy at Sustainability Victoria who provided the funding for The Victorian Urban Wind Resource Assessment.

Mike Bagot
Mike is the author of the report and has a background in Mathematics and Engineering. Mike has been working with ATA since early 2008.
Click here for the audio file.
Click here for the presentation.

Brett Dutton
Brett is one of the nine voluntary directors that manage Hepburn Wind, Australia’s first community-owned wind farm.
Click here for the audio file.
Click here for the presentation.

Stage 1: The Viability of Domestic Wind Turbines for Urban Melbourne

In 2007 ATA released The Viability of Domestic Wind Turbines for Urban Melbourne report which was prepared for Sustainability Victoria. This desktop study investigates the feasibility of small-scale, grid-connected wind turbines for urban Melbourne, outlines the findings of the research and highlights the issues which may face the emerging market.

The desktop study concluded that:

  • the urban environment is too complex to model with any accuracy; therefore
    the use of anemometers would be advised to check the wind resource at any potential site
  • urban turbines have performed poorly overseas and payback periods are likely to be long
  • bird strike and electromagnetic interference are unlikely to be significant
  • turbines are still expensive, with installation and grid connection costs adding around $10,000 to the cost of the turbine
  • at present, relatively few turbines are available on the Australian market and nearly all of these are horizontal axis machines

Due to the inherent limitations of a desktop study, further clarification on some issues would greatly benefit from a field trial. These include:

  • specific local urban wind regimes
  • technical performance of turbines and accuracy of manufacturer power curves
  • noise output
  • planning issues, for example height and noise restrictions and the ability of councils to process applications on a case by case basis
  • grid connection issues particularly the negotiation of a retailer contract for the sale of excess electricity
  • community acceptance of domestic wind turbines

Click here for the report.

Click here for the appendices.

Report launch
The report was launched in Melbourne on November 2007.

Listen to the four speakers at the launch below:

Kane Thornton ATA Vice President and MC for the evening.

Ken GuthrieManager Renewable and Distributed Energy at Sustainability Victoria.

Alicia Webb Wind engineer and author of the report.

Dominique La Fontaine CEO of the Clean Energy Council.