Future Wind Power Plants: Challenges and Developments

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing penetration of Wind Power Plants (WPPs) in electrical networks has presented various challenges such as the intermittency of wind power and power quality issues. However, the environmental impacts caused by the thermal power plants have resulted in a trend towards higher penetration of WPPs.

Since the 1970s, wind turbines have improved to the point where they generate at least 100 times more power than their predecessors. Considering the increased size of WPPs all over the world, more research is needed and is being carried out into the design, control, and interconnection of WPPs to power systems. Acceleration of wind energy growth requires one to replace the single wind energy technology mindset with a system approach. Hybrid solutions, such as wind energy paired with another energy source or storage technology, will open new opportunities for the wind sector. In addition, wind energy and especially offshore wind is a promising source for generating green hydrogen, which is an emerging technology in reducing carbon emissions.

The cost to produce electricity from wind has plummeted from $500 per MWh to $50. Technical developments, like floating offshore turbines enabling the harvest of wind energy in very deep waters, integrated control strategies considering the needs of the grid, and artificial intelligence permanently assessing the performance of the turbines, have contributed to the impressive cost reductions. Even then, the wind power industry faces continued pressure to reduce costs.

With improvements to other parts of the power grid, such as power storage, wind technology has become crucial for responding to the electricity supply and demand volatility that markets experience.

Hence, the target of this Special Issue is to critically address the challenges and issues concerned with WPPs and provide appropriate solutions to enhance wind power generation. Topics of interest for publication include but are not limited to the following:

• Grid integration;
• Power electronics converters;
• Machine learning algorithms;
• Wind-energy-based hybrid systems;
• Green hydrogen energy;
• Energy storage systems;
• Information and communication technologies;
• Economic and social impacts;
• Energy market bidding strategies;
• Wind power forecasting;
• Floating offshore wind power technologies;
• Wind turbine components recycling.

Dr. Seyed Morteza Alizadeh
Prof. Dr. Akhtar Kalam
Guest Editors

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