Welcome to the course of Wind Energy. This course gives an overview of key aspects in wind energy engineering. Whether you are looking for general insight in this green technology or your ambition is to pursue a career in wind energy engineering, 'Wind Energy' is an excellent starting point.
Experts located in the wind pioneering country of Denmark will take you on a tour through the most fundamental disciplines of wind energy research such as wind measurements, resource assessment, forecasting, aerodynamics, wind turbine technology, structural mechanics, materials, financial and electrical systems.
You will gain a rational understanding of wind energy engineering and, through hands-on exercises, you will learn to perform wind energy calculations based on simple models. Working with the different course disciplines will give you a taste of what wind energy engineering is all about. This allows you to identify the most interesting or relevant aspects of wind energy engineering to be pursued in your future studies or in your professional career.
View our video: https://youtu.be/he4UWTGHxrY (The video was made for the original version, and it is still highly relevant; a new version will be published soon).
For other professional courses in wind energy engineering, visit our website at www.wem.dtu.dk
Xiaoli Guo Larsén gives a brief overview of the course, including its overall learning objectives, course structure, course content, the teachers, and the Coursera forum for interactions. You will also see the recommended prerequisites for following the course and find out how to earn points towards your course certificate.
What's included
1 video5 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
1 video•Total 5 minutes
Course overview•5 minutes
5 readings•Total 34 minutes
A video on the course and DTU Wind•5 minutes
Course elements•8 minutes
Pre-requisites•8 minutes
Grading policy•8 minutes
Code of Conduct•5 minutes
1 assignment•Total 20 minutes
Math pre-requisites•20 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Wind Energy Economics: Value creation and metrices
Module 2•4 hours to complete
Module details
Lena Kitzing will teach you about financial aspects during the entire lifetime of a wind turbine. When you have completed the module, you will be able to perform simple calculations for assessing wind farm projects and for calculating the cost of energy from wind.
What's included
1 video2 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
1 video•Total 14 minutes
Wind energy economics: Value metrics•14 minutes
2 readings•Total 30 minutes
Introduction to quiz: Economics of wind energy•20 minutes
Supporting literature•10 minutes
2 assignments•Total 180 minutes
Economics of wind energy - Net Present Value (NPV)•80 minutes
Economics of wind energy - Levellised Cost of Energy (LCoE)•100 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Introduction to Wind Atlases and the Global Wind Atlas
Module 3•2 hours to complete
Module details
Jake Badger will explain why assessing wind conditions is important and how features in the landscape affect wind conditions at different scales. You will learn about the Global Wind Atlas and how it can be used to identify flow effects and explore wind climates and resources. Wind atlas validation and data download will also be presented
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
2 videos•Total 25 minutes
Introduction to Wind Atlases•13 minutes
Introduction to Global Wind Atlas•12 minutes
1 reading•Total 20 minutes
Introduction to Quiz: Wind Atlas•20 minutes
1 assignment•Total 70 minutes
Wind Atlas•70 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Wind Farm Design and Optimization
Module 4•3 hours to complete
Module details
Wind farm design optimization is a key step in overall wind farm project development. Developers need to side what turbines to use, where to place them, and how to design the rest of the system (balance of system including electrical collection system, turbine foundations, and more). This module introduces systems engineering for wind energy applications where holistic optimization methods are used for designing wind farms with the best possible performance at the lowest possible cost – in other words, to achieve a low cost of energy.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
2 videos•Total 27 minutes
Wind Farm Design & Optimization, part 1•12 minutes
Wind Farm Design & Optimization, part 2•14 minutes
1 reading•Total 90 minutes
Introduction to quiz: Wind Farm Design for minimizing LCOE•90 minutes
1 assignment•Total 40 minutes
Wind Farm Design for minimizing LCOE•40 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Forecasting of Wind Power
Module 5•3 hours to complete
Module details
Gregor Giebel presents an overview of wind power forecasting, especially the motivation, the typical data flow, some error sources, and some specialised models for other uses than trading bulk power day-ahead. Forecasting wind (and similarly, solar) power in a system with 30% or more of renewables is paramount, and has been used operatively for 30 years. The uncertainty of the weather forecast can be quantified using ensembles, and the error sources depend on the type of forecast.
Gregor Giebel in the second video gives an overview of the typical users of forecasts, of the ways to evaluate forecasts which depend (and should depend) highly on the use case, and presents the IEA Wind Recommended Practice for the Implementation of Renewable Energy Forecasting Solutions, which also is used in the test.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
2 videos•Total 26 minutes
Forecasting•15 minutes
Forecast Uses•11 minutes
1 reading•Total 60 minutes
Introduction to quiz: Forecasting•60 minutes
1 assignment•Total 60 minutes
Forecasting•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
How and Why we measure the wind
Module 6•3 hours to complete
Module details
Mike Courtney tells how and why we perform wind measurements in Wind Energy, including main parameters that are necessary to measure, different instruments and their technologies and functions.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
2 videos•Total 24 minutes
Why we measure the wind•11 minutes
How we measure the wind•13 minutes
1 reading•Total 90 minutes
Introduction to quiz: Calibrating and using a cup anemometer•90 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
Calibrating and using a cup anemometer•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Remote sensing for wind energy
Module 7•2 hours to complete
Module details
Mikael Sjöholm takes you on a tour to the technology landscape of remote sensing for wind energy starting in part 1 with the basic principles of remote sensing of one wind component using Radar, Lidar, and Sodar. He then continues by describing the differences between pulsed and continuous-wave devices before reaching part 2, where the basic principles for remote sensing of several wind components are reached and some tasters of use-cases for remote sensing in the domain of wind energy are served.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
2 videos•Total 25 minutes
Remote Sensing for Wind Energy part 1 - Basics•14 minutes
Remote Sensing for Wind Energy part 2 - Applications•12 minutes
1 reading•Total 20 minutes
Introduction to Quiz: Remote sensing for wind energy •20 minutes
1 assignment•Total 45 minutes
Remote sensing for wind energy•45 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Load measurements on wind turbines
Module 8•1 hour to complete
Module details
Kenneth Thomsen: Why and how to measure loads on wind turbines? Watch the video and learn the background and the methods!
What's included
1 video1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
1 video•Total 9 minutes
Load Measurements on wind turbines•9 minutes
1 assignment•Total 45 minutes
Load Measurements on wind turbines•45 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
One-Dimensional Momentum Theory and the Betz Limit for Maximum Power Production
Module 9•1 hour to complete
Module details
In this lecture Prof. Jens N. Sørensen presents a derivation of the Betz limit, which gives the theoretical upper limit for the power production of a horizontal axis wind turbine. The derivation is based on 1D momentum theory and shows that no more than 59.3% of the available power in the wind can be exploited in the rotor of a wind turbine.
What's included
1 video1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
1 video•Total 19 minutes
One-Dimensional Momentum Theory and the Betz Limit for Maximum Power Production•19 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
Supplementary reading•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
One-Dimensional Momentum Theory and the Betz Limit for Maximum Power Product•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Different Methods and Concepts for Harvesting Wind Energy
Module 10•2 hours to complete
Module details
In part-1 video, Mac Gaunaa derives models for the ideal power production of simple drag- and lift-driven wind energy extraction devices from first principles analysis. These models reveal the key characteristics of the two different ways of extracting energy from wind, and is used to show which parameters influence the power, and what type of devices have the greatest power production potential per device area. In part-2 video , Mac Gaunaa uses the same set of key elements to explain the main operation principle for four different wind extraction devices: (1) Horizontal axis wind turbine, (2)Vertical axis giromill wind turbine, (3)Vertical axis drag turbine, (4)Ground generation crosswind kite.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
2 videos•Total 20 minutes
Different methods and concepts for harvesting wind energy - Part 1•11 minutes
Different methods and concepts for harvesting wind energy - Part 2•9 minutes
1 reading•Total 60 minutes
Introduction to quiz: Different methods and concepts for harvesting wind energy•60 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
Quiz: Different methods and concepts for harvesting wind energy•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Composite Materials for Wind Energy
Module 11•3 hours to complete
Module details
Lars P. Mikkelsen demonstrates, in the first part of the lecture on composite materials for wind energy, how composite materials are used in wind turbine blades. Non-crimp glass fiber composites and pultruded carbon fiber composites will be introduced and the dominating loads working in a turbine blade will be shown. The second part of the lecture on composite materials for wind energy will show how to predict the stiffness of a composite from the properties of the constituents (fiber and matrix). During this, a big difference between the material stiffness in the fiber direction and transverse to the fiber direction is demonstrated. In the third and last part of the lecture on composite materials for wind energy, a procedure for testing and predicting the lifetime of composite materials is given. This will be used to predict the number of load cycles a composite material is expected to survive when loaded at a certain load-level or reversed which load level is allowed if a certain number of load cycles is required.
EXTRA: The stiffness in longitudinal fiber direction•10 minutes
EXTRA: The stiffness transverse to fiber direction•12 minutes
1 assignment•Total 20 minutes
Stiffness and fatigue•20 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
1 ungraded lab•Total 90 minutes
Jupyter Notebook: Composite Stiffness•90 minutes
Fatigue Phenomenon and Life Prediction
Module 12•3 hours to complete
Module details
Martin Alexander Eder will in Part 1 teach Fatigue Phenomenon. High cycle fatigue is to date among the most frequent root causes for structural failure in wind turbines which need to endure billions of load cycles during their lifespan. Join me in this video to learn more about the fascinating phenomenon - high cycle fatigue - in wind turbine materials. Let us take an excursion starting at the nanostructure of different materials to observe where fatigue originates and how it evolves by zooming out across the characteristic length scales from micro to macro. This video provides an overview of the fundamental inner workings of the high cycle fatigue phenomenon and the differences observed in metallic materials such as steel and fibre-polymer composite materials, both of which being prominently represented in modern wind turbines. The observations made in this video are the steppingstone for understanding the process of fatigue life predictions presented in the second video – Fatigue life prediction. In part 2, he teaches Fatigue life prediction. It is recommended to watch the first video before embarking on watching fatigue life prediction to connect observation with application. In this video we take the observations made previously and learn how to apply them to make meaningful quantitative predictions of the fatigue life of steels as well as fiber-polymer composite materials. The focus of this video is put on the uniaxial SN-approach as the best-established method in industry. Light is shed on the experimental procedures involved to generate SN-curves and how they are used to generate constant life diagrams.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
2 videos•Total 24 minutes
Fatigue phenomenon•11 minutes
Fatigue life prediction•13 minutes
1 reading•Total 60 minutes
Introduction to quiz: Fatigue•60 minutes
1 assignment•Total 90 minutes
Fatigue•90 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Blade Testing and Modeling
Module 13•2 hours to complete
Module details
Xiao Chen introduces structural testing of rotor blades and their subcomponents using state-of-the-art experimental methods including measurements and inspection. In addition, this lecture introduces advanced finite element modeling to predict structural failure and damage where both simulation accuracy and efficiency are highlighted.
What's included
1 video1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
1 video•Total 10 minutes
Blade Testing and Modelling•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 90 minutes
Blade Testing and Modelling•90 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Blade design and manufacturing
Module 14•2 hours to complete
Module details
Phillip Haselbach: The lecture intends on introducing you to the design and manufacturing of wind turbine blade structures. In the lecture Blade Design and Manufacturing you will learn how a typical design procedure of a wind turbine blade structure looks. During the lecture, the iterative design process from the idea to the final product is demonstrated. Moreover, the lecture focusses on the manufacturing process, where the different steps from the design of the moulds to the layup, vacuum infusion process and curing procedure will be explained as well as the final assembly of a wind turbine blade is illustrated.
What's included
1 video1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
1 video•Total 17 minutes
Blade design and manufacturing•17 minutes
1 assignment•Total 90 minutes
Blade design and manufacturing•90 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Introduction to HVDC
Module 15•1 hour to complete
Module details
Cathy Suo provides introduction to VSC (voltage source converter) technology of HVDC (high voltage direct current) and its application in offshore wind energy
What's included
1 video1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
1 video•Total 11 minutes
Introduction to HVDC•11 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
Introduction to HVDC•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
Influence of fluctuating wind speed on system frequency and frequency control
Module 16•3 hours to complete
Module details
Hjörtur Jóhannsson in the first lecture tells about frequency in electric power systems and how it is controlled. This answers questions: i) what causes system frequency to change? Ii) how to ensure a stable frequency? Iii) how do fluctuations in active power impact the system frequency?
In the second lecture he explains the impact that short-term fluctuations in wind speed have on power system frequency. This includes explanations of the role the inertia of the individual wind turbines (WTs) has in reducing the impact of wind fluctuations and explanations of the effect of having numerous WTs in a wind farm in reducing the impact of wind fluctuations in the active power output the wind farm.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt
Show info about module content
2 videos•Total 24 minutes
Influence of fluctuating wind speed on system frequency and frequency control, part 1•15 minutes
Influence of fluctuating wind speed on system frequency and frequency control, part 2•10 minutes
1 reading•Total 60 minutes
Introduction to quiz: Influence of fluctuating wind speed on system frequency and frequency control•60 minutes
1 assignment•Total 60 minutes
Quiz: Influence of fluctuating wind speed on system frequency and frequency control•60 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 10 minutes
Discuss this module•10 minutes
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J
JO
5·
Reviewed on Oct 2, 2020
Very informative course, covering the wind energy basic and its related disciplines. As a beginner in wind energy I am very interested in developing my knowledge in renewable energy sources.
S
SP
5·
Reviewed on Apr 27, 2020
It was a wonderful ride into the World of Wind Energy. The due diligence and teaching method of the instructors was on-mark and I personally enjoyed studying the course. Thank you very much, Team DTU!
A
AA
4·
Reviewed on Jul 2, 2020
you have to give a lot of efforts specially after week 2 because of numericals but you at the same time your data analysis skills will improve. Informative and at the same time a bit tough course.
Coursera takes in unlimited about of numbers after comma, but we suggest you enter by approximation of 0.01, in cases where the answer is larger then 10000, the decimals are not necessary.
Economics: Having problems with negative values!
All answers are asked to be entered in absolute value.
Economics: I am having problems with calculating NPV!
You have included the present value of the decommissioning cost in the NPV calculation. We have not asked you to do that, so that is why answer is outside the range, but including these costs could also be done, so you are not entirely wrong.
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