Feasibility study of a hybrid wind turbine system – Integration with compressed air energy storage

Wind has been recognized as one of major realistic clean energy sources for power generation to meet the continuously increased energy demand and to achieve the carbon emission reduction targets. However, the utilisation of wind energy encounters an inevitable challenge resulting from the nature of wind intermittency. To address this, the paper presents the recent research work at Warwick on the feasibility study of a new hybrid system by integrating a wind turbine with compressed air energy storage. A mechanical transmission mechanism is designed and implemented for power integration within the hybrid system. A scroll expander is adopted to serve as an “air-machinery energy converter”, which can transmit additional driving power generalized from the stored compressed air to the turbine shaft for smoothing the wind power fluctuation. A mathematical model for the complete hybrid process is developed and the control strategy is investigated for corresponding cooperative operations. A prototype test rig for implementing the proposed mechanism is built for proof of the concept. From the simulated and experimental studies, the energy conversion efficiency analysis is conducted while the system experiences different operation conditions and modes. It is proved that the proposed hybrid wind turbine system is feasible technically.