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Incorporation Of Life Cycle Models In Determining Optimal Wind Energy Infrastructural Provision, Brendan Cleary, Aidan Duffy, Alan O'Connor
Incorporation Of Life Cycle Models In Determining Optimal Wind Energy Infrastructural Provision, Brendan Cleary, Aidan Duffy, Alan O'Connor
Conference papers
The deployment of wind energy has grown rapidly over the last two decades with an average annual growth rate of more than 26% since 1990. During this period the development and innovation of wind turbines has resulted in continual growth in wind turbine size with output ranges of 10-15MW likely to be deployed by 2020. This increased output has a knock-on effect on the growth of rotor diameters and tower heights. Wind turbine towers are required to become taller, stronger and stiffer in order to carry the increased weight and associated structural loading. Consequently, the dimensions of the tower cross-sections …