Main drive system of wind turbine

What is the drivetrain of a wind turbine?

What Is the Drivetrain? The drivetrain of a wind turbine is composed of the gearbox and the generator, the necessary components that a turbine needs to produce electricity. The gearbox is responsible for connecting the low-speed shaft attached to the turbine blades to the high-speed shaft attached to the generator.

What is the life cycle of a wind turbine drivetrain?

Abstract. This paper presents the state-of-the-art technologies and development trends of wind turbine drivetrains – the system that converts kinetic energy of the wind to electrical energy – in different stages of their life cycle: design, manufacturing, installation, operation, lifetime extension, decommissioning and recycling.

Are wind turbines geared or direct-drive?

As highlighted earlier, wind turbine drivetrains can be either geared or direct-drive generator systems (Polinder et al., 2013). The geared generator system can be further divided into either a DFIG with a partial-power converter or a brushless generator with a full-power-converter (GFPC) system.

Which drivetrain is best for a large offshore wind turbine?

A compact, lightweight drivetrain is the most cost-effective option for large offshore wind turbines because it reduces the nacelle mass and hence tower and foundation or floating platform masses and costs.