Editorial

Abstract

This issue, our last for 2008, contains seven papers that cover some of the most important subjects of wind engineering. The first paper here is by Nicholas Cutler and a group of researchers from the University of New South Wales and the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia. Their paper presents a new approach to the characterization of uncertainty in wind power predictions using Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) spatial fields. The next three papers concern subjects dealing with wind turbine aerodynamics. The first paper in this group is by Nando Timmer from TU Delft where the experimental two-dimensional flow characteristics of NACA 0018 airfoil are presented. This paper is important in the fact that it fills in missing low-Reynolds number data for this historically popular airfoil. Papers three and four contain computational fluid dynamic (CFD) investigations dealing with wind turbine airfoils or vertical axis machines. The first, by Guerri (Centre de Developpement des Energies Renouvelables, Algeria), and Hamdouni and Sakout (Univ. de La Rochelle, France) used a CFD analysis applied to flow inducted vibrations of two wind turbine blades. The fourth paper by Sankar and Tiryakioglu from Robert Morris University (USA) characterizes the power production performance of a novel vertical axis wind turbine design. Papers five and six summarize research in the general area of electrical engineering and wind turbine controls. The first one, paper number five, by Ekanayake, Jenkins, and Strbac (U.K.) investigated the frequency response from doubly fed induction generators (DFIG) and full power converters (FPC) during the first thirty seconds after a frequency event. Paper number six, by Schinas and Vovos from the University of Patras (Greece) presents control strategies for a variable speed pitch-controlled wind turbine that supplied an autonomous system using a small hydropower unit. The subject of energy storage is investigated in the seventh and final paper of this issue. This paper by Sullivan, Short, and Blair from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (USA) modeled the potential benefits of energy storage for future large penetrations of wind power in the United States.