ABSTRACT
Wind energy is a renewable and non-conventional energy source, which is the result of uneven heating up of the earth surface by the sun. It is a clean, inexhaustible, indigenous energy resource. In recent years, wind energy can become one of the most important and promising sources of renewable energy provided with additional transmission capacity and better means of maintaining system reliability. Some of the recent advances in the field of wind energy engineering have resulted in better reliability, controllability, low cost, and less maintenance. Some areas in which advances have taken place are a development of variable speed wind turbines, airborne wind energy, offshore floating concepts, smart rotors, wind-induced energy harvesting devices, blade tip-mounted rotors, unconventional power transmission systems, multi-rotor turbines, alternative support structures, and modular high voltage direct current generators, innovative blade manufacturing techniques, diffuser-augmented turbines, and small turbine technologies.
