[Back]

A.K. Chrysochou:
"Urban Wind Turbines - A Literature Review on Current Research";
Supervisor: A. Mahdavi, M. Wölzl; Institute for Architectural Science, Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology, 2021; final examination: 2021-04-19.

There has been a growing need for renewable energy solutions in the past years, mostly renewable energy production in cities. Wind power generation inside the city and on buildings is a type of renewable energy that could help cities improve their
efficiency. However, stakeholders are still hesitant to adopt this technology and prefer other renewables, such as photovoltaics. This Master Thesis will -through a literature review- explore the performance, implementation methods, requirements,
and cost of small wind turbines inside the urban canopy layer. The review investigates the latest research papers in four categories; small wind turbine performance, integration of small wind turbines on buildings and cities, noise production, and investment payoff.
Moreover, a rough estimation of Vienna's potential electricity production with small wind turbines will paint a better picture of how much of the city's demand can be covered with small wind turbines. In conclusion, through the review process, it is
evident that most research focuses on performance enhancement by studying the design of the turbine and the position in the city. Researchers mostly use numerical simulation tools to complete their study, which illustrates the importance of
computational fluid dynamics in building efficient small wind turbines. Moreover, producers focus on turbines that start at low wind speed and have a small rotor because in cities, the average wind speed is low, and buildings cannot support
oversized rotors. Lastly, results show that small wind turbines can cover up to 50% of Vienna's electricity consumption, however, it would be costly.
Overall, this contribution aims to fill the knowledge gap on the methods for wind
energy in cities and buildings and show the potential of producing electricity through
a discussion and suggestion for further research. There has been a growing need for renewable energy solutions in the past years,
mostly renewable energy production in cities. Wind power generation inside the city
and on buildings is a type of renewable energy that could help cities improve their
efficiency. However, stakeholders are still hesitant to adopt this technology and
prefer other renewables, such as photovoltaics. This Master Thesis will -through a
literature review- explore the performance, implementation methods, requirements,
and cost of small wind turbines inside the urban canopy layer. The review
investigates the latest research papers in four categories; small wind turbine
performance, integration of small wind turbines on buildings and cities, noise
production, and investment payoff.
Moreover, a rough estimation of Vienna's potential electricity production with small
wind turbines will paint a better picture of how much of the city's demand can be
covered with small wind turbines. In conclusion, through the review process, it is
evident that most research focuses on performance enhancement by studying the
design of the turbine and the position in the city. Researchers mostly use numerical
simulation tools to complete their study, which illustrates the importance of
computational fluid dynamics in building efficient small wind turbines. Moreover,
producers focus on turbines that start at low wind speed and have a small rotor
because in cities, the average wind speed is low, and buildings cannot support
oversized rotors. Lastly, results show that small wind turbines can cover up to 50%
of Vienna's electricity consumption, however, it would be costly.
Overall, this contribution aims to fill the knowledge gap on the methods for wind energy in cities and buildings and show the potential of producing electricity through a discussion and suggestion for further research.

Im Zuge der Klimakrise und sinkender Kosten ist der Bedarf und die Nutzung erneuerbarer Energien in den letzten Jahren rapide angestiegen. Einen signifikanten Beitrag zu diesem Anstieg steuern dezentrale Kleinanlagen in Siedlungsgebieten
bei. Neben einer potenziellen höheren Energieeffizienz, erhöhen Kleinanlagen zudem die Energieautarkie und Resilienz. Während sich die Fotovoltaik relativ weit im Stadtbild etablieren konnte, bleiben Kleinwindanlagen als potenzielle Energieerzeuger weitgehend die Ausnahme und ihr Potenzial ungenutzt. Ziel der
vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, den aktuellen Stand der Technik, den Wirkungsgrad und die Wirtschaftlichkeit von Kleinwindanlagen nachzuvollziehen. Schließlich wird anhand eines Fallbeispiels das theoretische Potenzial von urbanen Windanlagen
zur Energiebedarfsabdeckung der Stadt Wien im Verhältnis ihrer Wirtschaftlichkeit untersucht. Methodisch basiert die Arbeit auf einer umfassenden Recherche der Fachliteratur, die durch vier Kategorien strukturiert analysieret wurde: Leistung und
Wirkungsgrad von Kleinwindanlagen, deren bauliche Integration in die Stadt und Gebäude, Lärmemission und Wirtschaftlichkeit. Im Kapitel Diskussion stellt sich heraus, dass sich ein großer Teil der Forschung auf die Leistungserhöhung und die
lokale Standort Optimierung innerhalb der Stadt und auf Gebäuden fokussiert. Signifikante Unterschiede der Performanz im Hinblick auf Standortentscheidungen, empfehlen darüber hinaus die Anwendung von numerischen Windsimulation (Computational Fluid Dynamics) in der Planungsphase. Aufgrund hoher Bebauungsdichten im städtischen Kontext und die dadurch bedingte Platzknappheit wie geringere durchschnittliche Windgeschwindigkeiten veranlassen Hersteller zu
der Konstruktion von Rotoren kleinen Durchmessers. Abschließend, unterstreicht das Fallbeispiel Wien das hohe Potenzial von städtischen Kleinwindkraftanlagen für die lokale Energiebedarfsabdeckung von Großstädten (50% des Energiebedarfs
Wiens könnten durch Kleinwindkraftanlagen bedient werden), allerdings nur zu hohen Kosten und einem noch nicht Wettbewerbsfähigen Preis.

Small Wind Turbines; Urban Conditions; Energy Performance; Building Integrated Turbines;

https://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/publik_295629.pdf