|
WIND POWER 
| Around
the world wind power is emerging as a serious source of new clean
energy. There is over 72 TW (terrawatts) of energy available worldwide, just from wind. (Currently
humans use about 7 TW from all sources globally.) Wind energy alone could
provide enough power ten times over to provide for all of our needs. This page explores its continuing expansion and application and how other nations see it as a
crucial response to global warming. |
Recent news:
Jan. 27 2012: The US installed nearly 7GW of new wind energy capacity in
2011, a 31% increase on the previous year, according to industry
figures. The AWEA sees 2012 beingf another strong year with a further 8GW under construction link Nov. 14 2011: Onshore
wind to reach grid parity by 2016. Analysts say perception of wind power as
'expensive and intermittent' is out of date as equipment costs fall and output
soars Electricity produced by onshore wind farms will cost the same as that
from fossil fuel plants by 2016, as efficiency increases and equipment costs
plummet. Research published last week by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF)
said that the best wind farms in the world already produce power as
economically as coal, gas and nuclear generators, and predicts a 12%drop in
price over the next five years. link
 October 27 2011: No
wind? No problem with giant battery bank. A 98MW wind facility in West
Virginia is now connected to 32MW worth of lithium ion batteries to ensure
power supply. 16 shipping containers, each supply two megawatts for up to 15
minutes. "If you can charge and discharge them in 15 minutes, it's not
hard to think you could do it over an hour or four hours--you just add more
batteries," said AES Energy’s Chris Shelton. "We see the costs of the
(lithium ion battery) technology decline over time because of the focus on
electric vehicles and the batteries are getting smaller, better, and
cheaper." At the Laurel Mountain project, the batteries will be connected
to 61 mountaintop wind turbines each of which has a generating capacity of 1.6
megawatts. "Combining wind and solar with storage provides the greatest
benefit to grid operations and has the potential to achieve the greatest
economic value," said PJM president and CEO Terry Boston in a statement
who called energy storage the "silver bullet" for solving the problems
of variability in power. link
OVERVIEW. In 2010 worldwide
wind energy capacity reached 194,000 MW, 2% of global energy supply. In
2005 output was only 59,012MW. By
year-end 2009, the USA supplied 22.1% of global wind energy
followed by China (16.3%) Germany (16.2%) Spain (11.5%) and India
(6.8%). China more than doubled its output from the previous year. For breakdown by country see pages 16/17 of pdf [Emerging Energy Research projects the
global installed base to grow to more than 600 gigawatts by 2020.]
Wind power is the fastest growing
energy source and consumes no fuel for continuing operation with no
emissions and zero pollution directly related to electricity
production. . While creating some
emissions in construction the initial carbon dioxide emissions "pay
back" is claimed by one company to be within about 9 months of
operation for their offshore turbines and the British Wind Energy
Association claim the average wind farm will pay back the energy used
in its manufacture within 3-5 months of
operation. The most
comprehensive study to date found the potential of wind power on land
and near-shore to be approximately 72 terawatts. (A terawatt is 1 trillion watts, the power
generated by more than 500 nuclear reactors or thousands of coal-burning plants.) Converting as
little as 20% of potential wind energy to electricity could satisfy the
entirety of the world's energy demands. link |
Interactive global map of wind energy production and growth. Other links: American Wind Energy Association - AWEA
European Wind Energy Association - EWEA
World Wind Energy Association - WWEA
______________________________________
Below:
- Wind power globally
- Wind power in the USA
- Europe
- New technologies
- Wind power at sea
- Small-scale wind power & wind turbines effect on wildlife
May 2011: Global wind installation reaches 196GW in 2010. In
2010 the total global installed wind capacity reached some 196,630MW showing
sustained growth on 2009's 159,050MW, 2008's 120,903 MW, and 2007's 93,930 MW. China
accounted for more than half of the world wind energy market in 2010. If China
were excluded, the offshore sector would in fact have shrunk by one third from
24,512 MW to just 18,714 MW. Still, installed wind capacity has more than
doubled every third year, a trend which continues even in the face of economic
downturn. Last year a total of 83 countries, one more than in 2009, used wind
for electricity generation and 52 countries increased their total installed
capacity, up from the 49 in the previous year. link
March 2011:Wind installations rising. The new five year forecast by the
Global Wind Energy Council predicted more than 40GW of new wind power
capacity will be installed during 2011 and that by 2015, global installed
capacity will more than double to 450GW. By the end of 2010, total installed capacity globally was 194GW . link
 The global status report produced by the Renewable Energy
Policy Network for the 21st
Century (REN 21), said green power had
reached a "clear tipping point" during 2010. The UN-backed study said
renewables accounted for 60% of new electricity generation capacity in
Europe (and more than half in the US), with wind accounting form more
than half the total. link
Wind power production: Comparing North America to Europe - link September 2010: Installed
power from wind turbines around the world will probably rival nuclear
generation within 4 years according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
By 2014 installed wind capacity is expected to reach 400GW - current
nuclear capacity is 376GW. Around half the growth is now happening in emerging economies and developing countries. link
Norway plans 10MW prototype turbine
with a rotor diameter of 475 feet (roughly three times more
powerful than ordinary wind turbines currently in place) capable of
supplying 2,000 homes. link
China has
more than tripled its target for wind
power capacity
to 100 gigawatts by 2020, likely making it the world's fastest growing
market for wind energy technology, state press said. China is aiming
for an annual wind power growth rate of 20% for the foreseeable
future, Feng Junshi, an official with the National Energy Administration,
told a Beijing conference, according to the China Daily. (May 4 2009) link
India is currently the fourth largest generator of wind power in the world
as of August 2008, with a capacity of 8,696 MW, even ahead of China's 5,899 MW. India is expected to expand its wind-based power plant capacity by 6,000 MW by
2012, but this could still be below the eleventh plan target for this period, a
latest report says. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has fixed a target of 10,500
megawatts between 2007-12, but an additional generation capacity of only about
6,000 MW might be available for commercial use by 2012. This assumption is based on the progress at the ongoing projects and the
plans announced by public and private sectors. link (However China is on track to pass India in installed power - see charts.) Wind power in Africa: Extreme
temperatures also generate extreme winds and perhaps this is the reason wind
farms have great potential in Africa. Some 365 giant wind turbines will be
installed in desert around Lake Turkana in northern Kenya to create the biggest
wind farm in Africa. With completion expected in 2012, the project backed by
the African Development Bank will have a capacity of 300MW, a quarter of
Kenya’s current installed power and one of the highest proportions of wind
energy to
be fed in a national grid anywhere in the world. link
| Slowdown in 2010. The
US wind industry installed 5,115 MW of wind power in 2010, a number that would
represent a major accomplishment just a few years ago, but which is barely half
of 2009's record pace. Prior to 2010, the US industry went through an
unprecedented period of growth supported by more predictable federal tax
policies. It culminated in 2009, when the industry set a domestic record for
new installations, with over 10,000 MW deployed that year. Total
installed capacity in 2000 was 2,578MW rising to 35,159MW by 2009. In 2020 a
small increase to 40,180MW meant China passed the USA in installed capacity. link |
April 2011: First off-shore wind farm in US approved. Final approval has been given for first offshore wind farm in the US. When
finally completed the $1bn Cape Wind project off the Massachusetts coast will
host 130 turbines in a 25 square mile area around 4.5 miles off Cape and
provide 468MW, enough energy to power more than 200,000 homes. link February 2011: US Atlantic coast targeted for
10GW of wind power. Four designated "wind energy areas" off
the mid-Atlantic coast will benefit from fast-tracked environmental assessments
designed to accelerate leasing and approval processes for proposed wind farms. The
strategy sets a target to deploy 10GW of offshore wind capacity by 2020. Capacity
would then increase to 54GW by 2030, forming a vital part of president Obama's
wider goal to supply 80 percent of US electricity from clean energy sources by
2035.link (According to the United States
Energy Information Administration, of the 48 contiguous states, 28 that have
coastal boundaries consume 78% of the nation’s electricity.) October 2010: Plans announced for a 6,000MW wind power transmission line. Google
and a New York financial firm agreed to invest heavily in a proposed $5
billion transmission backbone for the future offshore wind farms along
the Atlantic Seaboard. Google's green business director called the plan
"innovative and audacious" and would provide the equivalent of five
large nuclear plants in power supply. link
June 2010: Atlantic offshore wind energy consortium agreed. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and the governors of 10 East Coast states
signed a Memorandum of Understanding that formally establishes an
Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium. Under the agreement, the consortium will develop an action plan that sets
forth priorities, goals, specific recommendations and steps for achieving the
development of wind resources on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf.. link February 2010: U.S. wind potential more than 3 times greater than originally believed. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s most recent assessment
shows that U.S. wind resources are larger than previously estimated, according
to the American Wind Energy Association. A key finding of the new assessment shows that onshore U.S. wind resources
could generate nearly 37,000,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually, more than nine
times current total U.S. electricity consumption. The previous national
government survey, conducted by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory, estimated U.S.
wind potential at 10,777,000 GWh. America’s onshore wind resource is over 10,000 gigawatts (GW) and the U.S. is
barely tapping into this resource with a current wind installed capacity of 35
GW. link January 2010: Wind power industry in U.S. grew at a blistering pace in 2009, adding 39% more
capacity. The American Wind Energy Association reports the amount of capacity added in 2009 was 9,900 megawatts, the
largest on record, and was 18% above the capacity added in 2008, also a
banner year. The domestic manufacturing industry
now employs 85,000 people and about half the components used in wind farms
are made in the United States, compared with 25% in 2004. link [At the close of 2009 wind power generates 1.8% of the
US energy, up from 1.3% at the end of 2008. AWEA predicts that figure
will pass the 2% mark in 2010.] January 2009 - Wind/Wave power project announced for New England. The Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Company plans to use the strong steady winds over the Atlantic with wind
turbines anchored to the ocean floor in such a way that wave power
action also produces energy. Grays Harbor has applied for federal preliminary permits for the
development of seven sites offshore of six US states, each about 100 square
miles and capable of generating up to 1000 MW each. December 2009 - Major US study of 7,500 property sales finds wind farms have no discernible
impact on prices - counters NIMBY (not in my backyard) proponents - link
June 2010: EU plans for 50% electricity from wind energy by 2050. The European Union has launched a 6 billion euro ($7.2 billion) research and
development program that will help pave the way for the region to source half of
its electricity supply from wind energy by 2050. The plan aims to bring energy to power 20% of the bloc’s
electricity by 2020, 33% by 2030 and 50% by 2050. link [Europe also aims
to slash emissions by 20% over the next 10 years.] January 2011: Latest 2010 off-shore figures for wind energy announced. The latest figures confirm that the European total of offshore wind
capacity stands at 2,946MW from 1,136 wind turbines, enough to power just under
three million EU households. New statistics released by the European Wind Energy
Association (EWEA) show the UK has far outstripped its European rivals as giant
wind farms like Thanet, Walney and Greater Gabbard started to come online with 1,341MW of installed capacity. Once fully up and running,
these projects should push the UK over the 2GW mark. Following comes Denmark with
854MW of capacity, the Netherlands with 249MW, Belgium with 195MW and Sweden
with 164MW. link (Total European wind capacity at the end of 2009 was 74,767MW) December 2010: A North Sea off-shore electric grid serving Europe agreed. The
grid will link the ten member countries across Europe making it easier
for member states to trade energy. The off-shore wind farms in
the North Sea are expected to exploit 140GW of energy. link
September 2010: Europe wind power expanding rapidly. Today, only 5% of Europe's energy comes from wind, For the past two years,
however, 40% of all new electricity generation has come from wind
turbines, and so many are now being erected that by 2020 15% of total
energy will be from wind, and 50% is expected by 2050. link
January 2010: More than 100GW of offshore wind projects are under development in Europe,
around 10% of the EU's electricity demand, and equivalent to about 100 large
coal-fired plants. Sun, wind and wave-powered: Europe unites to build renewable energy 'supergrid'. By
autumn, nine EU governments (Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland and the UK) hope to have a plan
to begin building a high-voltage direct current network, a super-grid
of renewable energy sources, within the next decade. It will be an
important step in achieving the pledge that, by 2020, 20% of its energy
will come from renewable sources. link
[The 2010 target set by the European
Commission was 40 GW.] The European Wind Energy Agency (EWEA) set a new 230 GW target for 2020, an example of the industry’s
confidence and the growing recognition of what wind power can offer European
citizens. Britain has an ambitious goal of 33 gigawatts of
wind power by 2020. More on U.K. wind.
| A wind turbine emits no CO2 or other pollutants, and over its
20-year life it will produce 80-120 times more energy than it consumes. The European wind energy sector
employed 160,000 people directly and indirectly in 2008.
Europe’s wind energy avoided the emission of 108 million tonnes of C02 in 2008 –
equal to 31% of the EU-15’s Kyoto obligations and the equivalent of taking more
than 50 million cars off the roads. link |
New technologies
Technology has impacted all
stages and aspects of the wind development business. Over
the past 10 to 15 years, enhancements in technology and computing power
have revolutionized the wind development business. From prospecting the
best
sites to constructing wind farms, from mapping cadastral data to
estimating the
wind resource at specific proposed turbine locations, technology has
improved
our ability to efficiently select, develop, and ultimately construct
utility-scale wind farms. link
There are well over 30
different significant manufacturers currently delivering wind turbines rated at
more than 1 MW and more than 130 different models of varying capacities.
Read here to learn of
the factors taken into account for on-shore or off-shore turbines. |
Floating turbines. October 2010: Floating wind turbines may be more efficient. Floating wind turbines
are a little more complicated and require higher initial costs. But a new study
by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) in the UK has found that due to
their greater ability to access stronger and more consistent winds deeper out
at sea, they are more economically efficient in the long term. link February 2011: An alternative to large turbines.  UK-based
WindPower Ltd. is behind an innovative vertical-axis offshore wind turbine
design that promises to slash the cost of wind energy. A two-year research
project concluded that the technology could provide a viable alternative to
conventional turbines. A study looked at both
fixed and floating structures and concluded that floating turbines could be
placed in deep-water areas of more than 60 metres, which benefit from higher
wind speeds. lin October 2010: Floating wind turbines may be more efficient. Floating wind turbines
are a little more complicated and require higher initial costs. But a new study
by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) in the UK has found that due to
their greater ability to access stronger and more consistent winds deeper out
at sea, they are more economically efficient in the long term. link
 June 2009: The world's first floating wind turbine is to be towed out to
sea this weekend. The Hywind, a 2.3 megawatt (MW) wind turbine built by Siemens, combines
technologies from both the wind farming industry and the oil and gas sectors,
and will be tested off the coast of Norway for two years. Floating wind farms could later be established off both coasts of North America
and off the Iberian peninsula and the coasts of Norway and the United Kingdom. link
September 2009 - update:
December 2011 The offshore wind industry passed a milestone recently with the
installation of the world's first floating offshore wind turbine off the coast
of Portugal. The WindFloat project consists of a 2MW semi-submersible wind
turbine that can be deployed without heavy machinery. The turbine was
assembled onshore in a controlled environment before it was transported to the
sea and towed more than 217 miles to open water. The structure will undergo
trial operations, commissioning and startup procedures over the next few weeks.
These procedures will include a full production capacity test. The WindFloat
technology decreases wave and wind-induced motions, which allows a large
turbine to be placed in waters with depths of more than 164 feet, where it is
able to capture stronger winds. The platform allows for the use of any
off-the-shelf turbine. link |
November 2010: Direct drive may replace less efficienty gearboxes. The concept of
direct drive is not new, but its attractions have been emphasised in recent
years by two factors. One is the issue of gearbox reliability, with a number of
prominent failures in one of the most expensive components in a wind turbine.
The other is the development of new, cheaper and
more efficient permanent magnet generators (PMGs), ideally suited to direct
drive systems. link
| Wind turbines hazard to air traffic. June
2011: Wind turbines can interfere with radars near military bases or airports. Plans
to make wind turbines invisible to air traffic control radar systems took a
major step forward after Vestas revealed that it has successfully tested stealth
technology materials
on a full-scale wind turbine which reduced radar clutter by approximately 99%,
or 20 decibels, compared with standard turbines. link |
December 2010: Just how big can a wind turbine get?
With lots of manufacturers developing 7 to 10MW turbines (the ones
prevalent today average about 1.5 - 2MW), a Spanish consortium
plans to dominate the market with a 15MW turbine which could be ready for market by 2020. link July 2010: Giant 10MW wind turbines envisaged. British, American and Norwegian engineers are in a race to design and
build the holy grail of wind turbines, giant 10MW offshore machines
twice the size and power of anything seen before. These
giants would be fixed to the sea bed but would stand nearly 600 feet
high above the waves. If they prove technically and financially
feasible, each turbine should be able to generate enough electricity to
provide 5,000 to 10,000 homes. link September 2010: Vestas V112 low-speed turbine announced.
Vestas has received its first European order for the much-hyped V112
turbine, while US engineering giant General Electric this week unveiled
two new turbine designs which the company claims will lead to increased
energy output at low speeds. The V112 3MW turbine is specifically designed to operate in less windy areas. link Answers provided for intermittent wind problem.
July 2010: Storing wind energy proceeds for release at peak times.
The rapid growth of wind farms, whose output is hard to schedule
reliably or even predict, has the nation's electricity providers
scrambling to develop energy storage to ensure stability and improve
profits. Storing in batteries allows wind energy to be bought at a low
price, such as in the middle of the night, and resold hours later at a
higher price. link
 December 2011: A123
Systems announces that a Hawaiian wind project developer will use its batteries
to firm up power delivery into the grid. The Auwahi Wind project, which has a
generating capacity of 21MW, will be buttressed by a giant battery bank
able to deliver 11MW of power. It's the second time this year that A123
Systems' storage systems, built around shipping container-size battery banks,
were chosen to be co-located with a wind farm. The Laurel Mountain wind farm in
West Virginia has a 32MW battery bank attached
to it, making it a more reliable source of electricity. link
April 2011: Largest wind storage system announced for Texas. Duke Energy Corporation and Xtreme Power will build the world’s largest
power-storage system as back-up for a wind farm in Texas. The 36-megawatt
energy storage system will be a back-up for Duke Energy’s 153-MW wind
installation in Notrees. The system will store power that’s generated when
demand is low, but that can be tapped when electricity consumption is highest, or
when winds are not blowing. link
April 2010: Giant gravel batteries could make renewable energy more reliable. Wind and solar power are often criticised for being too intermittent, but
Cambridge researchers could change that. link More on Storing wind power.
|
 June 2010: Large
kites could harvest the fast crosswinds at high
altitude. Airborne wind turbines will take off and fly to around 2000 feet,
where they will float, generating power that can be transferred to the ground
via a tether. "Global wind is a tremendous source of energy carrying nearly 870
terrawatts in global tropospheric winds," says JoeBen Bevirt who
is developing the wind turbine technology. "In comparison, the global demand is 17 terawatts. Harnessing a tiny fraction
will transform the way we power our civilization." link
Kite Wind Generator, or KitGen. Kites are seen as the perfect and cheapest way to  capture the enormous energy
in the wind at a kilometre or more above the ground, where winds carry hundreds
of times more energy than on the ground. An experiment, carried out last year in Italy, generated enough electricity to power
10 family homes, and the researchers have plans to test a 50kW version of their
invention, called Laddermill, eventually building up to a proposed version with
multiple kites that they claim could generate 100 megawatts, enough for 100,000
homes. link
Sail-powered cargo ship test results in: It cut fuel by 20 percent
 Early 2008, the MV Beluga SkySails, a cargo ship rigged up with a billowing 160-meter
sail from Sky Sails, used
approximately 20 percent less fuel than it would have without the sail during a
two-month voyage. Put another way, that's 2.5 tons of fuel, or $1,000 a day, in
operating costs. Beluga Shipping ultimately hopes to save $2,000 a day with the
technology. The ship left Bremen, Germany, on the 22nd of January, sailed to Venezuela,
and then headed toward the Norwegian port of Mo-I-Rana, docking on March 13. In
all, the ship sailed 11,952 nautical miles. The sail was up, depending on the
winds, from between 5 minutes and 8 hours a day. link [Ships
engaged in international trade account for 2.7% of the world's carbon
dioxide emissions from human activities - this contributes about a
billion tonnes of CO2. That's more than the entire economies of Germany
or the UK..] Harnessing wind and sun in a big way. Solar-powered sails the size of a jumbo jet's wings will be
fitted to cargo ships after a Sydney (Australia) renewable energy
company signed a deal with China's biggest shipping line. The
Chatswood-based Solar Sailor group has designed the sails, which can be
retrofitted to existing tankers. The aluminum sails, 30 meters long and
covered with photovoltaic panels, harness the wind to cut fuel costs by
between 20 & 40%, and use the sun to meet 5% of a ship's energy
needs. link
| Small sacle wind energy / Effects on wildlife |
March 2011: Small
wind energy systems are experiencing significant growth as the technology
finally appears to be coming of age. These systems are now more reliable,
quieter and safer than those introduced in past decades. Typically generating just enough power to meet
the demands of a home, farm or small business, small wind energy systems belong
to a renewables genre that continues to grow. Currently, some 250 companies in 26 countries
manufacture, or plan to manufacture, small wind turbines, according to latest
figures released by the American Wind Energy Association. The world's leading
15 manufacturers continue to predict exponential sales growth in the US market
over the next five years, with projections of over 1000 MW of cumulative
installed small wind capacity in America by 2015. link
 A
new design wind-powered turbine overcomes height restrictions and
noise problems and is said to be friendly to birds and bats. The Helix Wind Savonious 2.0 is a "2kW rated turbine
that can be tower-mounted between 14 and 35 feet or roof mounted just 2
feet above roof line. The rotor measures 6ft by 4ft and
utilizes long helical blade scoops to maximize energy performance in
turbulent, gusty or multi-directional wind conditions". link
 VAWT's or Vertical Axis Wind Turbines. VAWT's are an economical alternative for residential and
small commercial applications where wind power can now be harnessed at lower
wind speeds and without expensive towers. Due to the
unique design of their vertically installed blades, VAWT's are less affected by
turbulent air than standard horizontal axis wind turbines or HAWT's. This makes
VAWT's better suited for residential areas where obstacles such as other
houses, buildings and trees generally disturb the airflow. link
Bringing wind turbines to ordinary rooftops. Rooftop turbines send the electricity they generate straight on to the
home’s circuit box. Then owners in a suitably wind-swept location can watch the
needle on their electricity meter turn backward instead of forward, reducing
their utility bills while using a renewable resource. link ______________________________________
Wind turbine effects on birds and bats.
British bird society calls for more wind farms. Ruth Davis, head of climate change policy at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said it was in favour
of such an expansion because of the "truly terrifying" impact that global
warming was increasingly having on birds. "Left unchecked, climate change threatens many species with extinction," she
said. link
Fossil fuel plants pose a much higher threat to birds than wind turbines.
Fossil-fueled
facilities are 17 times more dangerous to birds on a per GWh basis than
wind power. Wind turbines may have killed 17,000 birds, but
fossil-fueled stations killed 14.5 million and nuclear 327,000. link
March 2011: Wind turbines effects on bats. While more than a million bats have died due to a fungal disease called White-Nose
Syndrome since 2006, at the same time, several migratory tree-dwelling species
are being killed in unprecedented numbers by wind turbines. It is unknown how many bats have
died due to wind turbines, but scientists estimate by 2020, wind turbines will
have killed 33,000 to 111,000 annually in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands alone.
This hurts the economy because bats' diet of pest insects reduces the damage
the insects cause to crops and decreases the need for pesticides. Why migratory tree-dwelling
species are drawn to the turbines remains a mystery. link
Wind turbines and bats. Radar beams that irritate bats could be used to prevent the animals from being diced by
the spinning blades of wind turbines, according to a study of how the animals
react to radar signals. link
Wind
farms currently kill far fewer birds than the estimated 100 million
than fly into glass buildings, or up to 500 million killed yearly
by cats. Power lines kill an estimated 10 million, and nearly 11 million
are hit by automobiles, according to studies. link
|
Why are windmills always white, and why do they have three blades?
Some answers.
Purple shown to be best color for wildlife in studies - link
Commonly asked questions about wind energy - link |
Mitigating wildlife dangers - link
|
