Controllable rubber trailing edge flap for wind turbine blades

The photograph shows the two sensors for measuring wind speed and direction. The nearest sensor resembles a small blade, and by measuring the wind load on the sensor, a control signal can be derived and sent to the rubber trailing edge. The other sensor is a so-called five-hole pitot tube, which can measure wind speed and wind direction, and which can also be used to control the rubber trailing edge. For some years, the Wind Energy Division at Risø DTU has been working to develop a method for controlling the loads on large wind turbine blades using a flexible trailing edge made of an elastic material which can be controlled by means of compressed air or hydraulics. Now, the invention, which has been called CRTEF (Controllable Rubber Trailing Edge Flap), has been tested in a wind tunnel with promising results.

Today’s wind turbine blades, which can measure more than 60 metres in length, are subjected to enormous loads, which means that a blade can flex as much as 4-6 metres during strong gusts. However, the blades are also so long that there can be considerable differences in the loading from the gusts along the blade. In wind farms, surrounding wind turbines also exert considerable influence and generate turbulence, which has a more localised effect.

The SMart Wind consortium to develop 4GW of wind farms off the UK coast

The SMart Wind consortium, led by Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Project Ventures (SPV), a division company of Siemens Financial Services, has been awarded a contract to develop 4GW of wind farms by 2020 as part of The Crown Estate’s Round 3 offshore wind farm programme.

SMart Wind will develop projects in the “Hornsea” zone, comprising 4,735 square kilometres off the UK’s Yorkshire coast. Hornsea is one of nine zones to be developed in the seas around Great Britain as part of The Crown Estate’s Round 3 programme, and with a total planned installed capacity of 32GW this is enough to meet a quarter of the UK's electricity needs.

U.K. offshore windfarms given GBP300 million boost

Thanet Offshore Wind Project. Photo: WikimediaThe European Investment Bank (EIB) (Kirchberg, Luxembourg) is considering offering GBP300 million (USD492 million) to fast-track the connection of U.K. offshore windfarms to the country's national grid. The news comes just a month after energy regulator Ofgem revealed a shortlist of 13 companies that will be allowed to bid for nine contracts to build and operate high-voltage transmission links with offshore windfarms. The combined value of these contracts is GBP1.15 billion (USD1.88 billion).

The GBP300 million EIB windfall will be available for six projects, which collectively will connect about 1.6 gigawatts of offshore generation. "The European Investment Bank welcomes Ofgem's initiative in promoting this essential element of the U.K.'s renewable energy infrastructure," said Simon Brooks, vice president of the European Investment Bank. "Electricity from offshore windfarms will make a key contribution to national power supply and help achieve 2020 emissions targets."

Ofgem Chairman Lord Mogg added, "The EIB's decision to consider these projects for funding of over GBP300 million is an important step forward for delivering competitively priced connections for offshore windfarms. By adopting a competitive process for connections Ofgem E-Serve is endeavouring to keep the cost of connection to generators as low as possible. This brings benefits to consumers, who will ultimately fund the GBP15 billion (USD24.6 billion) required to connect the 33 gigawatts of offshore generation needed to help meet Britain's emission targets.

"Ofgem's recent review of the challenges Britain faces in securing energy supplies and achieving climate-change targets has shown that investment in offshore wind could play a vital role in helping Britain meet its climate change targets and in reducing its dependence on imported gas."

In welcoming the announcement, Minister of Energy Lord Hunt commented, "The EIB's support will be very welcome. Connecting offshore windfarms to the grid quickly and cost-effectively will be crucial to tackling climate change and securing our future energy supplies. This money would help projects currently under construction get their cables in the water and feeding into the grid quickly and cheaply."

Windfarm consent could seriously damage internationally protected habitat

RSPB Scotland has expressed its concerns at a decision to grant consent to a wind farm within a designated Special Protection Area (SPA) on the island of Lewis.

Officials at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Environment Committee have approved the Pentland Road Windfarm on the island - a six turbine 13 megawatt development that sits within the boundary of the Lewis Peatlands SPA to the south west of the island's capital, Stornoway. It will now go to a meeting of the full council next week, but is expected to meet little resistance.

Despite guidelines from SNH calling for raptors to be observed for at least a year to properly determine flight habits, the developer's eagle survey was conducted over two months.

A one-day survey was conducted by local SNH officers in 2003. After finding only two pairs of grouse within 750 metres of the proposed turbines, SNH concluded that this would not represent a significant loss of the eagle's prey, and therefore that "the predicted core range stated in the ES does not reflect the eagles' actual range use".

Martin Scott, Western Isles conservation officer for RSPB Scotland, said: "We are extremely disappointed at this decision, which is clearly based on poor, or completely absent, background information. It is an awful irony that such positive steps were made in protecting the Lewis Peatlands SPA from the larger Lewis Windpower proposal, and yet now a smaller development can sneak through and have a negative impact on this fantastic wildlife habitat.

"We will be scrutinising this decision in great detail, as we believe that there were alternatives available to placing this development on an internationally important designated wildlife site. A number of years have elapsed since this proposal was openly looked at and discussed and it is hugely disappointing to now witness it being driven through. Much has changed in recent years, but this has not been reflected in the planning process."

Aedán Smith, head of planning and development at RSPB Scotland, said: "We desperately need more renewable energy developments to help tackle climate change - but renewable energy can and must be delivered in a way that avoids harming our most important places for wildlife. This is simply the wrong place for a wind farm. There are enough right places."

He added: "Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are some of our most important places for birds. SNH have quite rightly insisted on the rigorous assessment of other proposals that could affect SPAs. We were therefore very surprised and disappointed at the relatively poor quality assessment accepted in this case and we will be looking at the decision very closely over the next few days."

Inspired by textbook, African boy harnesses wind energy

Kamkwamba and his windmill. Photo: UGAMalawi teen's windmill provides electricity to his village

A science textbook written by University of Georgia education professor Mary M. Atwater inspired a 14-year-old African boy to build a windmill that provided electricity to his family and village for the first time.

Eight years ago, William Kamkwamba’s native Malawi suffered through one of its worst droughts. Thousands died. His family and others were surviving on one meal a day. The arid soil in his hometown of Masitala left his father, a farmer, without any income.

Kamkwamba dropped out of school when his family couldn’t pay the tuition, but he spent his days at the library, where a book with photographs of windmills caught his eye.

That book, Using Energy, was Atwater’s 8th grade science textbook, first published in 1993. It was one of dozens donated to his village in Malawi by the McGraw-Hill International Book Donation Programme, the International Book Bank and the American Institute for Research.

Inspired by the diagrams in the book and the book cover’s picture of windmills, Kamkwamba decided that he would bring electricity to his family’s home, a luxury only 2 per cent of Malawians are able to afford.

Over the next six months, using experiments in Atwater’s book, he built a windmill out of a broken bicycle, tractor fan blade, old shock absorber, a pair of flip flops and the tower out of blue gum trees. The windmill generated enough electricity to power four light bulbs and two radios.

Subsequently, William moved on to work on projects to prevent malaria and provide clean water, solar power and lighting to his village.

In late 2006, a Malawian newspaper wrote about Kamkwmamba and his windmills. In 2007, an award-winning, short documentary film titled, Moving Windmills, was produced by Tom Rielly and Ben Nabors, and directed by Scott Thrift.

Kamkwamba, now 22, is a student at the African Leadership Academy, an elite South African school for young leaders. Donors pay for his education.

Last week, his autobiography, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, co-written with former Associated Press correspondent Bryan Mealer, was released in the US. Mealer and Kamkwamba have made appearances on several national programmes including CNN, ABC’s Good Morning America and The Daily Show.

William Kamkwamba’s story is a testament to the impact of educational content and the power of knowledge, said Peter Davis, president, McGraw-Hill Education. “By using the knowledge and information in Using Energy, William’s journey clearly demonstrates the vital role that education, inventiveness and innovation can play in helping to raise standards of living and give hope to communities around the world.”

Atwater was inspired when she read Kamkwamba’s book. “I found a fantastic story come to life about his vision and commitment to provide his family electricity with a windmill,” she said. “I became involved in the McGraw-Hill Science programme many years ago because one of its major goals was to provide students with a dream of science and the science knowledge and skills to change the world around them. I am proud that I played a part in providing Kamkwamba the opportunity to see and use the book Using Energy.”

Brazil to host wind-only energy auction

The Brazilian Ministry of Energy and Mines (MME) recently issued rules of procedure for the first public auction specifically for wind power reserve energy. The auction will be on November 25. So far, 441 wind projects that amount to 13.3 gigawatts of installed capacity have submitted an application to take part in the event.

Planned, newly built, and operational windfarms are allowed to participate in the auction. All parties interested in submitting bids must have been granted permits by Brazil's energy regulatory agency (ANEEL) no later than June 29.

Companies winning an energy supply contract from the federal government in this auction must guarantee effective supply for 20 years, starting in July 2012. They are also required to submit a participation warranty of 1 per cent of the investment value of the facilities and equipment that will be used to generate the energy being auctioned.

Although the government has not commented on anything regarding the auction's starting price, it is expected that it will be about USD115 to USD126 per megawatt-hour (MWh). That is far lower than the average USD155/MWh currently received by windfarms built and operated under the Program for the Promotion of Alternative Sources of Energy (PROINFA). Contracts will be awarded to the bidder offering the minimum price per megawatt-hour.

Starting in 2002 and going until 2006, then extended until the end of next year, PROINFA is responsible for the generation of 547.7 megawatts (MW), making up 0.52 per cent of Brazil's operating capacity.

Another shortcoming for companies wanting to take part in the auction is that all equipment used to produce electricity at windfarms must be new, without previous use and, if imported, have a nominal output capacity of more than 2 MW.

This restriction, purposely applied by the federal government to foster manufacturing nationwide, leaves out of the competition some of the most commonly used equipment. Specifically, the 1.5-MW GE turbine and the 1.85-MW Vestas turbine. On the other hand, it benefits companies like Wobben (Sorocaba, Brazil) a subsidiary of Germany's Enercon GmbH (Aurich, Germany), and Argentina's IMPSA Wind (Godoy Cruz, Argentina), as both perform full manufacturing operations within Brazil.

Under these conditions, some concern has arisen as to whether Brazil's own manufacturing industry will be able to provide all the windfarm equipment that will be demanded from now on.

Canadian Hydro to acquire largest offshore wind operation

Photo: Philipp Hertzog

Canadian Hydro Developers Inc has entered into an agreement to acquire the rights to what it calls the largest offshore wind operation in the world.

The company, which has been fighting a hostile takeover bid from TransAlta for the last several weeks, said it will acquire a 4,400 MW offshore wind prospect in Ontario from Wasatch Wind Inc, a private US-based renewable energy company.

When completed, this facility would be supplying enough renewable energy to power over two million homes. The agreement terms are confidential.

The Offshore Wind Prospect is located approximately five to 30 kilometres offshore in one of the Great Lakes bordering Ontario, near available transmission interconnection. It has an estimated net capacity factor of 40 per cent.

The Offshore Wind Prospect is eligible for the Ontario Green Energy Act’s Feed-In-Tariff 20-year contract at a price of USD190 per MWh, subject to 100 per cent of Ontario consumer price index (“CPI”) inflation from contract signing to commercial operations and 20 per cent of Ontario CPI annually thereafter.

Canadian Hydro anticipates that the Offshore Wind Prospect will be built in stages, with the first 400 to 500 MW to come online by the fourth quarter of 2014. Regulatory and environmental permits and approvals, site release from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and financing are required prior to proceeding with construction.

CEO Kent Brown said, “Canadian Hydro already owns and operates the two largest wind facilities in Canada. We are leading the way in Ontario by generating 40 per cent of the province’s installed renewable energy capacity, and we are eager to pioneer offshore wind in Ontario and North America.”

Great idea: wind turbines above railway tracks

Wind energy project developer Evelop, part of Eneco, and Dutch rail operator ProRail have signed a joint venture agreement to develop Railwind, a unique concept involving wind turbines above railway tracks. This concept will initially be piloted in the industrial area Sloehaven near Vlissingen.

This project aims to build wind farms in and around existing infrastructure. The joint venture agreement is the first step in realising this innovative concept, in which wind turbines will be constructed over railway tracks on masts designed especially for this project. The project means multiple use can be made of the space available.

Evelop MD Pieter Tavenier said: "We are proud to be embarking on this unique project and are convinced that many more additional locations for wind energy can be developed with similar innovative projects."

ProRail Railway Development director Kees-Jan Dosker said: "We are excited about this idea and view this project as a significant opportunity to contribute to an increasingly sustainable railway sector. During the pilot, we will focus particularly on the aspects safety and railway accessibility."

The project is expected to start in 2011 with construction of the pilot project. The expectation is that electricity will first be generated in 2012. In consultation with municipal and provincial authorities and other stakeholders, an assessment will be conducted to determine how many Railwind turbines can be installed. In addition to the spatial planning considerations, safety will also be thoroughly assessed, as part of which Kema will advise the project management.

The development, construction and operation of the first Railwind project will be thoroughly evaluated. Other potential railway lines to be considered for this sustainable project will in part be determined on the basis of the evaluation results.

The pilot project is currently awaiting the decision regarding an innovation subsidy from Operational Programme ‘South Netherlands’ (OP Zuid), part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

World's biggest offshore windfarm begins operation in Denmark

Denmark is celebrating the inauguration of the world's largest offshore windfarm, Horns Rev 230 kilometres off the western coast of the country. The windfarm will, when fully operational, boast 91 wind turbines and produce 209 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough for an estimated 200,000 homes.

The installation is the world's largest offshore windfarm for now, but it will be vastly overshadowed in coming years by the likes of the London Array project in the Thames Estuary, which will be the world's first 1-gigawatt (GW) windfarm when completed in 2012.Owned by Danish company DONG Energy (Skaerbaek), Germany's E.ON AG (Dusseldorf) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), London Array will sport up to 341 turbines on the 90-square-mile site.

DONG Energy also owns Horns Rev 2, which was officially opened by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, and Chairman of the Board of DONG Energy Fritz H. Schur, among others.

"Expansion of wind power is a cornerstone of DONG Energy's strategy in the years ahead," said Schur. "Therefore, establishing Horns Rev 2 is an important milestone in DONG Energy's gradual transition from conventional to green power generation. In many ways, the establishment of Horns Rev 2 is a final test piece for DONG Energy.
Half of the world's current offshore wind power capacity was constructed by us. This inauguration of the world's largest offshore windfarm underlines that DONG Energy is among the frontrunners in the field."

By 2020, DONG Energy aims to triple production capacity of renewable energy and, in the coming months, plans to open five new windfarms.

The project took 18 months to complete and uses 91 Siemens SWP 2.3-93 wind turbines. Horns Rev 2 and Denmark's first offshore windfarm, Horns Rev, have a combined capacity of 369 MW. Horns Rev 2 pushes Denmark's wind power contribution to more than 20 per cent of the country's total energy generation.

In May this year, the Danish Energy Association invited energy companies to bid for the chance to build the country's largest offshore wind project to date, a 400-MW windfarm off the west coast of Denmark's Anholt Island.

Denmark has ambitious plans for wind, and according to the Danish Wind Turbine Owners' Association (Aarhus, Denmark) and the Danish Wind Industry Association (Frederiksberg, Denmark), wind power generation capacity can be ramped up to 50 per cent of Denmark's total power generation by 2020.

Wind power growth to create green-collar jobs

The rapidly growing US wind industry could well create new manufacturing opportunities and restore jobs lost in the recent economic downturn, says a new report by researchers at Duke University’s Center for Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness (CGGC).

Global wind capacity has grown at an average rate of 30 per cent per year over the past decade and the US is currently the world leader in producing wind power. The report, Wind Power: Generating Electricity and Employment, reveals hidden economic opportunities that exist within the supply chains that provide parts and labour for the wind power industry.

“American companies have a presence in each sector of the value chain,” said Gary Gereffi, a Duke professor of sociology and one of the report’s authors. “Increased adoption of wind power technologies could have significant positive economic implications for the US.”

The wind power value chain incorporates six key stages: materials, components, manufacture, logistics, operations, and end use. Many of the needed manufacturing capabilities could be transferred from industries such as the automotive sector and aerospace.

“Every time a wind power project is installed it creates jobs, not only in the manufacturing sector, but also for structural engineers, surveyors, mechanics, sheet metal workers, machinists, truck drivers, construction equipment operators and wind turbine operators,” Gereffi noted.

The findings build on research Gereffi’s group conducted last year linking low-carbon technologies and US jobs. That research assessed five carbon-reducing technologies with potential for future green-job creation in the report “Manufacturing Climate Solutions.”

US employment in wind power is estimated at 85,000 jobs and growing quickly, with opportunities to employ workers and capacity from other industries like automotive and aerospace.

Offshore wind power can revolutionise Europe

Wind energy production near Groothusen, Krummhörn, GermanyThe 100 GW of offshore projects already being planned could produce 10 per cent of Europe’s electricity, says a report Oceans of Opportunity by industry lobby organisation European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

According to the report, published in Stockholm at the Offshore Wind 2009 conference, those offshore wind projects could avoid 200 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

The targets are for the Europe's offshore installed wind power capacity to grow to 40 gigawatts by 2020 from 1.9 GW in 2009, and to 150 GW by 2030.

“Europe is faced with the global challenges of climate change, depleting indigenous energy resources, increasing fuel costs and the threat of supply disruption,” the report says. “Offshore wind power provides the answer to Europe’s energy and climate dilemma, exploiting an abundant energy resource which does not emit greenhouse gases, reduces dependence on increasingly costly fuel imports, creates thousands of new jobs and provides large quantities of indigenous affordable electricity.”

On a similar note, Maud Olofsson, Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and President of the EU Energy Ministers Council, said wind power off Europe’s coastline is a resource ready for exploitation and developers are eager to get started.

“Provided governments are ready to play their part,” she said, “we can revolutionise Europe’s energy future.”

Wind can satiate Chinese future energy needs

Wind power plants in Xinjiang, China. Photo: Chris LimWind is ecologically and economically practical and could reduce CO2 emissions

A team of environmental scientists from Harvard and Tsinghua University demonstrated the enormous potential for wind-generated electricity in China. Using extensive metrological data and incorporating the Chinese government's energy bidding and financial restrictions for delivering wind power, the researchers estimate that wind alone has the potential to meet the country's electricity demands projected for 2030.

The switch from coal and other fossil fuels to greener wind-based energy could also mitigate CO2 emissions, thereby reducing pollution. The report appeared as a cover story in the September 11th issue of Science.

"The world is struggling with the question of how do you make the switch from carbon-rich fuels to something carbon-free," said lead author Michael B. McElroy, Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).

China has become second only to the U.S. in its national power generating capacity, 792.5 gigawatts per year with an expected future 10 per cent annual increase, and is now the world's largest CO2 emitter. Thus, added McElroy, "the real question for the globe is: What alternatives does China have?"

While wind-generated energy accounts for only 0.4 per cent of China's total current electricity supply, the country is rapidly becoming the world's fastest growing market for wind power, trailing only the U.S., Germany, and Spain in terms of installed capacities of existing wind farms.

Development of renewable energy in China, especially wind, received an important boost with passage of the Renewable Energy Law in 2005; the law provides favorable tax status for alternative energy investments. The Chinese government also established a concession bidding process to guarantee a reasonable return for large wind projects.

"To determine the viability of wind-based energy for China we established a location-based economic model, incorporating the bidding process, and calculated the energy cost based on geography," said co-author Xi Lu, a graduate student in McElroy's group at SEAS. "Using the same model we also evaluated the total potentials for wind energy that could be realised at a certain cost level."

Specifically, the researchers used meteorological data from the Goddard Earth Observing Data Assimilation System (GEOS) at NASA. Further, they assumed the wind energy would be produced from a set of land-based 1.5-megawatt turbines operating over non-forested, ice-free, rural areas with a slope no more than 20 per cent.

"By bringing the capabilities of atmospheric science to the study of energy we were able to view the wind resource in a total context," explained co-author Chris P. Nielsen, Executive Director of the Harvard China Project, based at SEAS.

The analysis indicated that a network of wind turbines operating at as little as 20 per cent of their rated capacity could provide potentially as much as 24.7 petawatt-hours of electricity annually, or more than seven times China's current consumption. The researchers also determined that wind energy alone, at around 7.6 U.S. Cents per kilowatt-hour, could accommodate the country's entire demand for electricity projected for 2030.

"Wind farms would only need to take up land areas of 0.5 million square kilometers, or regions about three quarters of the size of Texas. The physical footprints of wind turbines would be even smaller, allowing the areas to remain agricultural," said Lu.

By contrast, to meet the increased demand for electricity during the next 20 years using fossil fuel-based energy sources, China would have to construct coal-fired power plants that could produce the equivalent of 800 gigawatts of electricity, resulting in a potential increase of 3.5 gigatons of CO2 per year. The use of cleaner wind energy could both meet future demands and, even if only used to supplement existing energy sources, significantly reduce carbon emissions.

Moving to a low-carbon energy future would require China to make an investment of around USD900 billion dollars (at current prices) over the same twenty-year period. The scientists consider this a large but not unreasonable investment given the present size of the Chinese economy. Moreover, whatever the energy source, the country will need to build and support an expanded energy grid to accommodate the anticipated growth in power demand.

"We are trying to cut into the current defined demand for new electricity generation in China, which is roughly a gigawatt a week, or an enormous 50 gigawatts per year," said McElroy. "China is bringing on several coal fire power plants a week. By publicising the opportunity for a different way to go we will hope to have a positive influence."

In the coming months, the researchers plan to conduct a more intensive wind study in China, taking advantage of 25-year data with significantly higher spatial resolution for north Asian regions to investigate the geographical year-to-year variations of wind. The model used for assessing China could also be applied for assessing wind potential anywhere in the world, onshore and offshore, and could be extended to solar generated electricity.

Key issues for the future of wind energy

The prestigious journal Energy Policy has recently reported two studies that highlight some key issues for the future of wind energy in Spain. A team of engineers from the University of Zaragoza believes it is "technically viable and economically reasonable" for wind energy to account for 30 per cent of Spain's overall energy production.

A report by two researchers from the University of Alcalá (UAH) and the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), meanwhile, says the number of jobs generated by this sector in the European Union has increased by 226 per cent since 2003.

"Nowadays, wind farms supply around 12 per cent of the electric energy produced in Spain, but by 2030 this could rise to 30 per cent", José Luis Bernal, of the Department of Electric Engineering of the University of Zaragoza and co-author of a study published recently in the journal Energy Policy, tells SINC.

His team has developed its own calculation method based on the amounts of energy contributed by various sources. The results show that an energy mix, with wind energy providing 30 per cent, solar energy 20 per cent and gas turbines a further 20 per cent (10 per cent-15 per cent biogas and 5 per cent-10 per cent natural gas), is technically and economically viable in Spain.

The remainder would be made up of hydroelectric, geothermal and biomass energy (20 per cent between the three) and energy from carbon power plants (10 per cent), which should apply CO₂ capture techniques in order to reduce their impact on global warming.

The proposal factors in the issue of wind turbines potentially standing still when there is wind, looks to a contribution by fossil fuels of less than 20 per cent and does not consider the use of nuclear energy. "According to our calculations, the cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) could be maintained at between 5.5 and 6.1 Euro cents", says Bernal.

The study shows that wind parks were already providing around 10 per cent of Spain's electricity in 2007 (260 TWh), when their energy generation capacity increased by 33.2 per cent, going from 11.63 GW in January to 15.5 GW by December that year. This growth trend has held steady until the present day, both in terms of the megawatts produced and in generation of employment.

Favourable winds for employment

In 2008, wind energy provided around 104,000 jobs in the European Union, according to a report, also published in Energy Policy, by Maria Isabel Blanco, from the University of Alcalá (UAH) in Madrid, and Glória Rodrigues, from the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). "This is an increase of 226 per cent in comparison to 2003", the authors tell SINC.

The study shows that generation of this energy provides direct employment for 38,000 people in Germany, 20,500 in Spain and 17,000 in Denmark, the three major producing countries in the EU. Manufacturers of turbines and their components account for the largest number of jobs created, which are taken mostly by men (who account for 78 per cent), as is generally the case in industrial production chains.

The report, based on a survey carried out among the leading companies in the sector, shows that a new market linked to wind energy is arising in Europe, with France, Italy, Ireland and Portugal also playing an active role. However, despite these dynamic developments, there is "a lack of specialists, project managers, engineers and operation and maintenance experts" for the wind farms. In order to resolve this situation, the study calls for measures to be put in place to educate workers and boost their mobility.

E.ON completes giant 458 MW wind farm in USA

German renewable energy firm E.ON has completed work on its Panther Creek wind farm, located in Big Spring, Texas, USA. The Panther Creek complex is a three-phase project that consists of 305 turbines and has an installed capacity of 457.5 megawatts (MW), making it one of the ten largest wind farms in the United States.

Phases I and II of the wind farm became operational in the first quarter 2009, with the completion of the third and final phase, Panther Creek can now generate enough power to supply 135,000 Texan homes.

E.ON has 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity in North America and continues to expand its renewables presence throughout the United States including building the world’s largest wind farm at Roscoe, Texas (780 MW), the construction of Stony Creek (53 MW) wind farm in Pennsylvania. Together with the completion of Panther Creek makes E.ON a leading player in this important renewables market.

E.ON is one of the fastest growing renewables companies in the world, and is investing EUR8billion in renewable generation and climate protection activities worldwide from 2007 to 2011.

E.ON currently has over 2.4 GW* installed renewables capacity made up of wind, biomass, biogas and solar PV. By 2010 E.ON plans to have around 4 GW of installed capacity.

*excluding large hydro

Steady European market for wind turbines in 2009

New research by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) estimates that 8,600 MW of new wind energy capacity will be installed in the EU-27 countries in 2009: an annual growth rate of one per cent compared to 2008 installations. In 2008 wind energy, with 8,484 MW installed capacity, was the largest source of new electricity-generating capacity in the EU. This would take the EU’s cumulative installed capacity to 73,535 MW, up from 2008’s 64,935 MW.

The forecast is encouraging in a year when the financial crisis has affected most industries and electricity demand is declining in tune with overall economic activity.

"I am pleasantly surprised by the research results. They show that the underlying demand for wind energy technology is currently strong enough to make up for project delays caused by many banks’ continued reluctance to provide project finance. Although the outlook for 2009 is encouraging, the real test of the wind energy sector's ability to withstand the financial crisis will be 2010," said Christian Kjaer, EWEA chief executive.

The fact that wind turbine manufacturers had healthy order books prior to the financial crisis reduces the impact of the crisis on the European market for wind turbines. EWEA expects the financial crisis to have a deeper impact in 2010, unless measures are taken rapidly to increase liquidity in the financial market. It is essential that the billions of Euros provided by governments to European banks through stimulus packages reach the real economy, says the industry group.

Inside the EU, there looks to be a difference between the more established markets in the old EU-15 Member States and the emerging markets of the EU-12. The EU-15 are expected to install a similar number of MW in 2009 to the amount they added in 2008. The EU-12, however, are set to install 150 MW more than they installed in 2008: an increase of approximately 35 per cent.

Siemens opens new wind power training center in Bremen

Siemens has officially opened a new wind power training center in Bremen, Germany. The training center is an important part of the European service headquarters for wind power in Bremen and, together with three other training facilities in Europe and the U.S., meets Siemens global training needs for wind power services.

The new Siemens training center offers a wide variety of qualification and training options covering all aspects relating to the technology and operational reliability, an important contribution toward the reliable, efficient operation of wind turbines over the long term. The central feature of the new training center is the original-nacelle of a Siemens 2.3-MW wind turbine. A simulator, ladder structures, electrical and hydraulic modules, and a maintenance crane make training possible under virtually realistic conditions.

“We see service as much more than a regular look into the nacelle. And precisely because we attach such importance to service, we have decided to set up a training center for our service team here in Bremen,“ said René Umlauft, CEO of the Renewable Energy Division of Siemens Energy. “Here we also want to give our customers the opportunity to have their personnel trained in line with the latest developments.”
Wind turbines and the associated services are important features of the Siemens environmental portfolio. In 2008, revenue from the products and solutions of Siemens environmental portfolio was nearly EUR19 billion, equivalent to around a quarter of Siemens total revenue.

Vestas bogus statements exposed

Offshore Energy Union RMT today called for urgent government intervention to stop the closure of the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight after statements from the company that “demand is too low” for turbines in the UK were exposed as totally bogus.

Vestas, who are in court this morning seeking a possession order against staff occupying the Isle of Wight factory, are leading members of the British Wind Energy Association. Today, a survey by the Association revealed that the UK will need 2700 new wind turbines by 2012, blowing apart Vestas argument that the Isle of Wight factory, the only producer of wind turbines in the UK, is not viable. Government reports suggest that the UK will need 10,000 wind turbines by 2020, all of which will need to be imported if Vestas is closed in Newport.

Last night Vestas sacked 11 staff engaged in the occupation with dismissal letters smuggled through in pizza boxes – a move slammed as “cowardly” and “worse than you’d treat a dog” by the Vestas workers’ union, RMT.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, who will be at the Vestas factory this afternoon, said:

“The arguments used for closing Vestas on the Isle of Wight, that UK demand for wind turbines is too low, have today been exposed as totally bogus and on those grounds alone the Government should step in to save this factory and the 625 skilled manufacturing jobs before it is too late. Vestas have had millions in government subsidies and this week scooped up another GBP7 million in R&D money just days before they are due to close their only UK factory. They have touted themselves around like corporate prostitutes, sucking up taxpayers money while moving to dump their UK force on the scrap heap and that’s a scandal.”

“Yesterday, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson talked about “our low-carbon industrial future”. Today, the government have the chance to walk the talk, to step in and nationalise Vestas and save green jobs at the UK’s only wind turbine factory. They cannot sit idly by while a factory that UK wind energy production will need for the future is ripped apart.”

US is biggest wind market in the world

For the fourth consecutive year, the US was home to the fastest-growing wind power market in the world in 2008, says a report by the US Department of Energy and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Specifically, US wind power capacity additions increased by 60 per cent in 2008, representing a USD16 billion investment in new wind projects.

“At this pace, wind is on a path to becoming a significant contributor to the US power mix,” notes report author Ryan Wiser, Berkeley Lab. Wind projects accounted for 42 per cent of all new electric generating capacity added in the US in 2008, and wind now delivers nearly 2 per cent of the nation’s electricity supply.

The 2008 edition of the “Wind Technologies Market Report” provides a comprehensive overview of developments in the rapidly evolving US wind power market. The need for such a report has become apparent in the past few years, as the wind power industry has entered an era of unprecedented growth, both globally and in the US. At the same time, the last year has been one of upheaval, with the global financial crisis impacting near-term growth prospects for the wind industry, and with federal policy changes enacted to push the industry towards continued aggressive expansion.

“With the market evolving at such a rapid pace, keeping up with trends in the marketplace has become increasingly difficult,” notes report co-author Mark Bolinger. “Yet, the need for timely, objective information on the industry and its progress has never been greater…this report seeks to fill that need.”

The US is the fastest-growing wind market worldwide. The US has led the world in new wind capacity for four straight years, and overtook Germany to take the lead in cumulative wind capacity installations.
Growth is distributed across much of the US Texas leads the nation with 7,118 MW of new wind capacity, but 13 states had more than 500 MW of wind capacity as of the end of 2008, with seven topping 1,000 MW, and three topping 2,000 MW. Over 10 per cent of the electricity generation in Iowa and Minnesota now comes from wind power.

Market growth is spurring manufacturing investments in the US. Several major foreign wind turbine manufacturers either opened or announced new US wind turbine manufacturing plants in 2008. Likewise, new and existing US-based manufacturers either initiated or scaled-up production.

Wind project performance has improved over time, but has leveled off in recent years. The longer-term improvement in project performance has been driven in part by taller towers and larger rotors, enhanced project siting, and technological advancements.

Wind remained economically competitive in 2008. Despite rising project costs, in recent years wind has consistently been priced at or below the price of conventional electricity, as reflected in wholesale power prices. With wholesale prices plummeting in recent months, however, the economic position of wind in the near-term has become more challenging.

Bringing clean power from Africa

Twelve companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Munich to establish a Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) to analyse and develop the technical, economic, political, social and ecological framework for carbon-free power generation in the deserts of North Africa.

The desertec concept, developed by the TREC Initiative of the Club of Rome, describes the perspectives of a sustainable power supply for all regions of the world with access to the energy potential of deserts. The founder companies of the DII, whose regional focus is on Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), are: ABB, Siemens, Abengoa, ABENGOA Solar, Cevital, Deutsche Bank, E.ON, HSH Nordbank, MAN Solar, Millennium, Munich Re, M+W Zander, RWE and SCHOTT Solar.

Sustainable

Announcing its decision to join DII, Siemens has said in a release that environmentally friendly power generated at solar thermal power plants in the Sahara and wind farms in North Africa will be transported to the load centers where the power is needed.

"Desertec is a visionary project that can make a substantial contribution to sustainable power supply in the future energy mix," said René Umlauft, CEO of the Renewable Energy Division at Siemens Energy.

"The Desertec project unites sustainability, technological competence and visionary entrepreneurship – and precisely these features have been our strong points for more than 160 years. Siemens, with its broad portfolio of components for solar power plants, wind turbines and highly efficient power transmission, is the perfect technology partner for Desertec," said Umlauft.

Enormous potential

The earth's desert regions receive more energy in a mere six hours than mankind consumes within an entire year. In the Sahara, the sun shines 4,800 hours per year, providing the potential to generate clean solar power. As a comparison, this is roughly three times more than in Germany. Solar power plants covering an area of 300 km by 300 km could meet the worldwide energy needs. The Desertec initiative aims to meet 15 to 20 per cent of the European power demand using solar- and wind-based electricity by 2050.

Countries such as Morocco or Egypt also offer excellent potential for utilisation of wind power. Electricity generated in the desert regions of the Desertec project would then have to be transported over a distance of around 2,000 km from North Africa to consumers in Europe.

Siemens said such distances pose no problem for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technologies. An HVDC project implemented by Siemens in China, for example, involved the transmission of 5,000 megawatts (MW) generated by hydro power plants in the country's interior to megacities on the coast, located 1,400 km away. Thanks to this "electricity highway”, 95 per cent of the power arrives at the load centers.

By contrast, if traditional AC lines are used, approximately 400 MW would be lost during transmission, equal to the output of a medium-sized power plant or 160 wind turbines. These low transmission losses reduce the amount of CO2 released into the environment by three million metric tons per year.

ADB to finance wind farms in China

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will partly finance a USD73 million wind farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to support China's efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to promote private investment in renewable energy.

ADB is extending a long-term local currency loan of up to CNY164 million (USD24 million) to Datang Sino-Japan Renewable Power Corporation, a joint venture between state-owned China Datang Corporation and Japan’s Kyushu Electric Power Company, Sumitomo Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation Holdings. It will be the first private-sector wind farm to be financed by ADB in China.

With its economy still growing strongly, the China has become the second-largest power consumer in the world, after the US. A heavy reliance on coal to produce that power means the China now accounts for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Chinese government has identified wind power as a commercially viable clean energy alternative to fossil fuels. In a nation with abundant wind resources, it's estimated that if the industry were fully developed, it could produce about 1,000 gigawatts (GW), more than 1.5 times the country’s current electricity generation capacity.

"The lack of finance on reasonable terms has held back the development of clean energy projects in China. This project could become a model for future collaborations between state-owned enterprises and foreign investors in renewable energy projects, and may encourage China's private sector to invest in wind power projects," said Hisaka Kimura, Investment Specialist with ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department.

Inner Mongolia is considered a prime location for a medium to large-scale commercial wind power industry. The proposed 12-square-kilometer wind farm in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, is expected to provide a steady source of electricity for the national power grid.

In 2008, China generated 12 GW from wind power. The government aims to boost that to 100 GW per year by 2020. The Chifeng project will produce about 133 gigawatt-hours (GWh) a year. It should also generate carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism that allows buyers in industrialised countries with greenhouse gas reduction commitments to purchase carbon credits from developing countries, such as China, to meet those commitments.