Archive for wind power
This article originally appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Thursday, July 16th, page 5
(they have billed David Andrews as Head of The Claverton Group Energy Think Tank – this is not accurate…there is no “Head “as such)
ANALYSIS – By Dave Andrews
Wind farms as is well know only work when the wind blows. This means that a turbine will on average, produce electricity on only one day out of three. However, this is not of itself an overwhelming disadvantage – as is often claimed.
Wind farms can still compete with other forms of electricity generation because although turbines are expensive to build, they have very low running costs.
The other argument against turbines is that they require back up when the wind is not blowing. This, too, is true. However, again it is not really a problem, since the power stations needed to provide backup have already been built, and are cheap to keep on standby. Wind farms just make sure we use less of the fossil fuel than we would otherwise, therefore cutting emissions. Read More→
Dr. Czisch gave a presentation which shows that with the large scale HVDC interconnection of Europe - the “European Supergrid” Europe can have 100% renewable energy at about the cost of today’s electricity - with all capital costs factored in – summarised here,
Rather than publish a duplicate paper on this site, Gregor has given us these links to his site where the various papers can be studied.
The most relevant one for English speakers is probably this one:
“Low Cost but Totally Renewable Electricity Supply”
http://transnational-renewables.org/Gregor_Czisch/projekte/LowCostEuropElSup_revised_for_AKE_2006.pdf
This paper, also given may interest people:
Wind Power and Reliability: The Roles of Baseload and Variable Resources
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff has stated that “baseload capacity is going to become an anachronism” and that no new nuclear or coal plants may ever be needed in the United States.
Quote from Press Release:
“1. This fact sheet explains why baseload power is only one of many ways to meet the power system’s need for energy and capacity, particularly in a world where a variety of other resources can provide these commodities at competitive prices. In addition, this fact sheet illustrates that, because baseload power has little or no flexibility, baseload power alone is insufficient to meet all power system needs. A combination of a large amount of renewable energy, combined with flexible natural gas plants and demand-response and efficiency, can ensure that our electric system has sufficient energy, capacity, and flexibility, and operates reliably and cost-effectively. The marketplace is already pointing in the direction described by Chairman Wellinghoff: since 2005, natural gas and wind power have accounted for nearly 90% of all new U.S. generating capacity……”
Continued at: US FERC John Wellinghoo
More wind energy at: http://www.claverton-energy.com/energy-experts-library/downloads/windenergy
More energy files at: http://www.claverton-energy.com/energy-experts-library/downloads
Also:
Wikipedia Intermittency article
Wikipedia Wind Energy article
