In less than a quarter of the lifetime of a fossil fuel power plant, Europe’s progressive energy policies that have done so much to promote wind power and other renewable energies will run out.
This looming energy policy vacuum will be the focus of top level discussions at Europe’s largest wind power conference and exhibition. Hosted by the European Wind Energy Association, the conference and exhibition held in Brussels from 14-17 March will feature 200 top speakers, live debates, high-quality sessions covering a variety of topics and 300 specialist presentations.
More than 7,000 visitors and over 400 exhibitors are expected at the event, which is spread out over 13,000 square metres, making it EWEA’s largest exhibition ever. continue reading »
Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populated nation, is about to begin developing wind power, an energy official said on Monday.
The country’s first large-scale wind power plant will be built in Sukabumi, West Java, later this year this with a total capacity of 30 megawatts, according to a news report in The Jakarta Post.
The story noted PLN renewable energy division head Muhammad Sofyan, said that the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry had approved the project and local energy firm Viron Energy was waiting for the ministry to issue an official permit to begin construction. continue reading »
Wind energy will provide savings of up to €100 million for Irish power consumers in the next ten years, a new study has claimed. This is equivalent to an 11.5% reduction in wholesale power prices and is based on wind meeting 45% of Ireland’s power demand in 2020, up from 12% today.
These savings are made because wind energy pushes more expensive forms of power generation – like coal and gas – off the market. In fact already in 2011, says the document, the Irish will save €36.6 million thanks to wind energy.
While these impressive figures speak for themselves, not to be missed by those who still claim that wind energy is over-subsidised is the study’s finding that consumers “pay less through the support mechanisms than the savings they make from lower wholesale power prices”. In other words, even though customers do pay something to support renewables, they still save money overall thanks to wind energy. continue reading »
I want you to imagine for a minute you are walking on top of a cliff overlooking the North Sea. The wind is so strong you can lean your whole body into it. Below, almighty waves, swept up in the gale, are crashing onto the rocks.
Now imagine you are in Spain, or perhaps Italy or Portugal. The sun is soaking into your skin. The sky dazzles with the intense southern light that bounces glaringly off buildings and cars.
With such immense renewable sources of power to hand, it seems incredible that Europe is still having to fork out for fossil fuel imports. It is as though a farmer with a huge and fertile orchard were forced to pay an unreliable neighbour for fruit while his own rot in his back garden. continue reading »
Over 200,000 people make the European wind industry tick. Who are they and what exactly do they do? Wind Directions met some ’wind workers’ to find out.
Martin Mortensen spends most of the year out of his home country, Denmark. A commissioning engineer with Suzlon for nearly 11 years, Mortensen’s job involves starting up the newly installed turbines and running tests to make sure everything is fine. He also does update work and trains service staff.
His long time in the industry means he remembers when a 900 kW machine seemed huge, and people said “Wow! We won’t be able to get any bigger than that!” Now he works with Suzlon’s 2.1 MW turbine. continue reading »
