We’re often wondering how much bigger wind turbines will get – 10 MW, 20 MW, even more? But what about the practicalities of getting those huge components from the factory to the wind farm site?
In the latest Wind Directions, we discuss how new transport equipment is constantly being designed to transport the up to 85 metre long blades and 200 tonne weight nacelles and towers. In fact, the transport can represent 10% of the delivery costs.
From the minimalist ‘T’ pylon, to the slender ‘silhouette’ pylon and the futuristic, longbow ‘plexus’ pylon, the winners of the UK National Grid’s pylon design competition are on display at the Victoria and Albert museum as part of the London Design Festival.
One of the six winning pylon designs – take a look at them here – could replace the current steel lattice pylons that are familiar to the British countryside – a design has hardly changed since it was first conceived in 1927.
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Battered by March’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, Japan was much in the news this past week with announcements that highlighted how emissions-free wind power can help rebuild the world’s number three economy.
With a death toll of nearly 16,000 people and more than 4,600 still missing, the related disasters have caused Japan’s leaders to re-examine commitments to their nuclear industry while encouraging the increased use of wind power and other renewables.
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EWEA’s Communication Director looks at the need for greater grid investments…
By Julian Scola
The sometimes destructive power of the wind has made the headlines a lot recently and this weekend it was the UK’s turn as the tail-end of hurricane Katia lashed the island nation. As the storm left UK shores on Monday, some newspapers reported a different kind of story – Scottish wind farms produced so much electricity that they were disconnected from the grid. A total of 13 wind farms were turned off on Monday morning as winds reached 90mph overloading the national grid, the Scottish Herald said.
Austria will lead Europe when it comes to sourcing the highest percentage of electricity from renewable sources in 2020, according to recent analysis carried out by EWEA. The small, mountainous nation will source an impressive 71% of its electricity from renewables.
Next in line will be Sweden – set to source 63% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, followed by Latvia – 60%, Portugal – 55% and Denmark – 54%. At the other end of the scale, Poland, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Hungary are all set to cover less than 20% of their electricity needs with renewable electricity.
