wind

New Windfarm for Shetland Islands to Power 175,000 Homes

- Adam Clare

The Shetland Islands will be getting what is expected to be the most productive wind farm on the planet. Wind blows across the islands almost all the time thus producing a space friendly to wind turbine efficiency.

The joint venture between energy giant SSE and Viking Energy Ltd, owned by the trust, will have 370MW capacity and is expected to generate enough energy for 175,000 homes – sixteen times the number of homes on Shetland.

One small turbine on a hill north of Lerwick, called Betsy, already holds a world record for its efficiency, reaching 59% of its potential output, thanks to the consistently powerful winds which sweep Shetland.

The developers said that meant the Viking scheme had the potential to be the most productive in the world. Councillor Bill Manson, chairman of Viking Energy Partnership, said: “This is good news for Shetland, good news for Scotland and good news for the fight against climate change.”

Read the rest at the Guardian.

Japan Develops Wind Turbine That Doubles Output

- Adam Clare

A simple addition to the standard wind turbine setup called a wind lens can double, or even triple, the power output.

Professor Prof. Yuji Ohya of the Kyushu University research institute for applied mechanics (RIAM) has been working with a team to improve the efficiency of wind turbines. Combining an inlet shroud, a diffuser, and a brim into a wind lens, power output has been improved by a factor of 2 to 5 times in several experiments. Turbine noise is also decreased.

Here’s more on the matter.

Thanks Greg!

Brazil: Wind Power Now Cheaper Than Natural Gas

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

In Brazil a recent energy auction has shown that wind power is cheaper than natural gas in the country, and also a better investment opportunity. The competitiveness of sustainable energy sources continues to impress everyone (even with the subsidized resource-extraction industries), it’s only a matter of time until other sustainable energy options get this cheap.

They even expect the cost of wind power to decrease in the coming years!

EPE president and chief executive Mauricio Tolmasquim said the auctions show that wind and natural gas are competitive, predicting wind prices will continue to fall in Brazil.

“That wind power plants have been contracted at two digit prices, below 100 reals per MWh, showcases the energy market competition through auctions,” he said. “That wind power could reach these lows versus natural gas was unimaginable until recently.”

The energy auctions for a total of 92 projects were the first in Brazil for 2011, and also featured biomass, hydro-electric and natural gas projects.

Investments amounted to 11.2bn reals in total, for 3,962MW of energy that is slated to start generating in 2014.

Read more at Business Green.

SkySails Signs a Deal

- Adam Clare

In 2007 we looked at SkySails when they were still in the startup phase of their company and today they have signed a large deal with Cargill, a large shipping company. Cargill will use SkySails starting later this year to save up to 30% of their fuel costs.

SkySails are a sails that attach to the front of the boat to help tow a boat along in open seas. The use of a rather large sail helps lower transportation costs while lowering the shipping industry’s impact on the environment.

Plans are in place next December to install one of these giant kites on a handysize vessel of between 25,000 and 30,000 deadweight tonnes, which the company has on long-term charter, making it the largest vessel propelled by a kite in the world. It is hoped to have this system fully operational in the first quarter of 2012.

G.J. van den Akker, head of Cargill’s ocean transportation business, said that “the shipping industry currently supports 90 percent of the world’s international physical trade. In a world of finite resources, environmental stewardship makes good business sense.” A recent United Nations study cited by Cargill says that up to 100 million tons of carbon dioxide could be saved every year by the broad application of the SkySails’ technology on the world merchant fleet.

Read some more here.

Wind Power Company Shares $1.5 Million Prize

- Adam Clare 2 Comments

The world’s largest wind-turbine manufacture won a $1.5 million prize and gave all the money to it’s competitors!

Vestas Wind Systems donated the money to help to launch a product label that will tell consumers which goods have been made using wind power.

The Danish company was chosen from six finalists. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, presented the awards last night as the World Future Energy Summit took place in the capital.

This is the kind of great attitude that will make the green economy surge!

Read the full article here.

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