wind

World’s Largest Wind Farm to Exist in Romania

- Adam Clare

Bloomberg is reporting that a Spanish company will be building the world’s largest wind farm in Romania. Romania’s current energy production system is well suited for wind power, hopefully neighbouring countries will follow Romania’s lead.

Iberdrola SA won approval to build the world’s largest onshore wind-energy project in Romania, requiring at least $2 billion in investment through 2017.

The Spanish utility said today it acquired rights from the Romanian government to build 1,500 megawatts of capacity. That’s almost five times the power coming from Europe’s largest wind complex and triple what’s proposed offshore Massachusetts in a project opposed by the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy.

Iberdrola, which became the world’s biggest wind-farm owner by using government incentives and charging above-market electricity rates for clean energy, now operates in 10 markets including the U.S. and U.K. The Romanian mega-park, near its operations in neighboring Hungary, may extend the Spanish company’s lead over second-ranked wind producer FPL Group Inc. of Florida.

Read the rest at Bloomberg.com

Shipyards to Wind Farms

- Adam Clare

A proposal making the rounds in the UK calls for modifying shipyards (which aren’t doing so well in the current economy) into modern wind farms. A good reuse of industrial space.

On a visit to Newcastle, the Liberal Democrat leader said that disused shipyards should be upgraded to allow them to produce the new equipment.

Under a Lib Dem plan, all port authorities on the North Sea and Irish Sea would be able to bid for a share of a £400m pot to convert shipyards into wind turbine plants.

Clegg said: “We need to make sure we come out of this recession with a rebalanced and green economy.

“New offshore turbines, with blades the size of the London Eye, need to be built and launched from modern docks, so we need to upgrade our shipyards to take advantage of this massive opportunity.

“Just imagine the docks and shipyards along the coastline of Britain coming to life and leading the world in this new technology.

Keep reading at The Guardian.

Renewable Energy in China is Booming

- Adam Clare 12 Comments

When most people think of China and energy coal generally comes to mind, indeed China is the world’s biggest user of coal for energy. That may not change anytime soon but what the Chinese government is doing now is expanding their renewable power and becoming the world’s largest exporter of renewable technology. We can all benefit from increased use of renewable energy even if it just offsets new coal power plants from being built.

China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants.

These efforts to dominate renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China.
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China’s top leaders are intensely focused on energy policy: on Wednesday, the government announced the creation of a National Energy Commission composed of cabinet ministers as a “superministry” led by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao himself.

Regulators have set mandates for power generation companies to use more renewable energy. Generous subsidies for consumers to install their own solar panels or solar water heaters have produced flurries of activity on rooftops across China.

Wind Power Shelters Sea Life

- Adam Clare

You read that right: wind power generation can shelter sea life. Offshore wind farms help create spaces that encourage sea life to grow in a similar fashion to coral reefs.

Offshore wind power and wave energy foundations can increase local abundances of fish and crabs. The reef-like constructions also favour for example blue mussels and barnacles. What’s more, it is possible to increase or decrease the abundance of various species by altering the structural design of foundation. This was shown by Dan Wilhelmsson of the Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, in a recently published dissertation.

“Hard surfaces are often hard currency in the ocean, and these foundations can function as artificial reefs. Rock boulders are often placed around the structures to prevent erosion (scouring) around these, and this strengthens the reef function,” says Dan Wilhelmsson.

Keep reading about offshore wind power at Science Daily.

29% Growth in Wind Power during 2008

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

The Worldwatch Institute has completed a study of wind power in 2008 and concluded that wind power generation increased by 29%!

Europe now generates 65,946 MW of wind power, or 55 percent of global capacity.

Germany still leads the region, generating 23,903 MW of wind power, but it saw new installations drop slightly in 2008.

In Asia, China ranked second globally in new capacity last year, adding some 6,300 MW to bring its total to over 12,200 MW.

The Chinese government has now surpassed its 2010 goal of 10,000 megawatts of installed wind power and a senior energy official said in April the country will have 100,000 MW in place by 2020.

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