After major decrease in new installations can be observed in North America and the USA lost its number one position in total capacity to China. China became number one in total installed capacity and the center of the international wind industry, and added 18,928 Megawatt within one year, accounting for more than 50 % of the world market for new wind turbines. The decrease in new capacity outside China can be seen as a result of insufficient political support for wind energy utilization. In a paradox situation, more and more policymakers are declaring their support for increased use of wind energy, but such statements do not go hand in hand with the necessary political decisions.

The highest growth rates of the year 2010 by country can be found in Romania, which increased its capacity by 40 times. The second country with a growth rate of more than 100 % was Bulgaria (112 %). In the year 2009, still four major wind markets had more than doubled their wind capacity: China, Mexico, Turkey, and Morocco. Next to China, strong growth could be found mainly in Eastern European and South Eastern European countries: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Cyprus, and Belgium. Africa (with the exception of Egypt and Morocco) and Latin America (with the exception of Brazil), are again lagging behind the rest of the world in the commercial use of wind power.

Top wind markets 2010

In 2010, the Chinese wind market became a class of its own, representing more than half of the world market for new wind turbines adding 18,9 GW, which equals a market share of 50,3 %. A sharp decrease in new capacity happened in the USA whose share in new wind turbines fell down to 14,9 % (5,6 GW), after 25,9 % or 9,9 GW in the year 2009.

Nine further countries could be seen as major markets, with turbine sales in a range between 0,5 and 1,5 GW: Germany, Spain, India, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Sweden and the Eastern European newcomer Romania.

In relation to its population, Denmark has the by far highest amount of installed capacity per person (0,675 kW per person), followed by Spain (0,442 kW/person), Portugal (0,344 kW/person) and Germany (0,334 kW/person). In this perspective, world leader China only lands on place 27 (0,033 kW/person), the USA reach number 9 (0,128 kW/person) and India reaches only position 39 (0,011 kW/person).

All wind turbines installed by the end of 2010 worldwide can generate 430 Terawatthours per annum, more than the total electricity demand of the United Kingdom, the sixth largest economy of the world, and equaling 2,5 % of the global electricity consumption.

By the end of the year 2010, about 670,000 persons were employed worldwide directly and indirectly in the various branches of the wind sector. Within five years, the number of jobs almost tripled, from 235 000 in 2005. There is an increasing demand for a very broad range of jobs, from engineers, skilled workers to mangers, financial, environmental and legal experts.

Offshore wind capacity

Offshore wind capacity continued to grow in the year 2010. Like in the previous year, wind farms installed in the sea could be found in twelve countries, ten of them in Europe, as well as in China and Japan. Total installed offshore wind capacity amounted to 3,117.6 MW, out of which 1,161.7 MW were added in 2010.

This represents a growth rate of 59%, far above the average growth rate of the wind sector. The share of offshore in total wind capacity worldwide went up from 1.2 % in 2009 to 1.6 % in 2010. The share of offshore capacity in new installations went up to 3.1 %.

The World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) is a non-profit organization which works for a world energy system fully based on the various renewable energy technologies, with wind energy as one cornerstone. WWEA acts as a communication platform for all wind energy actors worldwide, WWEA advises national governments and international organizations on favorable policies for wind energy implementation and WWEA enhances international technology transfer, a key in the accelerated dissemination of this clean technology.

Via: World Wind Energy Association

The order comprises delivery, transportation and installation of the wind turbines, a VestasOnline® Business SCADA system, as well as a 5-year service and availability agreement. Delivery of the turbines is scheduled to start in September 2011 and the projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

“We are very pleased to announce this important contract, as, among other things, it shows the customer’s trust in our new product, the V100-1.8 MW turbine. The turbine is an excellent match to the Brazilian market and we look forward to introducing this new model in Brazil,” said Juan Araluce, President of Vestas Mediterranean. “Moreover, this order is a perfect example of our customer’s forward-thinking approach to a growing market like the Brazilian one,” the President concluded.

In total, the wind power plants will produce approx 370 GWh per year, saving the environment from more than 27,000 tons of CO2 on an annual basis. Furthermore, they will provide enough electricity to power almost 150,000 Brazilian households annually.

In 2007 renewables were contributing over 19% of total electrical production, and about 4% of all energy usage. Scotland boasts 25% of Europe’s off-shore wind resources. Today the region counts with 3,767 MW of renewable energy generation capacity, from which 1,388 MW are hydro power and 2,165 are wind power.

Wind turbines are the fastest growing of the renewable energy technologies in Scotland. Most turbines in the EU produce electricity at an average of 25% of their rated maximum power due to the intermittency of wind resources, but Scotland’s wind regime provides average of 40% or higher on the west and northern coasts.

There are now numerous large on-shore power stations including Black Law Wind Farm rated at over 96 MW, Hadyard Hill Wind Farm (the first wind farm in the UK able to generate over 100 MW), and Whitelee Wind Farm (situated in East Renfrewshire), a 322 MW project that is the largest onshore wind farm in Europe.

The news is that by 2012 this last huge wind farm will experience a massive expansion, adding another 75 turbines to the 140 that are currently operating. This will result in a 215 turbine wind farm with an installed capacity of 539 MW, enough to power about 300,000 homes.

The growth will see 69 Alstom ECO 100 turbines added, each with a 3MW capacity – greater than the current 2MW models. Six ECO 74 turbines with 1.67 MW capacity each will also be added.

The Scottish Government has an ambitious target for Scotland to provide 50% of Scottish electricity consumption and 11% of heat consumption from renewables by 2020. And what is more ambitious: to provide 31% of electricity consumption from renewables by 2011.

Via: BBC | Scottish Government | Scottish Renewables

“This enclosed turbine should produce significant power at half the life-cycle cost of the windmills” says Howard Fuller, its inventor.

By rebalancing the blades of conventional wind turbines, the inventor was able to eliminate the up-tower maintenance.

A proof of concept model exists and a prototype is expected to generate 10kW, with production units ranging from 5 to 100kW. An insignificant amount, perhaps, compared to a 3MW windmill, but – argues Fuller – power generation can be scaled up by grouping arrays more densely, with blade clearance no longer a concern.

“The fact that people are coming up with such a variety of solutions testifies to the vibrancy and viability of the wind energy market, and shows that there is a lot of potential”, said Nick Medic of Renewable UK

Whether the Fuller can boost micro-wind for the home remains to be seen.

Via: World Changing

Across the globe numerous public events will be organized simultaneously, this day is an awareness campaign for the promotion of wind energy worldwide, stressing that clean energy tackles climate change and boosts energy independence.

Vestas is the No. 1 company in providing wind energy, they handle everything from project planning, construction, and operation of wind-powered power plants. They state: “As energy consumption soars, where are the fuels that will meet the demand? Fossil fuels are a finite resource that will gradually disappear. But already, their natural replacement is sweeping freely around the earth. Wind. Renewable, predictable, fast to install, clean . . . and commercially viable.”

This company is spreading the positive message about wind power. Not only do they prove that it is clean and eco-friendly since no CO2 or other greenhouse gasses are produced, no hazardous waste is left behind as a poisonous legacy for future generations either. They also go out to demonstrate that it is actually a great business investment, competing on price with conventional energy providers such as oil and gas. Vestas has taken wind power to a level of technological maturity which allows this competition to be possible.

Our world today is struggling to satisfy it’s energy demands, consuming natural resources and polluting along the way. A clear and simple solution to this is wind energy. Predictions by Vestas state that by 2020 as much as 10 per cent of the world’s electricity consumption could be satisfied by energy from the wind. It is time to embrace the reality that now is the moment to switch to clean energy.

Today, on June 15th, people from every corner of the world participating in the events organized for the Global Wind Day will have the possibility to learn about the numerous benefits of wind energy. Hopefully they will join the fight to a cleaner, simpler energy source.

The project to build 2,000 wind turbines is intended to add 10 terawatt hours (TWh) a year. One terawatt is one trillion watts.

"This would be the highest share in the world," Olofsson said. No other country has such a high share of renewable energies. Actually, Sweden is already one of the most advanced countries in terms of usage of renewable energy. “Renewable energy makes up 40 percent of our energy consumption”.

Oil accounts for one third of Sweden’s energy system. In the 70s, oil represented more than 70% of the total energy supply. Thanks to diversification of fuels and an increasingly efficient use of energy, this percentage keeps going down.

Nowadays, around half of the electricity comes from hydropower, and nuclear power also plays an important role.

Among the renewable energies that have been growing in Sweden are biomass and wind energy. Biomass is very much used for heating. In fact, bio-energy has been growing very much in the last decades. In the 80s, it accounted for around 10% of the total energy supply; in 2004 that share had risen to 16% or 100 TWh. Some of the biofuels used include wood fuels, black liquors and tall oil pitches, and ethanol.

An interesting tool which is used by the Swedish government is the green electricity certificate system. Energy suppliers need to have a quota of renewable energy. The goal of this Renewable electricity with green certificates Bill is to foster the development of renewable electricity production. There are established targets of renewable energy growth rates which help determine quotas. Renewable energy producers are given certificates for every MWh of electricity produced, which can be bought by electricity suppliers, who need to complete their quota obligation.

VIA: Treehugger

Sweden Energy Policy

A consortium of nine companies called Dansk Microvarme is carrying out a 6-year project to develop the necessary technology and deploy it in the village of Vestenskov. The island generates 50% more wind power than it uses. The problem is that pure wind energy cannot be stored. So, when the wind doesn’t blow, there is a lack of energy, and the village might be forced to resort to fossil fuels. That’s when the idea of hydrogen and fuel cells comes in. The project being developed in Lolland consists of using excess wind power to obtain hydrogen, which is then used in fuel cells to generate electricity and heat.

The fuel cells are part of micro combined heat and power (CHP) technologies. When the hydrogen goes through a chemical process to generate electricity, it also produces heat, which is used to heat homes in the village.

The local government wants to position Lolland as a model for large-scale hydrogen technology. In order to do so, it is progressively developing the technology and making it available for household consumption.

The project is divided into three main phases:

The first one goes from 2006 to 2007; during this period a test/demonstration plant was built to make hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis. Besides, fuel cells were produced, as well as equipment to connect them to the village’s energy supply grid. Basically, the whole thing works like this: there is a plant in which hydrogen is produced, then, hydrogen is sent through pipelines to homes, where the fuel cells are, and there, the electricity is generated.

The second phase starts in 2007 and includes this year. The main aim of this period has already been achieved, which sought to connect the first five households in Vestenskov to the hydrogen plant. Homes were equipped with micro-CHP units which produce electricity and heat. The units are the size of a refrigerator. As I’ve mentioned in the previous paragraph, hydrogen is directly distributed through underground pipes to the houses, from a large electrolysis plant in a field behind the village’s nursing home.

And the last phase, beginning this year, has as a central goal supplying 35-40 households with hydrogen based on the experiences from the test homes. Homes will get a fuel cell module the size of a small central heating unit. It is expected that all the houses in Vestenskov will be connected to the hydrogen system by 2012.

This project is a smart way of profiting from the excess wind power generated in the island. Besides, Lolland has taken what could have been considered a problem (not being able to store wind power) and transformed it into an opportunity; getting stronger in fuel cell technology to become a leader in the sector.

VIA: Sustainable Cities

The population being around 4,300, it is more feasible to achieve such a demanding goal there than in larger cities.

The main business sectors of the island are agriculture, followed by tourism. Thanks to the renewable energy projects, which brought about 57 million euros in investment, between 1998 and 2007, each year hundreds of jobs were created. In one year the equivalent to 20 years of employment.

Denmark is among the leading countries when it comes to renewable energies and sustainability. After the 1973 oil crisis, Danes reacted and didn’t forget the consequences of Yom Kippur. 90% of their energy used to come almost entirely from imported petroleum. That’s why they started to manage energy differently, by promoting its conservation and efficient use. Now the country gets around 19% of its electricity from the wind, and Danish companies control 1/3 of the global wind market.

Further, compared to 1990 levels, greenhouse gas emissions have decreased more than 13%. Denmark proves that economic growth and sustainability can peacefully coexist. Its next target is to meet its Kyoto pledges; reducing CO2 emissions 21% by 2012 compared to 1990 levels.

In this context, Samso is the most extreme case of sustainable management of energy in Denmark.

In the island, most power comes from the wind: there are turbines on land, and offshore. Whereas heating comes either from biomass, specifically from burning straw to boil water and send it to the heating pipes, or from solar thermal panels. In 1997, 25% of the energy needed for heating was renewable. In 2005, 65% came from renewable sources.

There are a few cases of collective ownership of both turbines and solar panels, which help to further deploy renewable energy technologies and to involve people in the process of change. The wind turbines belong to a windmill cooperative and to individual owners. There are eleven of them, each generating 1 MW.

A number of houses do not reach the district heating system. They can ask for a report that suggests how to green their power consumption, either by adopting renewable energy technology, insulating their buildings, conserving energy, among other things.

Regarding transportation, it still has not switched to renewable power. Apparently, there has been investigation, but most solutions are expensive and still not feasible. So this sector still emits GHG, which are compensated by the offshore wind turbines.

The island produces more energy than what it consumes, which allows it to export 80 million kilowatt-hours each year.

VIA: Time

Scientific American

More on Samso: Samso Energy Academy

A small ISP (Internet Service Provider) and hosting company in Illinois has become the first data center operator to be powered entirely by wind energy. The company is called Other World Computing (OWC) and is located in Woodstock, Illinois. It has installed a wind turbine on its premises, that supplies all of its energy needs.

The turbine is 131 foot high and it can generate 500 kilowatts of power. Per year, it generates 1.2 million kW, more than twice what OWC needs. The surplus power will be sold to the local power provider. When the wind blows stronger, the wind turbine can produce in one week more energy than what OWC needs for a whole month. On the other hand, the company knows that the wind may not always blow; in those cases, energy is taken from the local provider.

When wind power is transformed into energy, the energy goes to the company’s metering device; OWC uses the amount it needs, and the rest is sold to the local provider.

Further, the company’s facility was rated LEED Platinum. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a rating system that provides a set of standards for environmental construction. Also, thanks to its different green initiatives, OWC was ranked N 9 on a list of green-IT vendors, by computerworld, in 2008.

The turbine was designed to function and produce energy at low speeds, given that the area’s average wind speed is of 10-15 mph. Even at 9 mph, the turbine can generate power.

The whole installation of the turbine cost $1.25 million, an investment that OWC expects to recover within 10-14 years. This period can be reduced considering the rising energy costs.

VIA: DataCenterKnowledge