introduction & overview of wind technology

8/2/2019 Introduction & Overview of Wind Technology

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White Paper

An Introduction and Overview

of Wind TechnologyMarch 2012

Presented by:

Written by: Robert Koblovsky


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The current financial crisis affecting the investments in renewable projects, the regulatory

uncertainty experienced in mature markets and the green "protectionism" existing in new

markets are some of the critical challenges facing wind industry, reminded Juan Araluce,

President, Vestas Mediterranean, as speaking this week at World Future Energy Summit in Abu

Dhabi.Responding to challenges facing wind industry; Jan 20 2012 Energy Enviro Finland

Environmental groups and local citizens have banded together to oppose the implementation

of large wind farms. Health and safety concerns, impact on the environment and wild life

represent the major issues. Even the implementation of off shore wind farms is gettingnegative press.

Many of the issues raised here may not be relevant at the residential level.

How do they work?

Anything that is in motion such as moving air contains a form of energy we refer to as

kinetic energy. Slowing air down reduces its kinetic energy and that energy has to gosomewhere. Wind turbines slow wind down and convert some of the energy to mechanical and

electrical energy. Wind Technology Today, University of MassachusettsRenewable Energy Research LaboratoryWind turbines operate when the wind speed is within certain limits. The wind turns the blades

of the turbine when the wind is at 7 to 8 miles per hour. When the wind speeds get to 25m/s

(56mph, 49 knots), turbines typically shut down to protect the structure from excessive loads.

Wind turbines are certified to specified levels and designed to the highest of these. How WindTurbines Work, Sept 2008, Wind Energy Planning

Albert Bet, a German Physicist, determined that the upper limit to the amount of energy you

can capture from the wind is about 59%.


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Anatomy of a Wind Turbine

There are many different designs for wind turbines. The ones we are most familiar with, of

course, are the high towers with three large rotating blades. There are many designs in

production or in development. Figures 1 through 3 are examples of three different designs.

There are many variations even within each category. For example, you will find different

designs for vertical access wind turbines. There are also many variations on the typicalturbine; some have more blades others different housings. A quick search on Google will show

that the designs available or in R&D are only limited by the designers imaginations.

Figure 1:Three Blade Wind Turbine Figure 2: Vertical Access Wind Turbine Figure 3: Multi Access Turbo System

Some of the newer designs are very different. Figures 4 and 5 below are two examples of

variations on the theme for vertical wind turbines.


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Figure 4: Vertical Wind Turbine Figure 5: Vertical Wind Turbine

Wind power can be divided into three general size ranges, Residential (small), Commercial

(medium) and Commercial (large). The size is chosen differently depending on the turbines

purpose and the application it serves. For example, typical sizes in the three ranges available

in the US are:

Residential: below 30 kW

Example: 20,000 kWh/yearMedium: 30 - 500 kW

Example: 600,000 kWh/yearCommercial scale: 500 kW - 2 MW

Usually fed into the grid, not sized to a single Load.Example: 4,000,000 kWh/year

Source: Wind Technology Today, University of Massachusetts

The focus of this white paper is on medium to large wind farms both on and off shore.


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Anatomy of a Wind Turbine

All wind turbines basically follow the same design. They may look different but regardless of

the final designs elements most of the components are the same.

Figure 6

The main components of the wind turbine are:

Rotor: includes the blades and the connecting hub


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Nacelle: the housing at the top of the tower. Traditionally the Nacelle houses the gearbox and generator and helps reduce noise levels. Some newer designs have the

generator in the base of the tower to redistribute some of the weight.

Tower: A hollow steel tube supports which supports the nacelle. Base: The base provides the foundation for the tower and nacelle. The foundation is

typically re-enforced cement.

The blades of a larger turbine will pitch to change the angle to the wind (see #3 in Figure 6) toimprove and optimize performance.

Larger commercial-scale turbines have a motor to yaw, or turn the rotor to either face into the

wind or to yaw out of the wind if wind speed is too high.

The spinning blades turn a low speed shaft which connects through a gearbox to a high speed

shaft that connects to the generator. The generator produces the electricity which is then fed

into the GRID or to a storage medium.

A turbine must shut down and turn perpendicular to the wind to protect itself from being

overpowered when winds reach high speed (56 mph). The cut out wind speed protects theturbine from damage.

Some turbines incorporate electronics that allow them to optimize their power output by

varying their speed. Variable speed turbines increase their rotation speed in higher winds in

order to optimize the aerodynamic efficiency.

The speed of wind should not be too strong because it makes turbines spin too fast and in this

process it commits suicide! Why is it so? Because turbine blades get ripped off by stronger

windsexcessive heat damages the alternator. Turbine tower too cant remain unaffected by

the strong wind. To prevent all this damage a mechanical breaking system furling is generallyused. This method prevents wind turbine from spinning too quickly by turning the blades away

from the direction of the wind. Furling can be manual or automatic with same goal i.e. turning

the turbine blade edges into the wind when the wind is dangerously strong and stormy. Break

Through in Small Wind technology,Alternative Energy Nov 2008


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Constant speedturbineskeep their rotation speed more or less constant while the power and

the torque change.

Impact on Health

Wind power has been identified by the United Nations and the World Health Organization as a

clean renewable energy source that has no impact on global warming, and no known emissions,

waste products, or harmful pollutants.The Health Impact of Wind Turbines: A Review of the Current White,Grey, and Published Literature,Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit June 2008

As you will see this may not be the case as more recent studies have shown for example, that

large wind farms could have an effect on climate.

This is an emotionally charged topic. The pro wind groups downplay the negative impact and

focus on the clean and renewable energy that can be garnered by capturing the wind.

The anti-wind faction has raised a lot of questions about the impact of wind on people, birds,

animals and the environment. Both groups claim the other is twisting or at the very least

skewing the facts to support their agendas.

In a review completed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMHO) of Ontario the conclusion

was that while some people living near wind turbines report symptoms such as dizziness,

headaches, and sleep disturbance, the scientific evidence available to date does not

demonstrate a direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects.

Noise and Vibrations

The sounds emitted from wind turbines can either be mechanical, from internal equipment

such as the gearbox or yaw drive, or aerodynamic, from air moving past the rotor blades.

Modern turbine designs have effectively reduced mechanical sound through sound proofing so

that the whooshing aerodynamic sound is what can normally be heard.


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Most of the literature with regard to human health effects from noise generated by wind

turbine developments is based on anecdotal testimony from residents living in proximity to

operational wind turbines. SUMMARY REPORT LITERATURE SEARCH ON THE POTENTIAL HEALTH IMPACTSASSOCIATED WITH WIND-TO-ENERGY TURBINE OPERATIONS; Health Assessment Section, Bureau of Environmental Health,

Ohio Department of Health

March, 2008

There is no doubt that noise and vibrations can result in a neuro-biological reaction.The French

National Academy of Medicine (Chouard, 2006). The question remains as to what impact wind turbines

have and what can be done to mitigate those effects.

Previous research, much of which has not been peer reviewed, links wind turbines with a

variety of physical and emotional problems. Researchers in Portugal claimed the turbines

contributed to "vibroacoustic disease," a full body reaction to low frequency noise that affects

the auditory and vestibular system, which controls a person's ability to balance. A pediatrician

in the United States coined the term "wind turbine syndrome" to describe the symptoms

people experience from living near wind turbines, such as sleep disturbance, headache,

vertigo, ear pressure, tachycardia (rapid heart rate) and concentration and memory problems.

Study to determine health effects of turbines, Sarah Hoesveld, Globe and Mail, Published Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009

According to Dr. Nina Pierpont, turbine noise and vibrations disrupt the inner ear system,

which may lead to nervousness, nausea, tachycardia (increased heart rate) and sleep

disturbance. Pierpont recommends that turbines be set at least 2km from people's homes.

The noise produced by wind turbines is decreasing as newer models and designs reflect a

maturing technology. We think the focus should be on placing wind farms no closer than the

two kilometers recommended by Dr. Pierpont. It becomes lees of a concern for off shore

installations.

Regardless, Data with regard to the nature of these health impacts does seem to be consistentfor all of these communities. SUMMARY REPORT LITERATURE SEARCH ON THE POTENTIAL HEALTH IMPACTSASSOCIATED WITH WIND-TO-ENERGY TURBINE OPERATIONS; Health Assessment Section, Bureau of Environmental Health,

Ohio Department of Health, March, 2008

In a study published in 2007 entitled Wind Turbines Noise and Health by Dr. Amanda Harry

found that there are many people living near wind turbines who are suffering with problems


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with their health. She does go on to conclude that no home should be closer than 1.5 miles

from a wind turbine.

Many of the respondents to her survey lived in close proximity of the wind turbines, some as

close as 300 meters.

Health Canada is drafting national guidelines for electricity-generating wind turbines that will

establish a recommended minimum safe distance of 2 KM between the structures and homes.

Structural noise (when a turbine is secured to a building) is different than airborne noise from

the spinning of the wind turbine. Structure-borne sound has the character of a whine which

in psycho-acoustic terms is quite different to the familiar blade swish from airborne sound.Structure-borne sound and vibration from building-mounted wind turbines,Andy Moorhouse1, Andy Elliott1,

GrahamEastwick2,Tomos Evans1, Andy Ryan1, Sabine von Hunerbein1, Valentin le Bescond1 and DavidWaddington1

1Acoustics Research Centre, University of Salford, Manchester, August 2011

The study concludes that: Structure-borne sound is potentially of concern for building

mounted wind turbines. This is more of an issue with small to medium building mounted wind

turbines.

More extensive on-going research is required.

Shadow Flicker/Strobing

When the blades of the turbine rotate the effect on a sunny day is called Shadow Flicker. It

occurs mainly at sunrise and sunset. Flicker has been known to cause headaches. At the very

least it must be incredibly annoying even if the threshold is 30 hours per year. There are a few

interesting videos on YouTube.

Strobing occurs when sunlight is reflected back to the viewer from the blades.


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Safety

Ice Shed/Ice Throw

In colder climates ice can accumulate on the blades of the turbine. Under certain condition ice

can be thrown off the blades. Claims have been made of ice flying up to 1,700 feet.

Ice shedding happens when the ice melts and falls to the ground under the tower producing ahazard for people of animals below.

Structural Hazards

Blades on windmills break. Many of them are massive. Check out the man standing by the

blade in the left bottom of the picture. We would expect mean time between failure stats to

improve with new designs and materials.

Figure 7

Source: Google Images


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Regardless, as more and more wind farms and turbines are constructed this will inevitably

become an obstacle that must be addressed. Beyond the potential impact of structural failure

on shore, off shore implementations are even more problematic. How will we recover pieces

that fall into the sea?

Impact on the Environment

Wildlife

Wind turbines kill birds. No one is arguing that some birds do die. Every time we (man) changes

our environment in any way, there is an impact. How many birds, fish and mammals were killed

as a result of the oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico or the Exxon Valdez?

In fact, the research to date indicates that wind turbines kill relatively few birds, at least

compared with other man-made structures. The Dutch study we quote in this section did find

that some migratory birds change their behaviours and avoid the wind farms.

Man-made structure/technology Associated bird deaths per year (U.S.)

Feral and domestic cats Hundreds of millions [source:AWEA]

Power lines 130 million -- 174 million [source:AWEA]

Windows (residential and commercial) 100 million -- 1 billion [source: TreeHugger]

Pesticides 70 million [source:AWEA]

Automobiles 60 million -- 80 million [source: AWEA]

Lighted communication towers 40 million -- 50 million [source: AWEA]

Wind turbines 10,000 -- 40,000 [source AWEA]

Although the numbers are telling it should be noted that deployment of wind farms large and

small is still in its infancy. We would expect the number of bird deaths to go up to go up as

more implementations are completed and brought on line.

No one likes to see birds or any animal suffer or die. We would argue that if reducing bird

deaths is a real concern than time would be better spent focusing on one of the other areas.


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Some studies have suggested the risk to bats is greater. Apparently the moving blades cause a

drop in air pressure causing the bats lung to suddenly expand and hemorrhage. The US

National Research Council published a survey in May 2007 showing that two bat species

accounted for 60% of winged animals killed by wind turbines. Wind Turbines Makes Bats Lungs Explode,New Scientist, Catherine Brahic, August 2008

Research conducted in the Netherlands looked at both on shore and off shore wind farms and

their impact on birds and sea life.

The temporal variability of the fish community is large, both inside and outside the wind farm,

and not due to its presence. Some fish species, such as cod, seem to find shelter in the wind

farm. Some bird species appear to avoid the farm while others are indifferent or even attracted.

There are clear indications of the influence of the turbines on the flight pattern of both local

and migratory birds, where several bird species tend to avoid the turbines or the entire farm.Short-term ecological effects of an offshore

wind farm in the Dutch coastal zone; a compilation, H J Lindeboom1, H J Kouwenhoven2, M J N Bergman3, S Bouma4,S

Brasseur1, R Daan3, R C Fijn4, D de Haan5, S Dirksen4,RvanHal5, R Hille Ris Lambers5, R terHofstede5, K L Krijgsveld4,

MLeopold1 and M Scheidat1, August 2011.

The Dutch study also found that; For seals, the data density is insufficient for definiteconclusions but before and after the pile driving, seals used the study area. Harbour porpoises

showed no aversion to Operational wind farms. In contrast, there are indications that, at least

during the study period, animals used the area in the wind park more frequently than the

reference areas.

The results are not that surprising. Wildlife has a way of adapting to their environment. That

seems to be the case here. We still however need to monitor long term impact.

Waste Management

In June of 2011 a Danish Newspaper Dagbladet Borsen reported that a gigantic mountain of

scrap blades is building up. The blades are made of carbon fibre composite. Carbon fibre

composite cannot be recycled and when burned releases toxic emissions.

As shown in Figure 7 some of these blades and housing can be quite large. How are we going

to dispose of this new waste? How much waste will the industry produce?


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Climate

A recently published study from MIT claims that large implementations do have an effect on

the micro climate, which could as more wind farms come on line worldwide have a global

impact.

a large deployment of wind turbines over land to meet about 10% of predicted world energy

needs in 2100 could lead to a significant temperature increase in the lower atmosphere over

the installed regions. A global-scale perturbation to the general circulation patterns as well asto the cloud and precipitation distribution was also predicted. Potential climatic impacts and reliability oflarge-scale offshore wind farms; ChienWang and Ronald G Prinn, Center for Global Change Science and Joint Program of the

Science and Policy of GlobalChange, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 2011

They go on to say that, In contrast to the previous land installation results, the offshore wind

turbine installations are found to cause a surface cooling over the installed offshore regions.

This cooling is due principally to the enhanced latent heat flux from the sea surface to lower

atmosphere, driven by an increase in turbulent mixing caused by the wind turbines which was

not entirely offset by the concurrent reduction of mean wind kinetic energy. We found that the

perturbation of the large-scale deployment of offshore wind turbines to the global climate is

relatively small compared to the case of land-based installations. However, the intermittencycaused by the significant seasonal wind variations over several major offshore sites is

substantial, and demands further options to ensure the reliability of large-scale offshore

Wind power.

We need to be careful that we do not inadvertently create a global environmental crisis trying

to solve another one. The potential impact on climate is something which needs more detailed

review and analysis.

Cost and Infrastructure

The Power Grids

As more wind generation has been added, grid operators have been challenged to integrate a

large amount of intermittent generation. As the state with by far the most installed wind power


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capacity, Texas has had to face this problem head on. United States: Wind Energy: Dealing WithIntermittency Challenges, 23 January 2012 Becky Diffen Originally published inPower Magazine, December 2011

Efficiency/cost

Many who support wind technology continue to claim that Wind power is one of the most

cost-effective sources of electricity available, capable of generating power at prices

competitive with new natural gas plants and cheaper than new coal and nuclear plants.

The capital cost to build a wind farm is substantial. Size and location are obvious factors that

will impact on costs. Costs can range from hundreds of millions to over a billion dollars.

Installation of off shore facilities is much more expensive to build and maintain that on shore

installations.

Michael Liebreich, CEO of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said that: The latest edition of our

Wind Turbine Price Index shows wind continuing to become a competitive source of large-

scale power. For the past few years, wind turbine costs went up due to rising demand around

the world and the increasing price of steel. Behind the scenes wind manufacturers were

reducing their costs, and now we are seeing just how cheap wind energy can be whenovercapacity in the supply chain works its way through to developers." Wind turbine prices fall to their

lowest in recent years, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Feb 2011

The cost of electricity generated from wind is now at record lows: several projects in high

resource areas (US, Brazil, Sweden, Mexico) display a levelised cost of energy excluding the

impact of subsidies but after including the cost of capital and maintenance below EUR

50/MWh ($68/MWh). This compares to current estimated average costs of $67 per MWh for

coal-fired power and $56 per MWh for gas-fired power. Wind turbine prices fall to their lowest in recent

years, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Feb 2011

Table 1 compares costs for plant entering service by 2016 in the US. Indeed, it appears that on

shore installations are becoming competitive against alternatives like coal. Off shore

production is still much more costly than on shore.


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Most recently however we are seeing indications that there are some who believe the costs

are still prohibitive. Many are questioning the viability of continued government support in

times of fiscal crisis.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Levelized_energy_cost_chart_1,_2011_DOE_report.gif


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The Cape Wind Project in the US will see the construction of 130 wind-powered turbines off

the coast of Cape Cod Massachusetts that will, according to its developers, generate an

average of 170 megawatts of electricity for the Bay State. The turbines will cost about $1

billion to build. Lets assume that the useful life of the wind turbines is twenty years, that the

maintenance costs of the windmills is zero, and that nobody has to pay a dime of interest on

the $1 billion worth of financing needed to construct these windmills. Even if we accept such

wildly inaccurate and charitable assumptions, the cost of energy generated by Cape Wind over

those twenty years will be over thirty-three cents per kilowatt.Thats more than six times the

typical wholesale price for electrons today, around six cents per kilowatt, depending on the

market. Is Wind Energy Really Cost Effective?; FrontPageMag.com, Rich Trzupek, May 2010

The current global financial situation has governments looking for ways to reduce expenditures

and there is a growing movement against subsidizing what some view as an expensive

intermittent energy option.

GOVERNMENTS are squandering billions of dollars on "uneconomic" wind farms, according to

a landmark study that undermines the case for Labours huge renewable energy

subsidies.Billions blown away on wind power, says British study, The Australian National Affairs, David Crowe, March 9

2012

A recent article in the Telegraph (UK) stated that ; Off shore wind farms cost twice as much to

produce electricity as gas and coal powered stations and will need subsidies for at least 20

years, a major report warns. Britain's offshore windpower costs twice as much as coal and gas generated

electricity, March 2012

A July 2011 Energy Department study found that oil, natural gas and coal received an average

of US64 of subsidy per megawatt hour in 2010. Wind power received nearly 100 times more,

or US$56.29 per megawatt hour.U.S. Should Kill all Energy Subsidies National Post Mar. 8, 2012 ,From an editorial

in The Wall Street Journal:

The challenge facing the new Liberal Democrat energy secretary, Ed Davey, has been laid bare

by the revelation that 101 Tory MPs (UK)are demanding drastic cuts to the 400m-a-year

government subsidies for windfarms. Chris Huhne's successor faces clash as Tories attack windfarms spending;

The Observer, Feb. 4 2012.
http://www.capewind.org/FAQ-Category4-Cape+Wind+Basics-Parent0-myfaq-yes.htm#21http://www.capewind.org/FAQ-Category4-Cape+Wind+Basics-Parent0-myfaq-yes.htm#21http://www.tomllewis.com/?p=3835http://www.tomllewis.com/?p=3835http://www.capewind.org/FAQ-Category4-Cape+Wind+Basics-Parent0-myfaq-yes.htm#21http://www.capewind.org/FAQ-Category4-Cape+Wind+Basics-Parent0-myfaq-yes.htm#21


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In a radical change of policy, the Netherlands is reducing its targets for renewable energy and

slashing the subsidies for wind and solar power. It's also given the green light for the country's

first new nuclear power plants for almost 40 years. Why the change? Wind and solar subsidies

are too expensive.Holland slashes carbon targets, shuns wind for nuclear; Andrew Orlowski, The

Register, Feb. 2011

China will need to curb wind energy development to protect its domestic industry. In China

the issue is not so much the financial cost but rather over supply. The Chinese government

may implement stricter controls on wind projects and manufacturing this year to prevent acapacity glut and falling prices that threaten its most prominent wind energy players. Never

the less they will continue to lead the world in Wind implementations.

We would expect to see growth in deployments to continue over the next few years as current

approved wind farms are implemented. It takes a few years for a wind project to move from

planning through approval to implementation.

One thing is for certain, government subsidies and credits are key to any on-going research and

growth in the wind/energy market.

Global Adoption

The total amount of economically extractable power available from the wind is considerably

more than present human power use from all sources. At the end of 2010, worldwide

nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 197 gigawatts (GW). Wind power now has

the capacity to generate 430 TWh annually, which is about 2.5% of worldwide electricity usage.

Over the past five years the average annual growth in new installations has been 27.6 percent.

Wind power market penetration is expected to reach 3.35 percent by 2013 and 8 percent by

2018. Several countries have already achieved relatively high levels of wind power penetration,such as 21% of stationary electricity production in Denmark, 18% in Portugal 16% in Spain 14%

in Ireland and 9% in Germany in 2010. As of 2011, 83 countries around the world are using wind

power on a commercial basis. WindpowerWikipedia

The Global Wind Energy Council has predicted that the global wind market for Wind

Technology will grow by 276% to reach 332,000 MW of total installed capacity by 2013,

representing an addition of 212,000 MW and over $500 billion in investment in 5 years. This
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would result in wind energy accounting for around 3% of global electricity production (up from

just over 1% in 2007). Wind Technology Roadmap (WindTRM) is an industry-led, government supportedinitiative National Research Council of Canada

For the first time in 20 years, growth of the global wind power market faltered, stumbling by

5.8% to 35.7GW in 2010 (37.9GW in2009). The North American market has taken a knock and

the European market has slowed down. On the other hand Asian market growth has crept up

steadily and now has a grip on more than half the global market. Wind Power Barometer, EurObservERFeb 2011

The German market is clearly on a downslide. According to DEWI (the German Wind Energy Institute), 1

551MW of capacity was installed during 2010, as against 1 917MW in 2009, which is a drop of 19.1%.Wind Power Barometer, EurObservER Feb 2011

Still Germany is the world's third largest user of wind power behind China and the United

States followed by Spain.

In a recent interview, Alexander Koffka, Director of Corporate Communications at ABO Wind

said that ABO expects to install around 100 MW of wind power capacity in Germany in 2012, a

significant increase over the 40 MW installed in 2011.

According to the European World Energy Association (EWEA) report of February 2011, there

are over 12,000 wind turbines in Europe with a total capacity of 84 GW. The leading countries

in Europe are Germany (26.4GW) and Spain (20.7GW) followed far behind by the UK (5.2GW),

France (5.2GW) and Italy (4.9GW). A total of 20 countries have a capacity of more than

100MW.[3]

The EWEA estimates that 230GW of wind capacity will be installed in Europe by

2020, consisting of 190GW onshore and 40GW offshore. This would produce 14-17% of the

EU's electricity.Wind Power in the European Union Wikipedia

The majority of Europes wind farms are based offshore; in reality Europe is in the lead in

what concerns offshore wind energy. Offshore turbines are not only fewer offensives compared

to turbines that are found on land but the wind speed is often significantly quicker over open

waters. Is America Really Adopting Clean Energy?Renewable Power News, Feb. 2011.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association has outlined a future strategy for wind energy that

would reach a capacity of 55,000 MW by 2025, meeting 20% of the countrys energy needs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Union#cite_note-autogenerated1-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Union#cite_note-autogenerated1-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Union#cite_note-autogenerated1-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Union#cite_note-autogenerated1-2


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About 6.8 gigawatts of wind power were installed in the U.S. in 2011, bringing the total

nationwide capacity to nearly 47 gigawatts, enough to power about 12 million homes at any

given time, according to the American Wind Energy Association. That is about 3% of total U.S.

generating capacity.

India is ranked fifth worldwide in total existing wind power capacity, (as of Jan 2011).

The Asian market is casting an increasingly long shadow over the worlds other regional

markets. In 2010, it was responsible for over half the newly installed capacity in the world

(53.3%), ahead of Europe, which still accounts for more than a quarter of the global market

(27.4%), and North America (16.3%) which almost went into free fall (YrVpZ 2H). Yet Europe will

have the highest total installed capacity for some time to come as it is home to 44.3% of the

global wind turbine base ahead of Asia (30.1%) and North America (22.7%).Wind Power Barometer,EurObservER feb 2011

Brazil is leading Latin America's wind energy market with 31.6 gigawatts of capacity expected

to be installed by 2025, according to a recent study. Brazil's market size is expected to

represent 69 percent of the total installed capacity in 2025 in Latin America followed by

Mexico and Chile, a study from IHS Emerging Energy Research noted.Brazil leads Latin America windenergy marketsstudy, International business Times May 5 2010

As of October 2010, there were 52 wind farms in Australia, most of which had turbines of from

1.5 to 3 megawatts (MW). The total operating wind generating capacity at this time was 1,880

MW, with annual production of almost 5,000 GWh providing close to two percent of Australia's

national electricity demand. Wind Power in Australia, Wikipedia

Conclusions

At the beginning of this exercise we were very much pro wind. In fact, we believe that all

alternative energy sources are worth investigating. Although this paper took some twists and

turns that we did not expect we are still supportive of and believe in wind as a viable energy

source.


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We anticipate that costs will come down as production ramps up and we begin to arrive at

designs that produce the best results. The continued support and growth in the industry will

still require a lot of government support and subsidies. We are seeing more and more kick

back and moves to reduce government financial involvement.

Many of the health concerns can be addressed by not placing wind farms in close proximity to

where people live and work. Some have suggested 2 kilometers as a minimum distance. More

research into health impact needs to take place before we can agree on a safe distance.

The potential environmental impact is something we need to look at a lot more carefully.

Much of the impetus towards alternative energy is to help reduce the impact that burning

fossil fuels has on climate change. Suggestions that wind could impact climate change needs

to be investigated in more closely.

Although we expect to see continued growth in the implementation of wind technology much

of that will be projects that are already approved or underway. The most recent

announcements could result in a drop in wind implementations that will have impact within

the next three to five years.

introduction & overview of wind technology

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