“Wiring up the Wind: long wires, short wires or no wires at

all?”

> ESRC Seminar Series “Pushing the limits of wind power” University of St Andrews 6th May 2009

Dr Dick BirnieThe Macaulay Land Use Research InstituteAberdeen, Scotland

“Are centralised, distributed or off-grid solutions the best way forward?”

THE LONG WIRE SOLUTION

16,850 pylons

Is grid connection the best option?

THE LONG WIRE SOLUTION

Wind energy debate in UK is mostly about electricity supply

Should be seen in the wider context of our total energy economy

What are its key features?

© BERR Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Affairs

UK ENERGY FLOWS 2007

Primary Supply Million tonnes of oil

equivalent (mtoe)

Conversion and distribution

losses (mtoe)

Petroleum products

173

Natural gas 101

Coal 40

Electricity (16) 70

333

21%

ENERGY USE

Main energy use sectors

Million tonnes of oil equivalent

Notes

Transport 60

Domestic 44 82% space heating & hot water

Industry 32

Others 20

Conversion & Distribution losses

related to electricity

70

KEY POINTS

Centralised generation is about 40% efficient

CHP is about 85% efficient

Problem of being locked into a centralised grid infrastructure: take opportunities now!

Domestic heat is an important use

Argument for a more distributed energy system in the UK is more to do with heat than power

KEY POINTS

Potential for regional CHP solutions with smart grid technologies?

Wind fits within this more distributed approach

THE SHORT WIRE SOLUTION

16,850 pylons

Opportunities for more localised approaches?

Should every house have a wind turbine?

Scope for microgeneration?

THE SHORT WIRE SOLUTION

16,850 pylons

Microgeneration

generation of electricity and/or heat on a small scale using technologies with zero or low carbon dioxide emissions (SE 2007)

COSTS & PAYBACK PERIODS

16,850 pylons

Technology Typical costs (£)

Payback period (yrs)

Wind - roof 1,500 - 7 - 19

Wind - mast 11,000 - 19,000 7 - 19

Solar PV 7,500 - 22,500 35 - 48

Hydro 20,000 - 25,000 n/a

Solar hot water 3,000 - 5,000 8 - 20

Heat Pump - ground 6,000 - 12,000 8 - 15

Heat Pump – air 7,000 - 10,000 8 - 15

Biomass – stove 2,000 - 4,000 6 - 20

Biomass- boiler 5,000 - 14,000 6 - 20

KEY POINTS

Wind does not stack up at a domestic level unless other actions are taken

Payback periods are relatively long and roof mounted systems are unlikely to be cost-effective

Scaling is critical with wind energy

LOCATION & SIZE

Power is a function of the swept area and the cube of the wind speed.

Double the wind speed: eight times the power output

LOCATION & SIZE

Turbine at site with 5 m/s average wind speed will produce twice as much power as site 4 m/s average.

Location and size matter!

Golding, E. W. (1961) Wind as a source of energy in Scotland. pp. 468-477. In: Natural Resources in Scotland, Scottish Council for Development and Industry, Constable, Edinburgh

KEY POINTS

Use of hot water systems: fits much more with domestic energy demands

Scaling is critical with wind energy. A few larger turbines would potentially be far more energy efficient

Potential for local co-operatives or energy companies?

THE NO WIRE SOLUTION

16,850 pylons

Scope for “off-line” thinking?

LINKING HEAT, POWER & TRANSPORT

Opportunities for connecting distributed CHP with transport solutions?

Regionalised power points

KEY POINTS

ARGUMENT for seeing our energy economy in an integrated way

Not one solution: different solutions in different places

Regionalising the energy economy opens up new possibilities for CHP and integrated low carbon transport solutions

Challenges are both technical and behavioural

LOOK FOR INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS

“ The right wind, in the right places for the right reasons!”

© Marsailidh Aspinall