www.stuff.co.nz
5 Apr 2013
Meridian Energy says it will start promoting solar power generation now that it has changed its buyback rates. The company has ended its one-for-one pricing for its solar customers with grid-connected systems, which had allowed them to buy and sell the energy at the same rate. Meridian Energy said it was making a substantial loss from doing so, and this month moved to a two-stage pricing system. Its buyback energy rate for customers is now 25¢ a unit-a kW hour-for the first five units exported each day, and 10¢ a unit after that.
"We are committed to supporting solar, and now that we are no longer making a substantial loss from doing so, we will be able to start promoting it", said Bill Highet, the company's general manager retail. An increasing number of consumers are investing in grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) solar panel systems as the cost has reduced and the price of power had increased. The Nelson City Council is planning to hold a workshop of interested parties to discuss whether they could collaborate on solar initiatives.
Meridian Energy had about 750 solar customers, and that number was increasing by about two customers per day, Mr Highet said. "We understand that our pricing for those customers remains the most attractive available". He said Meridian Energy's analysis showed that most customers with on-site renewable generation would not see a significant difference in their power bills with the staged pricing, because their real savings were made by reducing the amount of electricity they bought from the company.
However, if they had installed major solar systems, the economics of their installation would be affected, as the 10¢ rate to buy back units in excess of five a day was more reflective of the wholesale rate that Meridian Energy paid when the sun was shining. "On cold days when the sun is not shining, the wholesale rate is much higher than 10¢ and regularly much higher than 25¢ but, unfortunately, solar panels are not much help to the customers or us at those times".
The change came into effect on April 8. Mr Highet said it had been explained to existing and prospective solar customers who had contacted Meridian Energy. "But regrettably, we do not know all of the contractors and solar suppliers who may have led customers to believe that our old one-for-one pricing would continue". TrustPower rubbished suggestions that energy retailers should be required to pay one-for-one rates.
Its community relations manager, Graeme Purches, said local network and transmission charges came in two parts-a fixed component, which formed part of the daily charge on a bill, and a variable component, which formed part of the unit charge. In some regions there are also capacity and congestion charges.
"So if a retailer was to pay back home generators the same unit price as they charged for power, they would effectively be paying the local network company for the variable line charge and paying the same charge to the consumer as well.
"While some may argue that because they have solar, they don't use the lines as much and therefore should pay less, that is reflected in the lower number of units they consume due to their solar offsetting some of their consumption, and if they are exporting, they still need to use the lines to get the power out anyway-so little has changed", Mr Purches said. This was why Meridian Energy had reduced its buyback, and TrustPower believed that its current rate was too high, he said.
TrustPower, which pays an average 7¢ a unit, has fewer than 10 solar PV customers. Mr Purches said the company was not in the business of subsidising home generators, and it could buy power cheaper off the ASX or on the spot market than it could paying the prices some competitors had been paying to solar PV customers. If there were to be subsidies, they needed to come from government sources, he said.
Such schemes had fallen over, as in South Australia, where the projected benefits of government subsidies for solar were not being realised, Mr Purches said. However, TrustPower had a massive test system operating now to develop technology to get a better capacity factor from solar PV, he said. This would ensure that the company was in the best position to take advantage of the technology when eventually it became financially viable without subsidies.
"When it is viable, there is a real advantage for consumers and the payback period is reasonable, we expect to be a major player in the market". Contact Energy has for the past five years kept the same 17.28¢ a unit rate for excess energy generated. It said that while it was interested in monitoring developments in the solar area, it was not a key area of focus. "We have seen a small rise in the number of residential and SME solar customers over the past year, but our solar customer base remains modest".
Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Friday, 14 June 2013
Napthine urged to end wind farm inertia
www.standard.net.au
1 May 2013
PREMIER Denis Napthine needs to scrap wind farm laws that are costing hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in the region, an alliance of south-west and state wind power supporters says. Alliance member and production supervisor with Portland wind tower manufacturer Keppel Prince, Stuart Batten, said the wind farm laws were blocking nearly $900 million of investment and had forced his company to lay off about 55 workers.
The laws, which include a 2-km zone around wind farms where residents could veto turbines, and a number of no-go zones for wind farms throughout the state, were deterring investors from proceeding with projects already approved. "A lot of investors are not doing anything because of the uncertainty in the market", Mr Batten said. "Government policy is not clear or is too overbearing".
Angela McFeeters, from VicWind, a coalition of wind power businesses, community groups and individuals, said the construction of 1100 wind turbines in Victoria had stalled because of the market uncertainty. Leigh Ewbank, from another alliance member, Friends of the Earth's Yes 2 Renewables, said the two-km exclusion zone had given residents too much power. Mr Ewbank said if the veto zone was scrapped, people living within it would still have opportunities through general planning processes to have input about the siting of wind turbines.
"We would like the two-km veto right to be replaced by a policy that allows the setback limits to be determined on a case-by-case basis that takes into account acoustic modelling, topography and turbine types", he said. Mr Ewbank said the alliance decided to yesterday lobby Premier Napthine at his Warrnambool office because the Premier knew how wind power had benefited his electorate.
It hoped Dr Napthine's recent endorsement of the Macarthur wind farm signalled a more supportive attitude than had been demonstrated by his predecessor Ted Baillieu. A joint statement delivered by the alliance to Dr Napthine's office said two-thirds of Victoria's wind power was presently generated in his electorate.
A report by projects firm Sinclair Knight Mertz estimated the wind farm projects at Macarthur and Oaklands Hill, near Glenthompson, pumped $67 million into the south-west and created 900 construction jobs and 52 ongoing jobs, the joint statement said. Mr Ewbank said the previous Labor government had approved 2500 MWs of wind power but the Liberal/National Party government had approved only six MWs. The alliance has also called for the state government to assess wind farm applications rather than local government.
1 May 2013
PREMIER Denis Napthine needs to scrap wind farm laws that are costing hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in the region, an alliance of south-west and state wind power supporters says. Alliance member and production supervisor with Portland wind tower manufacturer Keppel Prince, Stuart Batten, said the wind farm laws were blocking nearly $900 million of investment and had forced his company to lay off about 55 workers.The laws, which include a 2-km zone around wind farms where residents could veto turbines, and a number of no-go zones for wind farms throughout the state, were deterring investors from proceeding with projects already approved. "A lot of investors are not doing anything because of the uncertainty in the market", Mr Batten said. "Government policy is not clear or is too overbearing".
Angela McFeeters, from VicWind, a coalition of wind power businesses, community groups and individuals, said the construction of 1100 wind turbines in Victoria had stalled because of the market uncertainty. Leigh Ewbank, from another alliance member, Friends of the Earth's Yes 2 Renewables, said the two-km exclusion zone had given residents too much power. Mr Ewbank said if the veto zone was scrapped, people living within it would still have opportunities through general planning processes to have input about the siting of wind turbines.
"We would like the two-km veto right to be replaced by a policy that allows the setback limits to be determined on a case-by-case basis that takes into account acoustic modelling, topography and turbine types", he said. Mr Ewbank said the alliance decided to yesterday lobby Premier Napthine at his Warrnambool office because the Premier knew how wind power had benefited his electorate.
It hoped Dr Napthine's recent endorsement of the Macarthur wind farm signalled a more supportive attitude than had been demonstrated by his predecessor Ted Baillieu. A joint statement delivered by the alliance to Dr Napthine's office said two-thirds of Victoria's wind power was presently generated in his electorate.
A report by projects firm Sinclair Knight Mertz estimated the wind farm projects at Macarthur and Oaklands Hill, near Glenthompson, pumped $67 million into the south-west and created 900 construction jobs and 52 ongoing jobs, the joint statement said. Mr Ewbank said the previous Labor government had approved 2500 MWs of wind power but the Liberal/National Party government had approved only six MWs. The alliance has also called for the state government to assess wind farm applications rather than local government.
Macarthur's turbine test results
www.weeklytimesnow.com.au
30 Apr 2013
Macarthur wind farm's operator AGL Energy says independent noise assessments prove the farm was noise compliant. AGL Energy's group general manager power development Scott Thomas said noise monitoring was carried out independently by AECOM Australia and demonstrated the wind farm was operating within the strict noise limits set in the developments planning permit.
"We appreciate some community members have been concerned about wind farm noise levels so we wanted to make sure it was operating correctly from the start and give the community a greater level of comfort", Mr Thomas said. "Over 40,000 hours of noise monitoring has been conducted at Macarthur, which is well beyond the amount of noise monitoring required in the Planning Permit. "All results received to date confirm that Macarthur wind farm remains compliant within the Government's strict noise regulations that are in line with the World Health Organisation's guidelines for noise limits".
It comes as a pro-wind farm group this morning hand delivered a statement to Premier Denis Napthine at his electorate office in Warrnambool calling for changes to wind farm laws. The statement urged the government to remove what the group described as "restrictive planning laws" that prevent turbines being built within 2km of homes without the written consent of the owner.
"Wind energy is good for jobs and good for the southwest economy", Victorian Wind Alliance state coordinator Andrew Bray said. "Two thirds of the wind turbines now operating in Victoria are located in Premier Napthine's electorate. "The Premier knows firsthand how wind power benefits the community". Dr Napthine has thrown his support behind wind farms but has publicly said the 2km planning laws will not be reversed.
30 Apr 2013
Macarthur wind farm's operator AGL Energy says independent noise assessments prove the farm was noise compliant. AGL Energy's group general manager power development Scott Thomas said noise monitoring was carried out independently by AECOM Australia and demonstrated the wind farm was operating within the strict noise limits set in the developments planning permit.
"We appreciate some community members have been concerned about wind farm noise levels so we wanted to make sure it was operating correctly from the start and give the community a greater level of comfort", Mr Thomas said. "Over 40,000 hours of noise monitoring has been conducted at Macarthur, which is well beyond the amount of noise monitoring required in the Planning Permit. "All results received to date confirm that Macarthur wind farm remains compliant within the Government's strict noise regulations that are in line with the World Health Organisation's guidelines for noise limits".
It comes as a pro-wind farm group this morning hand delivered a statement to Premier Denis Napthine at his electorate office in Warrnambool calling for changes to wind farm laws. The statement urged the government to remove what the group described as "restrictive planning laws" that prevent turbines being built within 2km of homes without the written consent of the owner.
"Wind energy is good for jobs and good for the southwest economy", Victorian Wind Alliance state coordinator Andrew Bray said. "Two thirds of the wind turbines now operating in Victoria are located in Premier Napthine's electorate. "The Premier knows firsthand how wind power benefits the community". Dr Napthine has thrown his support behind wind farms but has publicly said the 2km planning laws will not be reversed.
South-west Victorian coalition lobby Napthine on wind power
www.businessspectator.com.au
30 Apr 2013
A coalition of interest groups from south-west Victoria, including the manufacturer Keppel Prince and labour unions, have joined with environmental groups to lobby their local member and Victorian Premier Denis Napthine to loosen restrictions on wind farm development.
They argue that these planning rules, which give households within 2km of a proposed wind turbine the right to veto the development, are costing jobs and investment. According to the coalition the government's planning guidelines are expected to cost Victoria $887 million in investment, 650 construction jobs and 54 ongoing jobs in operations and maintenance.
The group has put a personal face to these statistics by enlisting the support of 20 local welders, boiler makers, engineers and labourers employed or recently retrenched from the wind industry.
It is understood that Premier Napthine is more supportive of wind power than his predecessor Ted Baillieu, who introduced the 2km veto planning amendment. At the recent launch of a large wind farm in his electorate, Napthine stated that he felt wind farms were "absolutely fantastic". But he also added that they were not appropriate to all locations and did not intend to change current planning guidelines.
Nonetheless this more favourable attitude towards wind farms has given hope to pro-wind farm groups that there might be greater willingness to revise the restrictions introduced by Baillieu.
According to Andrew Bray, the state coordinator of the Victorian Wind Alliance and a member of the coalition, "Two thirds of the wind turbines now operating in Victoria are located in Premier Napthine's electorate. The Premier knows first-hand how wind power benefits the community".
30 Apr 2013
A coalition of interest groups from south-west Victoria, including the manufacturer Keppel Prince and labour unions, have joined with environmental groups to lobby their local member and Victorian Premier Denis Napthine to loosen restrictions on wind farm development.
They argue that these planning rules, which give households within 2km of a proposed wind turbine the right to veto the development, are costing jobs and investment. According to the coalition the government's planning guidelines are expected to cost Victoria $887 million in investment, 650 construction jobs and 54 ongoing jobs in operations and maintenance.
The group has put a personal face to these statistics by enlisting the support of 20 local welders, boiler makers, engineers and labourers employed or recently retrenched from the wind industry.
It is understood that Premier Napthine is more supportive of wind power than his predecessor Ted Baillieu, who introduced the 2km veto planning amendment. At the recent launch of a large wind farm in his electorate, Napthine stated that he felt wind farms were "absolutely fantastic". But he also added that they were not appropriate to all locations and did not intend to change current planning guidelines.
Nonetheless this more favourable attitude towards wind farms has given hope to pro-wind farm groups that there might be greater willingness to revise the restrictions introduced by Baillieu.
According to Andrew Bray, the state coordinator of the Victorian Wind Alliance and a member of the coalition, "Two thirds of the wind turbines now operating in Victoria are located in Premier Napthine's electorate. The Premier knows first-hand how wind power benefits the community".
Macarthur wind farm operating ‘well within’ noise limits
reneweconomy.com.au
30 Apr 2013
On the same day that a powerful pro-wind alliance has petitioned Premier Denis Napthine to amend Victoria's prohibitive wind farm planning laws, the owners of the state's newest and largest wind farm have confirmed it has successfully passed strict noise compliance conditions since its opening on April 12.
AGL Energy and New Zealand's Meridian Energy announced today that the 420MW Macarthur wind farm-the largest in Australia and the southern hemisphere-was successfully operating within the noise limits set in its State Planning Permit, according to an independent assessment produced by AECOM.
The Macarthur Planning Permit, which is enforced by the Victorian government, required noise monitoring to be carried out at specified dwellings neighboring the 140 turbine wind farm. Noise loggers were installed between February and March 2013 to capture the noise data for the assessment.
AGL Energy says that the results of the independent assessment taken at 13 neighbouring dwellings shows that the newly opened wind farm is operating "well within" the acoustic requirements of the Planning Permit-that is, the wind farm noise should not exceed the background noise level before the wind farm was operating by more than 5dB(A) or a level of 40dB(A), whichever is higher.
"We appreciate some community members have been concerned about wind farm noise levels so we wanted to make sure it was operating correctly from the start and give the community a greater level of comfort", said AGL Energy's Group General Manager Power Development, Scott Thomas. "Over 40,000 hours of noise monitoring has been conducted at Macarthur, which is well beyond the amount of noise monitoring required in the Planning Permit".
The testing also monitored for special audible characteristics (clearly audible tones, impulses, or modulation of sound levels), none of which were determined to be present at any of the noise monitoring locations.
30 Apr 2013
On the same day that a powerful pro-wind alliance has petitioned Premier Denis Napthine to amend Victoria's prohibitive wind farm planning laws, the owners of the state's newest and largest wind farm have confirmed it has successfully passed strict noise compliance conditions since its opening on April 12.
AGL Energy and New Zealand's Meridian Energy announced today that the 420MW Macarthur wind farm-the largest in Australia and the southern hemisphere-was successfully operating within the noise limits set in its State Planning Permit, according to an independent assessment produced by AECOM.
The Macarthur Planning Permit, which is enforced by the Victorian government, required noise monitoring to be carried out at specified dwellings neighboring the 140 turbine wind farm. Noise loggers were installed between February and March 2013 to capture the noise data for the assessment.
AGL Energy says that the results of the independent assessment taken at 13 neighbouring dwellings shows that the newly opened wind farm is operating "well within" the acoustic requirements of the Planning Permit-that is, the wind farm noise should not exceed the background noise level before the wind farm was operating by more than 5dB(A) or a level of 40dB(A), whichever is higher.
"We appreciate some community members have been concerned about wind farm noise levels so we wanted to make sure it was operating correctly from the start and give the community a greater level of comfort", said AGL Energy's Group General Manager Power Development, Scott Thomas. "Over 40,000 hours of noise monitoring has been conducted at Macarthur, which is well beyond the amount of noise monitoring required in the Planning Permit".
The testing also monitored for special audible characteristics (clearly audible tones, impulses, or modulation of sound levels), none of which were determined to be present at any of the noise monitoring locations.
Climbing robotic wind turbine inspector
www.engineering.com
28 Apr 2013
How do you inspect the outside of a wind turbine? Either stand on the ground and use a telescope, or set up some climbing gear and scale the tower. The first solution is imprecise and the second is expensive and dangerous. Both are time-consuming. Now there's a third option: the HR-MP20 Light Weight Magnetic Climbing Robot by Helical Robotics. This remote-controlled robot can scale a turbine tower while carrying up to 9kg (20 lbs) of inspection gear such as cameras and ultrasound. It clings to the tower using five neodymium magnets, the strongest type of permanent magnet available. A technician stands on the ground with a transmitter, directing the robotic inspector to various places on the turbine. (I know-technically that makes it a radio-controlled vehicle, not a robot. The company named it, I didn't.)
The HR-MP20 features a zero turning radius and it can climb at a rate of 20 meters per minute (65 ft/min) and descend at 27 m/min (90 ft/min). It uses a 15 Ah lithium-polymer battery pack for its drive motors, a 10Ah NiMH battery pack to power its payload, and a 4.5Ah NiMH battery for its radio. The radio operates in the 2.4GHz band with a range of 762 m (2500 ft). Its size and capacity can be custom-engineered according to client needs.
Inspecting the blades of a wind turbine requires that the blades be stopped. Using the telescope method, a technician stands away from the turbine and looks at the blades through a telescope. This process can take up to four hours per turbine. Climbing a turbine requires a lot of rope, a strong technician, and a hefty insurance premium. Robotic inspection is faster, safer, less expensive, and more reliable than the telescope or climbing methods. Less down-time translates into more energy production. The HR-MP20 has been proven to work in high winds (which you're likely to find on a wind farm, right?) and bad weather, both of which will delay manual inspections. Of course, you still need a technician to climb up the inside of the tower to perform maintenance on the internal gears, generator, and other moving parts. But the towers have ladders on the inside, and wind is not a factor inside the tower.
28 Apr 2013
How do you inspect the outside of a wind turbine? Either stand on the ground and use a telescope, or set up some climbing gear and scale the tower. The first solution is imprecise and the second is expensive and dangerous. Both are time-consuming. Now there's a third option: the HR-MP20 Light Weight Magnetic Climbing Robot by Helical Robotics. This remote-controlled robot can scale a turbine tower while carrying up to 9kg (20 lbs) of inspection gear such as cameras and ultrasound. It clings to the tower using five neodymium magnets, the strongest type of permanent magnet available. A technician stands on the ground with a transmitter, directing the robotic inspector to various places on the turbine. (I know-technically that makes it a radio-controlled vehicle, not a robot. The company named it, I didn't.)The HR-MP20 features a zero turning radius and it can climb at a rate of 20 meters per minute (65 ft/min) and descend at 27 m/min (90 ft/min). It uses a 15 Ah lithium-polymer battery pack for its drive motors, a 10Ah NiMH battery pack to power its payload, and a 4.5Ah NiMH battery for its radio. The radio operates in the 2.4GHz band with a range of 762 m (2500 ft). Its size and capacity can be custom-engineered according to client needs.
Inspecting the blades of a wind turbine requires that the blades be stopped. Using the telescope method, a technician stands away from the turbine and looks at the blades through a telescope. This process can take up to four hours per turbine. Climbing a turbine requires a lot of rope, a strong technician, and a hefty insurance premium. Robotic inspection is faster, safer, less expensive, and more reliable than the telescope or climbing methods. Less down-time translates into more energy production. The HR-MP20 has been proven to work in high winds (which you're likely to find on a wind farm, right?) and bad weather, both of which will delay manual inspections. Of course, you still need a technician to climb up the inside of the tower to perform maintenance on the internal gears, generator, and other moving parts. But the towers have ladders on the inside, and wind is not a factor inside the tower.
New all-solid sulfur-based battery outperforms lithium-ion technology
m.phys.org
5 Jun 2013
(Phys.org) —Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed and tested an all-solid lithium sulfur battery with approximately four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion technologies that power today's electronics.
The ORNL battery design, which uses abundant low-cost elemental sulfur, also addresses flammability concerns experienced by other chemistries. "Our approach is a complete change from the current battery concept of two electrodes joined by a liquid electrolyte, which has been used over the last 150 to 200 years," said Chengdu Liang, lead author on the ORNL study published this week in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Scientists have been excited about the potential of lithium sulfur batteries for decades, but long-lasting, large-scale versions for commercial applications have proven elusive. Researchers were stuck with a catch-22 created by the battery's use of liquid electrolytes: On one hand, the liquid helped conduct ions through the battery by allowing lithium polysulfide compounds to dissolve. The downside, however, was that the same dissolution process caused the battery to prematurely break down.
The ORNL team overcame these barriers by first synthesizing a never-before-seen class of sulfur-rich materials that conduct ions as well as the lithium metal oxides conventionally used in the battery's cathode. Liang's team then combined the new sulfur-rich cathode and a lithium anode with a solid electrolyte material, also developed at ORNL, to create an energy-dense, all-solid battery. "This game-changing shift from liquid to solid electrolytes eliminates the problem of sulfur dissolution and enables us to deliver on the promise of lithium sulfur batteries," Liang said. "Our battery design has real potential to reduce cost, increase energy density and improve safety compared with existing lithium-ion technologies."
The new ionically-conductive cathode enabled the ORNL battery to maintain a capacity of 1200 milliamp-hours (mAh) per gram after 300 charge-discharge cycles at 60° Celsius. For comparison, a traditional lithium-ion battery cathode has an average capacity between 140-170 mAh/g. Because lithium sulfur batteries deliver about half the voltage of lithium-ion versions, this eight-fold increase in capacity demonstrated in the ORNL battery cathode translates into four times the gravimetric energy density of lithium-ion technologies, explained Liang. The team's all-solid design also increases battery safety by eliminating flammable liquid electrolytes that can react with lithium metal.
Chief among the ORNL battery's other advantages is its use of elemental sulfur, a plentiful industrial byproduct of petroleum processing. "Sulfur is practically free," Liang said. "Not only does sulfur store much more energy than the transition metal compounds used in lithium-ion battery cathodes, but a lithium sulfur device could help recycle a waste product into a useful technology." Although the team's new battery is still in the demonstration stage, Liang and his colleagues hope to see their research move quickly from the laboratory into commercial applications. A patent on the team's design is pending.
5 Jun 2013
(Phys.org) —Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed and tested an all-solid lithium sulfur battery with approximately four times the energy density of conventional lithium-ion technologies that power today's electronics.
The ORNL battery design, which uses abundant low-cost elemental sulfur, also addresses flammability concerns experienced by other chemistries. "Our approach is a complete change from the current battery concept of two electrodes joined by a liquid electrolyte, which has been used over the last 150 to 200 years," said Chengdu Liang, lead author on the ORNL study published this week in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Scientists have been excited about the potential of lithium sulfur batteries for decades, but long-lasting, large-scale versions for commercial applications have proven elusive. Researchers were stuck with a catch-22 created by the battery's use of liquid electrolytes: On one hand, the liquid helped conduct ions through the battery by allowing lithium polysulfide compounds to dissolve. The downside, however, was that the same dissolution process caused the battery to prematurely break down.
The ORNL team overcame these barriers by first synthesizing a never-before-seen class of sulfur-rich materials that conduct ions as well as the lithium metal oxides conventionally used in the battery's cathode. Liang's team then combined the new sulfur-rich cathode and a lithium anode with a solid electrolyte material, also developed at ORNL, to create an energy-dense, all-solid battery. "This game-changing shift from liquid to solid electrolytes eliminates the problem of sulfur dissolution and enables us to deliver on the promise of lithium sulfur batteries," Liang said. "Our battery design has real potential to reduce cost, increase energy density and improve safety compared with existing lithium-ion technologies."
The new ionically-conductive cathode enabled the ORNL battery to maintain a capacity of 1200 milliamp-hours (mAh) per gram after 300 charge-discharge cycles at 60° Celsius. For comparison, a traditional lithium-ion battery cathode has an average capacity between 140-170 mAh/g. Because lithium sulfur batteries deliver about half the voltage of lithium-ion versions, this eight-fold increase in capacity demonstrated in the ORNL battery cathode translates into four times the gravimetric energy density of lithium-ion technologies, explained Liang. The team's all-solid design also increases battery safety by eliminating flammable liquid electrolytes that can react with lithium metal.
Chief among the ORNL battery's other advantages is its use of elemental sulfur, a plentiful industrial byproduct of petroleum processing. "Sulfur is practically free," Liang said. "Not only does sulfur store much more energy than the transition metal compounds used in lithium-ion battery cathodes, but a lithium sulfur device could help recycle a waste product into a useful technology." Although the team's new battery is still in the demonstration stage, Liang and his colleagues hope to see their research move quickly from the laboratory into commercial applications. A patent on the team's design is pending.
Wednesday, 12 June 2013
Scientists to replenish lobster population with help from wind farm
www.upi.com
27 Apr 2013
HELGOLAND, Germany, April 27 (UPI)--German scientists say they hope to replenish the lobster population off the German island of Helgoland with the help of offshore wind farms. The scientists say the farms, which have rocky foundations, make good habitats for lobsters, which are extremely aggressive toward each other, Spiegel Online reported Saturday. "They are cannibals and behave aggressively toward one another", said Heinz-Dieter Franke of the Biological Institute Helgoland.
Franke said the lobster population off the island's coast has dwindled since World War II, when Helgoland was heavily bombed and mined. "Since then, the population has remained stable but extremely low", Franke explained.
The institute has partnered with the Borkum Riffgat offshore wind farm for a three-year pilot project aimed at boosting the lobster population. About 3,000 lobsters will be released on the farm's rocky foundation this year and will be monitored by institute scientists, Spiegel Online said. Lobsters--omnivores that eat algae, mussels, snails and worms--are an important part of the North Sea's ecosystem, helping ensure other species do not overpopulate the area.
27 Apr 2013
HELGOLAND, Germany, April 27 (UPI)--German scientists say they hope to replenish the lobster population off the German island of Helgoland with the help of offshore wind farms. The scientists say the farms, which have rocky foundations, make good habitats for lobsters, which are extremely aggressive toward each other, Spiegel Online reported Saturday. "They are cannibals and behave aggressively toward one another", said Heinz-Dieter Franke of the Biological Institute Helgoland.Franke said the lobster population off the island's coast has dwindled since World War II, when Helgoland was heavily bombed and mined. "Since then, the population has remained stable but extremely low", Franke explained.
The institute has partnered with the Borkum Riffgat offshore wind farm for a three-year pilot project aimed at boosting the lobster population. About 3,000 lobsters will be released on the farm's rocky foundation this year and will be monitored by institute scientists, Spiegel Online said. Lobsters--omnivores that eat algae, mussels, snails and worms--are an important part of the North Sea's ecosystem, helping ensure other species do not overpopulate the area.
German offshore wind farm exceeds expected output
www.bloomberg.com
3 May 2013
Germany's first offshore wind farm generated more power than expected because of steady winds last year, operators of the Alpha Ventus park including E.ON SE said.
Alpha Ventus's 12 turbines last year fed 267.8 GW-hours of electricity into the German grid at a yield 15.3% higher than originally forecast, E.ON, Vattenfall Europe AG and EWE AG said today in an e-mailed statement.
The 5 MW machines, supplied by Areva SA and Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL) unit REpower Systems SE, achieved 4,463 full load hours, matching the level in 2011, they said. The availability in 2013 of Alpha Ventus will decrease from last year's 96.5% because of maintenance work, the operators said.
3 May 2013
Germany's first offshore wind farm generated more power than expected because of steady winds last year, operators of the Alpha Ventus park including E.ON SE said.
Alpha Ventus's 12 turbines last year fed 267.8 GW-hours of electricity into the German grid at a yield 15.3% higher than originally forecast, E.ON, Vattenfall Europe AG and EWE AG said today in an e-mailed statement.
The 5 MW machines, supplied by Areva SA and Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL) unit REpower Systems SE, achieved 4,463 full load hours, matching the level in 2011, they said. The availability in 2013 of Alpha Ventus will decrease from last year's 96.5% because of maintenance work, the operators said.
IBM applies supercomputer cooling to solar collector for 80% efficiency
www.gizmag.com
25 Apr 2013
Solar power may provide a clean, abundant source of energy, but we know the sun's rays are capable of much, much more. Aside from generating electricity, we've seen solar power harnessed to produce drinkable water as well, so why not combine the two processes into one system? That's what IBM and its collaborators are hoping to do with an affordable High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system that uses cooling technology from supercomputers to harvest solar power more efficiently, and produce purified water at the same time.
The current prototype consists of a large parabolic dish made up of several mirrors, connected to a sun-tracking system. The majority of the sunlight hitting the dish is reflected and focused onto hundreds of triple-junction photovoltaic chips, all fitted to microchannel-liquid cooled receivers. Individually, each chip measures just 1 cm x 1 cm and can generates an average of 200-250 watts over an eight-hour period on a sunny day, at an efficiency of about 30%.
Thus far, this roughly matches the electrical power output and basic design of other concentrated solar systems in existence, but the cooling system is what really makes the HCPVT system stand apart. IBM adapted the cooling technology it developed for supercomputers like Aquasar and SuperMUC for use with photovoltaics to create a system that continually pumps water just a few micrometers away from each chip through micro-structured layers.
IBM says this method is 10 times more effective than using air-cooling, and maintains a stable temperature over the chips to prevent them from melting. The cooling system would allow the chips to remain operational at 2,000 times the intensity of the sun's rays, but IBM claims it can still provide a safe temperature up to 5,000 times concentration.
Read More…
25 Apr 2013
Solar power may provide a clean, abundant source of energy, but we know the sun's rays are capable of much, much more. Aside from generating electricity, we've seen solar power harnessed to produce drinkable water as well, so why not combine the two processes into one system? That's what IBM and its collaborators are hoping to do with an affordable High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system that uses cooling technology from supercomputers to harvest solar power more efficiently, and produce purified water at the same time.The current prototype consists of a large parabolic dish made up of several mirrors, connected to a sun-tracking system. The majority of the sunlight hitting the dish is reflected and focused onto hundreds of triple-junction photovoltaic chips, all fitted to microchannel-liquid cooled receivers. Individually, each chip measures just 1 cm x 1 cm and can generates an average of 200-250 watts over an eight-hour period on a sunny day, at an efficiency of about 30%.
Thus far, this roughly matches the electrical power output and basic design of other concentrated solar systems in existence, but the cooling system is what really makes the HCPVT system stand apart. IBM adapted the cooling technology it developed for supercomputers like Aquasar and SuperMUC for use with photovoltaics to create a system that continually pumps water just a few micrometers away from each chip through micro-structured layers.
IBM says this method is 10 times more effective than using air-cooling, and maintains a stable temperature over the chips to prevent them from melting. The cooling system would allow the chips to remain operational at 2,000 times the intensity of the sun's rays, but IBM claims it can still provide a safe temperature up to 5,000 times concentration.
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Honda unit to build 27 megawatt wind power station in Brazil
www.bloomberg.com
25 Apr 2013
A unit of Honda Motor Co. (7267) in Brazil will invest about 100 million reals ($50 million) in a wind farm. It will be built in the city of Xangri-la in Rio Grande do Sul and is expected to start running in Sept. 2014, the company said in a statement. The project by Honda Automoveis do Brasil Ltda, will have 9 turbines and a total capacity of 27 MWs, according to Tomohiro Okada, a Honda spokesman.
25 Apr 2013
A unit of Honda Motor Co. (7267) in Brazil will invest about 100 million reals ($50 million) in a wind farm. It will be built in the city of Xangri-la in Rio Grande do Sul and is expected to start running in Sept. 2014, the company said in a statement. The project by Honda Automoveis do Brasil Ltda, will have 9 turbines and a total capacity of 27 MWs, according to Tomohiro Okada, a Honda spokesman.
John Laing plans $76 million investment in wind and solar energy
www.bloomberg.com
25 Apr 2013
John Laing Plc, a U.K, developer of hospitals, schools and roads, estimates it will spend about 50 million pounds ($76 million) this year on onshore wind and photovoltaic power projects in Britain and Sweden.
The company plans to invest in five developments this year, using debt to fund 50% to 70% of each plant, Ross McArthur, head of renewable energy for London-based John Laing, said in an interview. It wants to invest in areas with different regulatory structures to reduce reliance on one kind, he said.
The company completed three wind and two solar deals last year. While it's currently focused on northern European markets including the UK, John Laing is able to access the Australian and North American markets through locally based teams, said Andy Harmer, head of waste and energy. This may bring opportunities over the next year to 18 months, he said.
Sweden plans to get half of its energy from clean sources by 2020, from 47% now, and the U.K, is aiming for 15%, up from about 9.4%. Both subsidize renewable energy by placing an obligation on electricity suppliers to buy a certain portion of their power from low-carbon sources.
25 Apr 2013
John Laing Plc, a U.K, developer of hospitals, schools and roads, estimates it will spend about 50 million pounds ($76 million) this year on onshore wind and photovoltaic power projects in Britain and Sweden.
The company plans to invest in five developments this year, using debt to fund 50% to 70% of each plant, Ross McArthur, head of renewable energy for London-based John Laing, said in an interview. It wants to invest in areas with different regulatory structures to reduce reliance on one kind, he said.
The company completed three wind and two solar deals last year. While it's currently focused on northern European markets including the UK, John Laing is able to access the Australian and North American markets through locally based teams, said Andy Harmer, head of waste and energy. This may bring opportunities over the next year to 18 months, he said.
Sweden plans to get half of its energy from clean sources by 2020, from 47% now, and the U.K, is aiming for 15%, up from about 9.4%. Both subsidize renewable energy by placing an obligation on electricity suppliers to buy a certain portion of their power from low-carbon sources.
Graph of the Day: Solar, wind to dominate new generation
reneweconomy.com.au
24 Apr 2013
If you are looking for a growth sector in electricity generation, it is pretty clear where they are to be found-wind and solar.
Today's Graph(s) of the Day extends our coverage of Bloomberg New Energy Finance's new report on the outlook for renewable energy investment out to 2030. BNEF canvassed a range of scenarios-ranging from "traditional", to "new normal" and "barrier busting"-similar to the International Energy Agency's range of business as usual, new policies, and its 2C (meeting the science) scenario
BNEF says that in its mid-scenario (new normal), 70% of the new power generation capacity added between 2012 and 2030 will be from renewable technologies-with solar PV and wind will comprise the largest share of new power capacity added to 2030, accounting for 30% and 27% respectively.
As the cost of wind and solar falls and carbon prices and other environmental controls, increase the cost of fossil fuels in certain countries, new coal and gas capacity become less attractive, comprising only 25% of capacity additions to 2030.
Nuclear also sees something of a renaissance but this is limited to 5 6% of total new capacity added to 2030. Interestintly, BNEF sees little deployment of solar thermal, mostly because its construction out to 2020 at least will be curtailed by high costs. The industry will be keen to prove that wrong. All told, around $8.2 trillion or 73% of total asset finance to 2030 will be spent on renewable energy including large hydroelectric.
Read More…
24 Apr 2013
If you are looking for a growth sector in electricity generation, it is pretty clear where they are to be found-wind and solar.
Today's Graph(s) of the Day extends our coverage of Bloomberg New Energy Finance's new report on the outlook for renewable energy investment out to 2030. BNEF canvassed a range of scenarios-ranging from "traditional", to "new normal" and "barrier busting"-similar to the International Energy Agency's range of business as usual, new policies, and its 2C (meeting the science) scenario
BNEF says that in its mid-scenario (new normal), 70% of the new power generation capacity added between 2012 and 2030 will be from renewable technologies-with solar PV and wind will comprise the largest share of new power capacity added to 2030, accounting for 30% and 27% respectively.
As the cost of wind and solar falls and carbon prices and other environmental controls, increase the cost of fossil fuels in certain countries, new coal and gas capacity become less attractive, comprising only 25% of capacity additions to 2030.
Nuclear also sees something of a renaissance but this is limited to 5 6% of total new capacity added to 2030. Interestintly, BNEF sees little deployment of solar thermal, mostly because its construction out to 2020 at least will be curtailed by high costs. The industry will be keen to prove that wrong. All told, around $8.2 trillion or 73% of total asset finance to 2030 will be spent on renewable energy including large hydroelectric.
Read More…
Turbines spinning at wind farm
www.themercury.com.au
23 Apr 2013
THE Musselroe wind farm has been officially switched on and is now generating power for the state's electricity grid. The $395 million project consists of 56 turbines, which will be progressively turned on. It will be fully operational by July. Premier Lara Giddings said it was a "great milestone".
"This has been a huge development which has delivered jobs for Tasmanians, opportunities for local businesses and a significant boost for the North-East economy", she said. "It builds on Hydro Tasmania's partnership with leading Chinese energy company Shenhua which is securing investment and jobs in our renewable energy sector".
Ms Giddings said more than 200 people had been directly employed on the project during the peak of construction. Project director Andrew Hickman said after 10 years of talking, planning and construction it had been a momentous and satisfying occasion.
Mr Hickman said a few lucky breaks, such as a high Australian dollar and an extra good deal from European-down-turn-hit wind turbine builder Vestas Wind Systems, had helped Hydro Tasmania to get the $395 million project across the line.
The progressive commissioning of turbines and the marrying to the grid via a 48km transmission line is expected to continue until July. The farm will generate as much as 168 MWs of power, enough to supply 50,000 homes, during optimum wind conditions.
Hydro is now drawing up plans to develop wind farms across Australia as part of a $1.6 billion deal signed with Chinese energy company Shenhua Group Corporation, a subsidiary of which acquired a 75% stake in the Musselroe project in February.
23 Apr 2013
THE Musselroe wind farm has been officially switched on and is now generating power for the state's electricity grid. The $395 million project consists of 56 turbines, which will be progressively turned on. It will be fully operational by July. Premier Lara Giddings said it was a "great milestone"."This has been a huge development which has delivered jobs for Tasmanians, opportunities for local businesses and a significant boost for the North-East economy", she said. "It builds on Hydro Tasmania's partnership with leading Chinese energy company Shenhua which is securing investment and jobs in our renewable energy sector".
Ms Giddings said more than 200 people had been directly employed on the project during the peak of construction. Project director Andrew Hickman said after 10 years of talking, planning and construction it had been a momentous and satisfying occasion.
Mr Hickman said a few lucky breaks, such as a high Australian dollar and an extra good deal from European-down-turn-hit wind turbine builder Vestas Wind Systems, had helped Hydro Tasmania to get the $395 million project across the line.
The progressive commissioning of turbines and the marrying to the grid via a 48km transmission line is expected to continue until July. The farm will generate as much as 168 MWs of power, enough to supply 50,000 homes, during optimum wind conditions.
Hydro is now drawing up plans to develop wind farms across Australia as part of a $1.6 billion deal signed with Chinese energy company Shenhua Group Corporation, a subsidiary of which acquired a 75% stake in the Musselroe project in February.
EDF Energy to cut jobs to control cost of building nuclear power station
www.guardian.co.uk
23 Apr 2013
EDF Energy energy is cutting scores of jobs to control costs at the site of its proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset. The company is in the middle of difficult negotiations with ministers over the level of public subsidy the new reactors will receive over the next 40 years but insisted the project is not being mothballed and that it is not "holding a gun to the government's head".
The company has already spent £800m on developing the £14bn project and lost its junior partner when Centrica pulled out in February. "As part of good project management, and to control costs, EDF Energy has taken steps to refocus its activities at its Hinkley Point C project", said a spokeswoman. "This reflects its priorities ahead of securing the financing necessary for the project".
EDF Energy refused to give the number of workers losing their jobs, citing ongoing consultations with staff and unions, but the Guardian understands it will be about 150 of the current 800 strong workforce. The company said further pre-construction planning work would continue but that preparation of the site had halted.
EDF Energy wants to build two new reactors at Hinkley. It says they would provide reliable and low-carbon electricity making up 7% of the UK's demand and provide 25,000 job opportunities during construction, with 900 long-term posts. The UK government has placed new nuclear reactors at the heart of its energy policy, to replace the ageing fleet of nuclear and coal plants which are being phased out.
But the two sides have been unable to agree on the subsidy the plant would receive, paid for by consumers through their energy bills. EDF Energy had originally said it would make its final investment decision by the end of 2012. Both sides have a great deal to lose, but as the negotiations have dragged on observers have suggested the likelihood of the government abandoning plans for a series of new nuclear plants.
"It is proving extremely difficult to get that first nuclear power plant built and there is an increasing feeling in industry that at £14bn a throw there is no chance of getting beyond one", said Lord Robin Teverson, the LibDem spokesman on energy in the House of Lords.
A spokesman for the department of energy and climate change said: "Progress is being made in our discussions with EDF Energy. Both sides have an interest in reaching a positive agreement".
EDF Energy and the government face a number of major obstacles in delivering new reactors even beyond the challenging financing. The project has yet to be approved by the European Union, which limits the state aid that can be given to industrial projects. The UK also has no site for the long term disposal of nuclear waste, after the rejection of a proposal in Cumbria by local councils. Such a facility was considered a prerequisite for the building of new reactors by David Cameron before the 2010 election.
The EDF Energy spokeswoman said: "The case for new nuclear in the UK remains as strong as ever". She said Ed Davey, the energy secretary had granted planning permission for Hinkley and that the reactor design has been approved by regulators. But a senior EDF Energy executive said recently: "We cannot afford to burn money every day, every week, every month without a clear understanding of where it's leading us".
23 Apr 2013
EDF Energy energy is cutting scores of jobs to control costs at the site of its proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset. The company is in the middle of difficult negotiations with ministers over the level of public subsidy the new reactors will receive over the next 40 years but insisted the project is not being mothballed and that it is not "holding a gun to the government's head".The company has already spent £800m on developing the £14bn project and lost its junior partner when Centrica pulled out in February. "As part of good project management, and to control costs, EDF Energy has taken steps to refocus its activities at its Hinkley Point C project", said a spokeswoman. "This reflects its priorities ahead of securing the financing necessary for the project".
EDF Energy refused to give the number of workers losing their jobs, citing ongoing consultations with staff and unions, but the Guardian understands it will be about 150 of the current 800 strong workforce. The company said further pre-construction planning work would continue but that preparation of the site had halted.
EDF Energy wants to build two new reactors at Hinkley. It says they would provide reliable and low-carbon electricity making up 7% of the UK's demand and provide 25,000 job opportunities during construction, with 900 long-term posts. The UK government has placed new nuclear reactors at the heart of its energy policy, to replace the ageing fleet of nuclear and coal plants which are being phased out.
But the two sides have been unable to agree on the subsidy the plant would receive, paid for by consumers through their energy bills. EDF Energy had originally said it would make its final investment decision by the end of 2012. Both sides have a great deal to lose, but as the negotiations have dragged on observers have suggested the likelihood of the government abandoning plans for a series of new nuclear plants.
"It is proving extremely difficult to get that first nuclear power plant built and there is an increasing feeling in industry that at £14bn a throw there is no chance of getting beyond one", said Lord Robin Teverson, the LibDem spokesman on energy in the House of Lords.
A spokesman for the department of energy and climate change said: "Progress is being made in our discussions with EDF Energy. Both sides have an interest in reaching a positive agreement".
EDF Energy and the government face a number of major obstacles in delivering new reactors even beyond the challenging financing. The project has yet to be approved by the European Union, which limits the state aid that can be given to industrial projects. The UK also has no site for the long term disposal of nuclear waste, after the rejection of a proposal in Cumbria by local councils. Such a facility was considered a prerequisite for the building of new reactors by David Cameron before the 2010 election.
The EDF Energy spokeswoman said: "The case for new nuclear in the UK remains as strong as ever". She said Ed Davey, the energy secretary had granted planning permission for Hinkley and that the reactor design has been approved by regulators. But a senior EDF Energy executive said recently: "We cannot afford to burn money every day, every week, every month without a clear understanding of where it's leading us".
Authorities examine complaint against anti-wind farm activist
www.crikey.com.au
23 Apr 2013
Prominent anti-wind farm activist Sarah Laurie is being examined by the National Health and Medical Research Council's ethics committee regarding claims she has breached ethical research codes.
Well-known anti-wind farm campaigner Sarah Laurie is being examined by the national peak body for medical research over claims she breached ethical codes of research conduct.
The National Health and Medical Research Council confirms it has received a complaint regarding the research being conducted by Laurie, the CEO of the Waubra Foundation (a small but powerful anti-wind farm activist group). A spokesperson told Crikey: "NHMRC takes all complaints received seriously and are following up on this matter".
The concerns about Laurie's research ethics are outlined in a document written by an anonymous academic and first sent to the Public Health Association Australia. The document alleges Laurie is not currently registered as a medical practitioner but has been conducting activity that meets the definition of medical research involving human subjects. On her website, Laurie uses the title of "Dr" and describes herself as a former GP.
The dossier outlines the incidents where Laurie claims to have conducted interviews with residents affected by wind turbine health issues, collected blood pressure data, given medical advice and/or clinical judgment, referred to people as "research subjects" and discussed accessing medical records and personal health journals. It also asks if Laurie's research has been reviewed by a Human Research Ethics Committee:
"The Medical Board of Australia in conjunction with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency advises that medical practitioners should be registered if they have any direct clinical contact with patients or provide treatment or opinion about individuals".
After examining the document, the CEO of the Public Health Association Australia, Michael Moore, forwarded it on to the heads of the NHMRC, the Australian Health Practioner Regulation Agency, the Health and Community Service Complaints Commissioner of South Australia and the Waubra Foundation.
"It was something which should not be ignored because I thought there were serious ethical issues which had been raised, ethical issues that would distort the debate over the appropriateness of wind farm technology", Moore told Crikey.
For years Laurie and her Waubra Foundation (named for the Waubra wind farm in Victoria) have campaigned against the use of wind farm technology, claiming wind turbines have serious health impacts--known as "wind turbine syndrome"--for local residents. As Australia's most prominent anti-wind farm campaigner, Laurie is regularly used as a media commentator about wind farm health issues; she recently appeared on ABC Radio National and 2GB.
"From our perspective, it's a matter of ensuring that policy debates take place on sound evidence and that the research is appropriately conducted", said Moore.
A new study by public health professor Simon Chapman indicates health complaints about wind turbines were rare until anti wind farm groups began a campaign against supposed medical issues in 2009. Another recent study led by University of Auckland researcher Fiona Crichton demonstrates that residents who expect health issues from wind turbine health issues are more likely to develop the symptoms.
When called to ask about the document and its claims, Laurie told Crikey it was "inappropriate for me to comment at this time".
The Health and Community Service Complaints Commissioner of SA and the Australian Health Practioner Regulation Agency told Crikey they don't comment on individual cases. An AHPRA spokesperson notes it is an offence under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to present as a registered medical practitioner if you are not, and a court may impose a maximum penalty of $30,000 for an individual "holding out".
23 Apr 2013
Prominent anti-wind farm activist Sarah Laurie is being examined by the National Health and Medical Research Council's ethics committee regarding claims she has breached ethical research codes.
Well-known anti-wind farm campaigner Sarah Laurie is being examined by the national peak body for medical research over claims she breached ethical codes of research conduct.
The National Health and Medical Research Council confirms it has received a complaint regarding the research being conducted by Laurie, the CEO of the Waubra Foundation (a small but powerful anti-wind farm activist group). A spokesperson told Crikey: "NHMRC takes all complaints received seriously and are following up on this matter".
The concerns about Laurie's research ethics are outlined in a document written by an anonymous academic and first sent to the Public Health Association Australia. The document alleges Laurie is not currently registered as a medical practitioner but has been conducting activity that meets the definition of medical research involving human subjects. On her website, Laurie uses the title of "Dr" and describes herself as a former GP.
The dossier outlines the incidents where Laurie claims to have conducted interviews with residents affected by wind turbine health issues, collected blood pressure data, given medical advice and/or clinical judgment, referred to people as "research subjects" and discussed accessing medical records and personal health journals. It also asks if Laurie's research has been reviewed by a Human Research Ethics Committee:
"The Medical Board of Australia in conjunction with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency advises that medical practitioners should be registered if they have any direct clinical contact with patients or provide treatment or opinion about individuals".
After examining the document, the CEO of the Public Health Association Australia, Michael Moore, forwarded it on to the heads of the NHMRC, the Australian Health Practioner Regulation Agency, the Health and Community Service Complaints Commissioner of South Australia and the Waubra Foundation.
"It was something which should not be ignored because I thought there were serious ethical issues which had been raised, ethical issues that would distort the debate over the appropriateness of wind farm technology", Moore told Crikey.
For years Laurie and her Waubra Foundation (named for the Waubra wind farm in Victoria) have campaigned against the use of wind farm technology, claiming wind turbines have serious health impacts--known as "wind turbine syndrome"--for local residents. As Australia's most prominent anti-wind farm campaigner, Laurie is regularly used as a media commentator about wind farm health issues; she recently appeared on ABC Radio National and 2GB.
"From our perspective, it's a matter of ensuring that policy debates take place on sound evidence and that the research is appropriately conducted", said Moore.
A new study by public health professor Simon Chapman indicates health complaints about wind turbines were rare until anti wind farm groups began a campaign against supposed medical issues in 2009. Another recent study led by University of Auckland researcher Fiona Crichton demonstrates that residents who expect health issues from wind turbine health issues are more likely to develop the symptoms.
When called to ask about the document and its claims, Laurie told Crikey it was "inappropriate for me to comment at this time".
The Health and Community Service Complaints Commissioner of SA and the Australian Health Practioner Regulation Agency told Crikey they don't comment on individual cases. An AHPRA spokesperson notes it is an offence under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to present as a registered medical practitioner if you are not, and a court may impose a maximum penalty of $30,000 for an individual "holding out".
Thursday, 6 June 2013
Wind-solar hybrid plants up to twice as efficient
www.pv-magazine.com
22 Apr 2013
Combining wind turbines and photovoltaic systems results in up to twice the amount of electricity being generated across the same surface area, while shading losses caused by wind turbines amount to a mere 1 to 2%-much less than previously thought.
As an additional benefit, the construction of hybrid power plants does not require grid expansion because the plants generate wind and solar power at different times of day and during complementary seasons, ensuring the level of energy fed into the grid is more steady than that of wind or photovoltaic power plants alone.
"Until now, it was thought that the shadows cast on solar plants by wind turbines led to high yield losses. The study shows, however, that these shading losses are much lower than expected, provided the hybrid power plant is well designed", said Alexander Woitas, head of the engineering department at Solarpraxis AG, parent company of pv-magazine.com. Various scenarios were simulated for the study and detailed shading analyses were carried out.
"Initial requests to create yield reports as well as technical and economic system planning have given us cause to hope that the more efficient utilization of space and infrastructure created by hybrid power plants has excellent prospects for the future", said Dr. Christian Breyer, managing director of the Reiner Lemoine Institut. "We also calculated what effects combining photovoltaic and wind power plants will have on power grids on both a global and regional level. The fact that wind and photovoltaic power supply the grid with much more stable levels of energy when working together has a positive effect on grid stability", he added.
While wind turbines produce a lot more electricity during the colder parts of the year, due to greater levels of wind over the winter months, solar power plants generate more solar power in the summer, compensating for the lower wind power production at this time of the year.
Next year, a photovoltaic system at Templin, near Berlin, is set to be retrofitted with wind turbines as part of the German government's Zwanzig20 research initiative. Data from the pilot plant will be analyzed by Solarpraxis, the Reiner Lemoine Institut and project partners.
22 Apr 2013
Combining wind turbines and photovoltaic systems results in up to twice the amount of electricity being generated across the same surface area, while shading losses caused by wind turbines amount to a mere 1 to 2%-much less than previously thought.
As an additional benefit, the construction of hybrid power plants does not require grid expansion because the plants generate wind and solar power at different times of day and during complementary seasons, ensuring the level of energy fed into the grid is more steady than that of wind or photovoltaic power plants alone.
"Until now, it was thought that the shadows cast on solar plants by wind turbines led to high yield losses. The study shows, however, that these shading losses are much lower than expected, provided the hybrid power plant is well designed", said Alexander Woitas, head of the engineering department at Solarpraxis AG, parent company of pv-magazine.com. Various scenarios were simulated for the study and detailed shading analyses were carried out.
"Initial requests to create yield reports as well as technical and economic system planning have given us cause to hope that the more efficient utilization of space and infrastructure created by hybrid power plants has excellent prospects for the future", said Dr. Christian Breyer, managing director of the Reiner Lemoine Institut. "We also calculated what effects combining photovoltaic and wind power plants will have on power grids on both a global and regional level. The fact that wind and photovoltaic power supply the grid with much more stable levels of energy when working together has a positive effect on grid stability", he added.
While wind turbines produce a lot more electricity during the colder parts of the year, due to greater levels of wind over the winter months, solar power plants generate more solar power in the summer, compensating for the lower wind power production at this time of the year.
Next year, a photovoltaic system at Templin, near Berlin, is set to be retrofitted with wind turbines as part of the German government's Zwanzig20 research initiative. Data from the pilot plant will be analyzed by Solarpraxis, the Reiner Lemoine Institut and project partners.
Duke Energy to use less coal, more renewables
nawindpower.com
22 Apr 2013
In its newly released 2012 Sustainability Report, Duke Energy has highlighted plans to rely less on coal-fired generation and more on renewable energy.
As part of Duke Energy's $9 billion generation fleet modernization program, the company will retire more than 3.4 GW of older coal-fired units by year-end. That number will grow to 6.3 GW of coal capacity retired over the next few years.
In addition, the company has set a goal of owning or purchasing 6 GW of wind, solar and biomass energy by 2020. The report also reveals that wind power constituted 3,410 MWh, or 1.4%, of the electricity Duke generated in 2012, as well as 1,627 MW, or 6.2%, of the company's generation capacity last year.
"Greater transformation lies ahead for our company and our industry", said Jim Rogers, Duke Energy chairman and CEO, in his letter to stakeholders. "Current drivers of change include the shale gas revolution, emerging technologies and anemic growth in energy usage. Also, our nation must address global climate change in a more comprehensive way".
22 Apr 2013
In its newly released 2012 Sustainability Report, Duke Energy has highlighted plans to rely less on coal-fired generation and more on renewable energy.
As part of Duke Energy's $9 billion generation fleet modernization program, the company will retire more than 3.4 GW of older coal-fired units by year-end. That number will grow to 6.3 GW of coal capacity retired over the next few years.
In addition, the company has set a goal of owning or purchasing 6 GW of wind, solar and biomass energy by 2020. The report also reveals that wind power constituted 3,410 MWh, or 1.4%, of the electricity Duke generated in 2012, as well as 1,627 MW, or 6.2%, of the company's generation capacity last year.
"Greater transformation lies ahead for our company and our industry", said Jim Rogers, Duke Energy chairman and CEO, in his letter to stakeholders. "Current drivers of change include the shale gas revolution, emerging technologies and anemic growth in energy usage. Also, our nation must address global climate change in a more comprehensive way".
A power for good
www.standard.net.au
22 Apr 2013
On Friday, April 12, I attended the official opening of the Macarthur wind farm facility. I must say that I was disappointed with the subsequent reporting by your paper. It seemed as though you showed more emphasis on the protestors rather than the positives for the wind farm.
As secretary of the Hawkesdale Brigade Group, I was very privileged to be presented with a cheque for $40,000 from Michael Fraser, CEO of AGL Energy, as a contribution towards the purchase of two ultra-light tankers for the Hawkesdale and Willatook brigades. This is an example of how AGL Energy and the local fire brigades are working together.
In your story on Saturday, April 13, there was no mention of this presentation. Was it an oversight or did you just not care to report on such an important item of the official opening proceedings?
With so much criticism from wind farm opponents following the recent fire at Minhamite, I would also like it known that our group was in constant contact with staff at the facility and really appreciated their offers of both resources and manpower. The Hawkesdale Brigade Group and the wind farm continue to enjoy a close relationship and look forward to maintaining that relationship well into the future.
Ros Stewart, Hawkesdale Brigade Group secretary
22 Apr 2013
On Friday, April 12, I attended the official opening of the Macarthur wind farm facility. I must say that I was disappointed with the subsequent reporting by your paper. It seemed as though you showed more emphasis on the protestors rather than the positives for the wind farm.
As secretary of the Hawkesdale Brigade Group, I was very privileged to be presented with a cheque for $40,000 from Michael Fraser, CEO of AGL Energy, as a contribution towards the purchase of two ultra-light tankers for the Hawkesdale and Willatook brigades. This is an example of how AGL Energy and the local fire brigades are working together.
In your story on Saturday, April 13, there was no mention of this presentation. Was it an oversight or did you just not care to report on such an important item of the official opening proceedings?
With so much criticism from wind farm opponents following the recent fire at Minhamite, I would also like it known that our group was in constant contact with staff at the facility and really appreciated their offers of both resources and manpower. The Hawkesdale Brigade Group and the wind farm continue to enjoy a close relationship and look forward to maintaining that relationship well into the future.
Ros Stewart, Hawkesdale Brigade Group secretary
Wind farm permit outrage
www.standard.net.au
22 Apr 2013
MOYNE mayor Jim Doukas says the state government is passing the buck by making local councils enforce permit conditions on some wind farms. Cr Doukas said new state legislation requiring local government to be responsible for enforcing wind farm permit conditions could impose high costs on councils.
Under legislation passed in the upper house of State Parliament on Thursday, councils will be responsible for enforcing conditions such as noise levels on eight wind farm projects unless the permit conditions says the state planning minister is responsible. The eight wind farm projects covered by the legislation include the planned Woolsthorpe and Mortlake south wind farms.
Moyne Shire last month lobbied the state government strongly objecting to the legislation, saying the planning minister should be responsible for enforcement of the permits. Cr Doukas said the new legislation would make the enforcement of the permit conditions very "messy" with some conditions likely to be enforced by the state and some by local government.
In speaking in support of the bill on Thursday night, Member for Western Victoria Simon Ramsay said he was aware that some councils were "not overjoyed at the prospect of taking on responsibility of the enforcement and compliance of wind farm permits that were issued under the previous government".
This was because there was little due diligence in the conditions that were applied to the permits for those applicants. "I believe support should be provided to those councils that must now take on this responsibility, given their previous lack of involvement with the issue", Mr Ramsay said.
He said it followed through on the government's pre-election commitment to give local councils a greater say in the issuing of wind farm permits and for enforcing compliance with their permit conditions. "At the end of the day, that is democracy at a grass root level working effectively", Mr Ramsay said.
Friends of the Earth campaigns director Cam Walker said the organisation believed the approval and enforcement of wind farm permits should be handled by the state government rather than local government to avoid councils being cajoled by "noisy" anti-wind farm minorities.
Mr Walker said that having the state responsible for the enforcement of the wind farm permits would allow wider community concerns to be heard rather than only those who protested loudly.
22 Apr 2013
MOYNE mayor Jim Doukas says the state government is passing the buck by making local councils enforce permit conditions on some wind farms. Cr Doukas said new state legislation requiring local government to be responsible for enforcing wind farm permit conditions could impose high costs on councils.
Under legislation passed in the upper house of State Parliament on Thursday, councils will be responsible for enforcing conditions such as noise levels on eight wind farm projects unless the permit conditions says the state planning minister is responsible. The eight wind farm projects covered by the legislation include the planned Woolsthorpe and Mortlake south wind farms.
Moyne Shire last month lobbied the state government strongly objecting to the legislation, saying the planning minister should be responsible for enforcement of the permits. Cr Doukas said the new legislation would make the enforcement of the permit conditions very "messy" with some conditions likely to be enforced by the state and some by local government.
In speaking in support of the bill on Thursday night, Member for Western Victoria Simon Ramsay said he was aware that some councils were "not overjoyed at the prospect of taking on responsibility of the enforcement and compliance of wind farm permits that were issued under the previous government".
This was because there was little due diligence in the conditions that were applied to the permits for those applicants. "I believe support should be provided to those councils that must now take on this responsibility, given their previous lack of involvement with the issue", Mr Ramsay said.
He said it followed through on the government's pre-election commitment to give local councils a greater say in the issuing of wind farm permits and for enforcing compliance with their permit conditions. "At the end of the day, that is democracy at a grass root level working effectively", Mr Ramsay said.
Friends of the Earth campaigns director Cam Walker said the organisation believed the approval and enforcement of wind farm permits should be handled by the state government rather than local government to avoid councils being cajoled by "noisy" anti-wind farm minorities.
Mr Walker said that having the state responsible for the enforcement of the wind farm permits would allow wider community concerns to be heard rather than only those who protested loudly.
Wind turbine manufacturer Nordex will provide four Turkish projects with 50 turbines
www.balkans.com
22 Apr 2013
wind turbine manufacturer Nordex is able to defend a leading position in the Turkish market. Now it has signed delivery and service contracts with two long-standing customers for four projects entailing a total of 50 turbines with a combined total capacity of 125 MWs. A total of 38 N100/2500 turbines are to be connected to the grid for Eksim Holding by autumn 2013. 20 turbines will be built at the Hasanbeyli wind farm in Eastern Turkey close to the city of Osmaniye.
Located in the foothills of the Taurus mountains in the South East of Turkey at an altitude of around 1,400 metres, they will produce an annual energy yield of around 180 GW/hours. Nordex is also installing a further wind farm for Eksim close to Silivri near Istanbul. Driven by average wind speeds of 7.8 m/s, the 18 2.5 MW turbines will generate 150 GW/hours of electricity a year. Nordex is also supplying Dost Enerji, with which Nordex originally launched its business activities in Turkey, with twelve N90/2500 turbines.
One of these will be added to the Yuntdag wind farm, which has since been enlarged to 23 Nordex turbines. Located to the north of Izmir, this wind farm marked Nordex's first foray into the Turkish market back in 2007. Thanks to the superb wind conditions at this site, the energy yield from this single turbine is expected to come to nine GW/hours a year, equivalent to a capacity factor of 48%.
Nordex is assembling the other eleven turbines at the Geres wind farm in the direct vicinity of Yuntdag. This wind farm is to produce 100 GW/hours of clean energy a year. Dost Enerji is one of the pioneers in the commercial utilisation of wind power in Turkey. Says Lars Bondo Krogsgaard, a member of Nordex's Management Board: "We are delighted that our long-standing customers Dost Enerji and Eksim Holding have again opted for Nordex turbines.
This underscores the favourable experience which they have gained with our technology and skills. As well as this, it testifies to two superb partnerships precisely in the Turkish wind power market, which is characterised by strong growth potential and excellent wind conditions". The OECD predicts for Turkey an average growth of GDP of 5.2%.
Says Dr. Ruchan Hamamci, Coordinator of Renewable Energies at Eksim Holding: "We are currently operating wind farms with a capacity of 140 MW and will be adding a further 95 MW to this with our Hasanbeyli and Silivri wind farms. Our goal is to become the leading supplier of CO₂ free electricity from wind in Turkey. Nordex has supplied us with reliable and efficient wind power systems allowing us to come closer to reaching our goal from day to day". Source; Nordex
22 Apr 2013
wind turbine manufacturer Nordex is able to defend a leading position in the Turkish market. Now it has signed delivery and service contracts with two long-standing customers for four projects entailing a total of 50 turbines with a combined total capacity of 125 MWs. A total of 38 N100/2500 turbines are to be connected to the grid for Eksim Holding by autumn 2013. 20 turbines will be built at the Hasanbeyli wind farm in Eastern Turkey close to the city of Osmaniye.
Located in the foothills of the Taurus mountains in the South East of Turkey at an altitude of around 1,400 metres, they will produce an annual energy yield of around 180 GW/hours. Nordex is also installing a further wind farm for Eksim close to Silivri near Istanbul. Driven by average wind speeds of 7.8 m/s, the 18 2.5 MW turbines will generate 150 GW/hours of electricity a year. Nordex is also supplying Dost Enerji, with which Nordex originally launched its business activities in Turkey, with twelve N90/2500 turbines.
One of these will be added to the Yuntdag wind farm, which has since been enlarged to 23 Nordex turbines. Located to the north of Izmir, this wind farm marked Nordex's first foray into the Turkish market back in 2007. Thanks to the superb wind conditions at this site, the energy yield from this single turbine is expected to come to nine GW/hours a year, equivalent to a capacity factor of 48%.
Nordex is assembling the other eleven turbines at the Geres wind farm in the direct vicinity of Yuntdag. This wind farm is to produce 100 GW/hours of clean energy a year. Dost Enerji is one of the pioneers in the commercial utilisation of wind power in Turkey. Says Lars Bondo Krogsgaard, a member of Nordex's Management Board: "We are delighted that our long-standing customers Dost Enerji and Eksim Holding have again opted for Nordex turbines.
This underscores the favourable experience which they have gained with our technology and skills. As well as this, it testifies to two superb partnerships precisely in the Turkish wind power market, which is characterised by strong growth potential and excellent wind conditions". The OECD predicts for Turkey an average growth of GDP of 5.2%.
Says Dr. Ruchan Hamamci, Coordinator of Renewable Energies at Eksim Holding: "We are currently operating wind farms with a capacity of 140 MW and will be adding a further 95 MW to this with our Hasanbeyli and Silivri wind farms. Our goal is to become the leading supplier of CO₂ free electricity from wind in Turkey. Nordex has supplied us with reliable and efficient wind power systems allowing us to come closer to reaching our goal from day to day". Source; Nordex
Carnegie Wave Energy formally awarded A$1.27M seawater desalination plant grant
www.proactiveinvestors.com.au
22 Apr 2013
Carnegie Corporation Wave Energy has been formally awarded the A$1.27 million AusIndustry grant to support its CETO Seawater desalination Demonstration Pilot Plant at Garden Island, Western Australia. The grant, which is half the $2.5 million cost, will support design and construction of the seawater desalination plant.
Carnegie Corporation's plant will be directly powered by CETO hydraulic energy from an offshore CETO system to demonstrate that wave energy driven seawater desalination has the potential to significantly and sustainably reduce the amount of electricity consumed by seawater desalination.
The CETO desalination pilot will be co-located with Carnegie Corporation's Perth Wave Energy Project (PWEP) on Garden Island, integrating off-the-shelf reverse-osmosis desalination technology with the PWEP infrastructure.
Key initial tasks ahead of construction include completing detailed design, securing environmental approvals, negotiation of a water sales agreement and, if possible, the integration of the construction and commissioning of the desalination pilot with the delivery of PWEP.
22 Apr 2013
Carnegie Corporation Wave Energy has been formally awarded the A$1.27 million AusIndustry grant to support its CETO Seawater desalination Demonstration Pilot Plant at Garden Island, Western Australia. The grant, which is half the $2.5 million cost, will support design and construction of the seawater desalination plant.Carnegie Corporation's plant will be directly powered by CETO hydraulic energy from an offshore CETO system to demonstrate that wave energy driven seawater desalination has the potential to significantly and sustainably reduce the amount of electricity consumed by seawater desalination.
The CETO desalination pilot will be co-located with Carnegie Corporation's Perth Wave Energy Project (PWEP) on Garden Island, integrating off-the-shelf reverse-osmosis desalination technology with the PWEP infrastructure.
Key initial tasks ahead of construction include completing detailed design, securing environmental approvals, negotiation of a water sales agreement and, if possible, the integration of the construction and commissioning of the desalination pilot with the delivery of PWEP.
Wind power is booming in Iowa
www.messengernews.net
21 Apr 2013
Windmills once dotted the Iowa landscape. Converting the energy of the wind into mechanical energy helped run pumps and other machinery on Iowa farms, and elsewhere, long before electrical power made its appearance.
A high-tech, 21st-century cousin of those windmills, so important in years gone by, could be one of the key ingredients to energy self-sufficiency for the United States. Wind-based generation of electricity is a technology that offers the promise of vast amounts of electric power produced with few environmental downsides.
Our society has a voracious appetite for energy, and the demand for even more energy is growing fast. That makes overreliance on those energy resources that once used are gone forever both short-sighted and, ultimately, catastrophically foolish.
As our nation seeks energy sources that have long-term viability, concern about renewability has grown. The booming ethanol industry offers part of the answer to how energy needs can be met using resources that can be replenished. Wind power also has the potential to be a major part of tomorrow's energy picture.
Making use of wind to generate electricity has enormous implications for the United States. The goal of generating 20% of the nation's electricity from wind power by 2030 appears highly achievable. Two states-Iowa and South Dakota-already have surpassed that target.
Turning wind power into electric power is already a reality in many parts of the world, including the United States. In 2011, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration, 3% of U.S, electricity was produced from wind turbines and that capacity is increasing rapidly.
In our nation there was a 28% increase in the energy generated by wind in 2012, according to the American Wind Energy Association. A statement released by the AWEA in April put the contribution of wind power to new electricity generating capacity created in the U.S, during 2012 at an impressive 42%. More than 6,700 new wind turbines came online last year.
Iowa is a national wind-energy leader. In 2012, 24.5% of the Hawkeye State's electricity was wind-generated. Iowa tops all other states in the%age of electricity produced from wind. Clearly, Iowa is showing other states how to make this increasingly important energy source viable. Energy can be produced in perpetuity from our fields and the gentle winds that blow across them.
It's not too hard to imagine a day-perhaps not so many decades hence-when people will think of Iowa not just as the breadbasket of the nation, but also as a critical source of the energy that makes our way of life possible.
21 Apr 2013
Windmills once dotted the Iowa landscape. Converting the energy of the wind into mechanical energy helped run pumps and other machinery on Iowa farms, and elsewhere, long before electrical power made its appearance.
A high-tech, 21st-century cousin of those windmills, so important in years gone by, could be one of the key ingredients to energy self-sufficiency for the United States. Wind-based generation of electricity is a technology that offers the promise of vast amounts of electric power produced with few environmental downsides.
Our society has a voracious appetite for energy, and the demand for even more energy is growing fast. That makes overreliance on those energy resources that once used are gone forever both short-sighted and, ultimately, catastrophically foolish.
As our nation seeks energy sources that have long-term viability, concern about renewability has grown. The booming ethanol industry offers part of the answer to how energy needs can be met using resources that can be replenished. Wind power also has the potential to be a major part of tomorrow's energy picture.
Making use of wind to generate electricity has enormous implications for the United States. The goal of generating 20% of the nation's electricity from wind power by 2030 appears highly achievable. Two states-Iowa and South Dakota-already have surpassed that target.
Turning wind power into electric power is already a reality in many parts of the world, including the United States. In 2011, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration, 3% of U.S, electricity was produced from wind turbines and that capacity is increasing rapidly.
In our nation there was a 28% increase in the energy generated by wind in 2012, according to the American Wind Energy Association. A statement released by the AWEA in April put the contribution of wind power to new electricity generating capacity created in the U.S, during 2012 at an impressive 42%. More than 6,700 new wind turbines came online last year.
Iowa is a national wind-energy leader. In 2012, 24.5% of the Hawkeye State's electricity was wind-generated. Iowa tops all other states in the%age of electricity produced from wind. Clearly, Iowa is showing other states how to make this increasingly important energy source viable. Energy can be produced in perpetuity from our fields and the gentle winds that blow across them.
It's not too hard to imagine a day-perhaps not so many decades hence-when people will think of Iowa not just as the breadbasket of the nation, but also as a critical source of the energy that makes our way of life possible.
Thursday, 30 May 2013
Kewaunee nuclear power plant shutdown cost is nearly $1 billion
www.jsonline.com
20 Apr 2013
When the Kewaunee Power Station stops generating electricity next month, a new chapter in its life will open-one that could last until the 2070s and cost nearly $1 billion.
The plant operators will begin the process of decommissioning the nuclear power plant, an endeavor that aims to restore the site along Lake Michigan to what it looked like in the 1960s, before the facility was built. Kewaunee owner Dominion Resources Inc, has announced it will shut the plant on May 7, a move that is expected to result in the loss of hundreds of jobs.
The reactor is closing because the Wisconsin utilities that had purchased its electricity declined to continue buying it, citing the low price of natural gas. Dominion put the power plant up for sale in 2011, but no buyer emerged. So in a few short weeks, the mission of those who work at Kewaunee will change from generating power to cleaning up the power plant site.
"We've got 60 years to turn it back to a 'greenfield' site", said Mark Kanz, spokesman for Dominion. "At some point it basically has to look like the farm fields in the 1960s, before any construction started here".
As part of the decommissioning, all buildings on the 900 acre site east of Green Bay will be torn down and low-level radioactive waste will be shipped out of state. What could remain on site for generations, however, are the concrete casks of spent nuclear fuel-the high-level radioactive waste that is changed out every 18 months when a reactor refuels.
The federal government is responsible for the cleanup of the spent fuel, with the Department of Energy accessing a separate decommissioning fund paid for by Wisconsin ratepayers for the cost of placing spent fuel in storage and a possible move to a long-term disposal site.
Read More…
20 Apr 2013
When the Kewaunee Power Station stops generating electricity next month, a new chapter in its life will open-one that could last until the 2070s and cost nearly $1 billion.The plant operators will begin the process of decommissioning the nuclear power plant, an endeavor that aims to restore the site along Lake Michigan to what it looked like in the 1960s, before the facility was built. Kewaunee owner Dominion Resources Inc, has announced it will shut the plant on May 7, a move that is expected to result in the loss of hundreds of jobs.
The reactor is closing because the Wisconsin utilities that had purchased its electricity declined to continue buying it, citing the low price of natural gas. Dominion put the power plant up for sale in 2011, but no buyer emerged. So in a few short weeks, the mission of those who work at Kewaunee will change from generating power to cleaning up the power plant site.
"We've got 60 years to turn it back to a 'greenfield' site", said Mark Kanz, spokesman for Dominion. "At some point it basically has to look like the farm fields in the 1960s, before any construction started here".
As part of the decommissioning, all buildings on the 900 acre site east of Green Bay will be torn down and low-level radioactive waste will be shipped out of state. What could remain on site for generations, however, are the concrete casks of spent nuclear fuel-the high-level radioactive waste that is changed out every 18 months when a reactor refuels.
The federal government is responsible for the cleanup of the spent fuel, with the Department of Energy accessing a separate decommissioning fund paid for by Wisconsin ratepayers for the cost of placing spent fuel in storage and a possible move to a long-term disposal site.
Read More…
Top-rated weather services get wind turbines up and running faster
www.utilityproducts.com
18 Apr 2013
Wind farms rely on the weather around the clock, for better or for worse. Windy days help turbines pump clean power across the grid, while quiet days require other forms of electricity to keep reliable power flowing.
But, how weather impacts wind farm construction is considered less often. Towering turbines and wide-open locations mean crews must be certain about weather conditions before bringing in equipment or scaling structures. To ensure the safety of crews, efficient project budgets and reasonable customer expectations, a weather forecasting service is an essential, indispensable tool during construction and subsequent maintenance.
Relying on generic, publicly available weather forecasting is risky to crews and is not cost-effective for operations. Instead, location-specific, customizable weather forecasting and alerts that display conditions in real-time will give construction crews the information they need to complete work and communicate project expectations or delays to the customer. Users of Schneider Electric's MxVision WeatherSentry Online, for example, find its real-time lightning displays and detections are critical for determining when to continue construction and when to leave the area. When using another tool that doesn't display lightning until long after it has happened, crews have less certainty about whether to continue working, which can cost time and money.
Read More…
18 Apr 2013
Wind farms rely on the weather around the clock, for better or for worse. Windy days help turbines pump clean power across the grid, while quiet days require other forms of electricity to keep reliable power flowing.
But, how weather impacts wind farm construction is considered less often. Towering turbines and wide-open locations mean crews must be certain about weather conditions before bringing in equipment or scaling structures. To ensure the safety of crews, efficient project budgets and reasonable customer expectations, a weather forecasting service is an essential, indispensable tool during construction and subsequent maintenance.
Relying on generic, publicly available weather forecasting is risky to crews and is not cost-effective for operations. Instead, location-specific, customizable weather forecasting and alerts that display conditions in real-time will give construction crews the information they need to complete work and communicate project expectations or delays to the customer. Users of Schneider Electric's MxVision WeatherSentry Online, for example, find its real-time lightning displays and detections are critical for determining when to continue construction and when to leave the area. When using another tool that doesn't display lightning until long after it has happened, crews have less certainty about whether to continue working, which can cost time and money.
Read More…
Nanowires boost efficiency of solar cells
www.compoundsemiconductor.net
19 Apr 2013
ZnO quantum dots could translates fabrication of large-area films making solar panels Solar cells made from quantum dots could be low-cost, flexible, and easy to make. But the efficiency with which they convert light into electricity remains too low for practical use. Capitalising on this, researchers' at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have combined nanowires with quantum dot solar cells.
The cell's efficiency increases the cells' efficiency by 35%. Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that absorb different wavelengths of light depending on their size. Solar cells made from different-sized crystals should absorb light over a much wider range of colours than silicon devices.
What's more, because quantum dots are made in solution, they could be easily printed or painted onto flexible surfaces. Scientists have calculated that quantum dots could be used to make thin-film solar cells that could convert light to electricity with 15% efficiency, the same as commercial silicon devices.
The best-performing quantum dot solar cells consist of a lead sulphide quantum dot layer butted up against a zinc oxide or titanium dioxide layer. The quantum dots absorb light, and electrons created in the process travel to the metal oxide layer to reach the electrical circuit.
The problem is that the quantum dot layer has to be thick enough to absorb light efficiently, but thin enough for the electrons to quickly traverse it. The MIT researchers, led by electrical engineering and computer science professor Vladimir Bulovic, overcame that trade off by replacing the flat ZnO layer with an array of vertical zinc oxide nanowires.
Nanowires penetrate the quantum dot layer, providing conductive paths for the electrons to follow out to the electrical circuit, says Joel Jean, a graduate student in Bulovic's group. The researchers published their results in the journal Advanced Materials.
The researchers start with glass substrates that are coated with indium tin oxide transparent electrodes. They deposit a ZnO layer on top and float the entire susbtrate upside down in an aqueous solution of zinc precursors.
An array of aligned nanowires grows downwards from the ZnO layer. After about an hour, the researchers rinse the substrates. Finally, they deposit PbS quantum dots, which fill up the space between the nanowires, and top it off with a gold electrode.
The nanowires boost the output current of the devices by 50% and the efficiency by 35% over planar ZnO devices. The overall light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of the new devices is 4.9%, among the highest reported for ZnO-based quantum dot solar cells, Jean says.
The researchers believe the efficiency could be further enhanced by using thicker light-absorbing layers and longer nanowires, as well as by controlling the spacing between nanowires to better accommodate quantum dots.
The idea of using ZnO nanowires to increase efficiency in quantum dot solar cells is not new, but this is the first significant implementation of the concept, says Matthew Beard, a senior scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "The observed efficiency boost is promising and significant", he says. "The efficiencies for these types of solar cells are increasing rapidly and this work demonstrates that the improvements in efficiency will continue".
A key advantage of the nanowire-quantum dot cells, says Jean, is that they could be made on large areas. "One of the main benefits of quantum dots is that they're grown in and deposited from solution", he adds.
"This translates to fabrication of large-area films, which is necessary for making solar panels. Zinc oxide nanowires are also grown in an aqueous solution process. Scalability should be one of the primary practical advantages of this type of solar cell".
19 Apr 2013
ZnO quantum dots could translates fabrication of large-area films making solar panels Solar cells made from quantum dots could be low-cost, flexible, and easy to make. But the efficiency with which they convert light into electricity remains too low for practical use. Capitalising on this, researchers' at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have combined nanowires with quantum dot solar cells.The cell's efficiency increases the cells' efficiency by 35%. Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that absorb different wavelengths of light depending on their size. Solar cells made from different-sized crystals should absorb light over a much wider range of colours than silicon devices.
What's more, because quantum dots are made in solution, they could be easily printed or painted onto flexible surfaces. Scientists have calculated that quantum dots could be used to make thin-film solar cells that could convert light to electricity with 15% efficiency, the same as commercial silicon devices.
The best-performing quantum dot solar cells consist of a lead sulphide quantum dot layer butted up against a zinc oxide or titanium dioxide layer. The quantum dots absorb light, and electrons created in the process travel to the metal oxide layer to reach the electrical circuit.
The problem is that the quantum dot layer has to be thick enough to absorb light efficiently, but thin enough for the electrons to quickly traverse it. The MIT researchers, led by electrical engineering and computer science professor Vladimir Bulovic, overcame that trade off by replacing the flat ZnO layer with an array of vertical zinc oxide nanowires.
Nanowires penetrate the quantum dot layer, providing conductive paths for the electrons to follow out to the electrical circuit, says Joel Jean, a graduate student in Bulovic's group. The researchers published their results in the journal Advanced Materials.
The researchers start with glass substrates that are coated with indium tin oxide transparent electrodes. They deposit a ZnO layer on top and float the entire susbtrate upside down in an aqueous solution of zinc precursors.
An array of aligned nanowires grows downwards from the ZnO layer. After about an hour, the researchers rinse the substrates. Finally, they deposit PbS quantum dots, which fill up the space between the nanowires, and top it off with a gold electrode.
The nanowires boost the output current of the devices by 50% and the efficiency by 35% over planar ZnO devices. The overall light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of the new devices is 4.9%, among the highest reported for ZnO-based quantum dot solar cells, Jean says.
The researchers believe the efficiency could be further enhanced by using thicker light-absorbing layers and longer nanowires, as well as by controlling the spacing between nanowires to better accommodate quantum dots.
The idea of using ZnO nanowires to increase efficiency in quantum dot solar cells is not new, but this is the first significant implementation of the concept, says Matthew Beard, a senior scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "The observed efficiency boost is promising and significant", he says. "The efficiencies for these types of solar cells are increasing rapidly and this work demonstrates that the improvements in efficiency will continue".
A key advantage of the nanowire-quantum dot cells, says Jean, is that they could be made on large areas. "One of the main benefits of quantum dots is that they're grown in and deposited from solution", he adds.
"This translates to fabrication of large-area films, which is necessary for making solar panels. Zinc oxide nanowires are also grown in an aqueous solution process. Scalability should be one of the primary practical advantages of this type of solar cell".
Portugal provides 70% of electricity using renewable energy
designbuildsource.com.au
19 Apr 2013
Figures from Portugal's electricity network operator indicate that 70% of all electricity consumed in the country during the first quarter of this year was derived from renewable energy sources, leading to a marked decline in the usage of conventional fossil fuels for power generation purposes.
The record-breaking levels of renewable energy usage were heavily abetted by favourable weather conditions, expediting generation by hydroelectric power facilities and wind turbines and bringing about declines in electricity consumption by Portuguese citizens.
Hydro was the biggest power provider throughout the quarter, supplying 37% of all electricity consumed in Portugal for a staggering 312% year-on-year increase.
Wind power came in second, supplying 27% of total electricity and achieving a record-breaking generation level for Portugal. wind turbine power generation levels increased 60% year-on-year and were 37% greater than average.
In stark contrast to the prominence of hydroelectric power and wind in Portugal's energy portfolio, however, solar power makes only a negligible contribution to nationwide power generation. While figures on solar power generation for the first quarter of 2013 are not yet available, in 2012 photovoltaics only supplied 0.7% of total energy demand, equivalent to 225.5 MWs.
The frugal energy consumption habits of the Portuguese no doubt also contributed to the increased prominence of renewables. While a warm winter and fewer working days contributed to a marked decline in energy usage of 2.3% during the first quarter, power consumption in Portugal has fallen steadily over the past several years and currently stands at 2006 levels.
The increased usage of renewable energy has conversely led to a sharp decline in the consumption of conventional fossil fuels, which the small Iberian nation can only import. Portugal used 29% less coal and 44% less gas for electricity generation in the first quarter compared to 2012 figures.
Portugal has undertaken concerted efforts to transition toward renewable energy sources since the middle of last decade, in order to reduce the country's reliance on imported fossil fuels as well as harness its rich climate resources as a peninsular nation state.
In 2011, Portugal even managed to use renewable energy sources to provide for all the country's power needs for a period of several hours. The March quarter of 2013 marks the first occasion, however, that the country has managed to supply so much of its energy needs from renewable sources over such a protracted time frame.
19 Apr 2013
Figures from Portugal's electricity network operator indicate that 70% of all electricity consumed in the country during the first quarter of this year was derived from renewable energy sources, leading to a marked decline in the usage of conventional fossil fuels for power generation purposes.The record-breaking levels of renewable energy usage were heavily abetted by favourable weather conditions, expediting generation by hydroelectric power facilities and wind turbines and bringing about declines in electricity consumption by Portuguese citizens.
Hydro was the biggest power provider throughout the quarter, supplying 37% of all electricity consumed in Portugal for a staggering 312% year-on-year increase.
Wind power came in second, supplying 27% of total electricity and achieving a record-breaking generation level for Portugal. wind turbine power generation levels increased 60% year-on-year and were 37% greater than average.
In stark contrast to the prominence of hydroelectric power and wind in Portugal's energy portfolio, however, solar power makes only a negligible contribution to nationwide power generation. While figures on solar power generation for the first quarter of 2013 are not yet available, in 2012 photovoltaics only supplied 0.7% of total energy demand, equivalent to 225.5 MWs.
The frugal energy consumption habits of the Portuguese no doubt also contributed to the increased prominence of renewables. While a warm winter and fewer working days contributed to a marked decline in energy usage of 2.3% during the first quarter, power consumption in Portugal has fallen steadily over the past several years and currently stands at 2006 levels.
The increased usage of renewable energy has conversely led to a sharp decline in the consumption of conventional fossil fuels, which the small Iberian nation can only import. Portugal used 29% less coal and 44% less gas for electricity generation in the first quarter compared to 2012 figures.
Portugal has undertaken concerted efforts to transition toward renewable energy sources since the middle of last decade, in order to reduce the country's reliance on imported fossil fuels as well as harness its rich climate resources as a peninsular nation state.
In 2011, Portugal even managed to use renewable energy sources to provide for all the country's power needs for a period of several hours. The March quarter of 2013 marks the first occasion, however, that the country has managed to supply so much of its energy needs from renewable sources over such a protracted time frame.
US wind energy grows 28% and installs 45,100 turbines for a breakthrough
www.designntrend.com
17 Apr 2013
According to the latest report from the American Wind Energy Association, wind power in the United States had grown 28% during 2012 and it now accounts for 42% of all new US electricity-generating capacity. Setting a new installation record of 6,600 wind turbines erected during 2012, leaving the country with 45,100 wind turbines, enough to power 15.2 million homes in a country with nearly 320 million people, the country has confirmed its status as a mainstream energy source.
"We had an incredibly productive year in 2012, it really showed what this industry can do and the impact we can have with a continued national commitment to renewable energy. We're doing what Americans overwhelmingly say they want: making cleaner, renewable energy, and creating good jobs in U.S, factories", said Rob Gramlich, CEO of AWEA, according to press release.
Wind energy contributed to over 80,000 jobs in the US. In 2012, the wind industry has actually helped donate to the rise in the entire US economy. Wind power provided green energy, helped to appease drought conditions in the country by saving over 35 billion gallons of fresh water (120 gallons for every American) that would have otherwise gone to generating energy. Moreover, it avoids over 4% of CO₂ emissions in the power sector annually.
17 Apr 2013
According to the latest report from the American Wind Energy Association, wind power in the United States had grown 28% during 2012 and it now accounts for 42% of all new US electricity-generating capacity. Setting a new installation record of 6,600 wind turbines erected during 2012, leaving the country with 45,100 wind turbines, enough to power 15.2 million homes in a country with nearly 320 million people, the country has confirmed its status as a mainstream energy source."We had an incredibly productive year in 2012, it really showed what this industry can do and the impact we can have with a continued national commitment to renewable energy. We're doing what Americans overwhelmingly say they want: making cleaner, renewable energy, and creating good jobs in U.S, factories", said Rob Gramlich, CEO of AWEA, according to press release.
Wind energy contributed to over 80,000 jobs in the US. In 2012, the wind industry has actually helped donate to the rise in the entire US economy. Wind power provided green energy, helped to appease drought conditions in the country by saving over 35 billion gallons of fresh water (120 gallons for every American) that would have otherwise gone to generating energy. Moreover, it avoids over 4% of CO₂ emissions in the power sector annually.
Meridian Energy receives consent for Hurunui Wind Farm
www.voxy.co.nz
18 Apr 2013
The New Zealand Wind Energy Association (NZWEA) congratulates Meridian Energy on receiving consent for its proposed Hurunui Wind Farm in North Canterbury. The project was approved by the Environment Court earlier this week.
"It is evident from the decision that the Court has given careful consideration to the full range of issues raised by the community. It is a reasonable decision for both the community and the developer", says Eric Pyle, Chief Executive of NZWEA. The Court approved 31 of the 33 proposed wind turbines.
"The project is a valuable addition to Meridian Energy's pipeline of projects. Hurunui is a solid option for new generation, even given the uncertainty in the electricity market and flat electricity demand", said Mr Pyle. "The project is located in a region where there are transmission constraints and limited local generation. Wind is one of the lowest cost options for new generation in NZ. And if the forecasts related to the reducing cost of wind power hold true, the wind could undercut existing thermal generation within a few years".
Globally, wind is one of the leading sources of new electricity generation. A report released yesterday by the Global Wind Energy Council shows that 44.8 GWs of new wind generation was installed around the world in 2012. This is more than four times New Zealand's total generation capacity. Steve Saywer, GWEC's Secretary General recently commented that wind is now competitive in an increasing number of markets, despite fossil fuel subsidies which last year amounted to an incentive to emit CO₂ of about $110 per tonne.
18 Apr 2013
The New Zealand Wind Energy Association (NZWEA) congratulates Meridian Energy on receiving consent for its proposed Hurunui Wind Farm in North Canterbury. The project was approved by the Environment Court earlier this week.
"It is evident from the decision that the Court has given careful consideration to the full range of issues raised by the community. It is a reasonable decision for both the community and the developer", says Eric Pyle, Chief Executive of NZWEA. The Court approved 31 of the 33 proposed wind turbines.
"The project is a valuable addition to Meridian Energy's pipeline of projects. Hurunui is a solid option for new generation, even given the uncertainty in the electricity market and flat electricity demand", said Mr Pyle. "The project is located in a region where there are transmission constraints and limited local generation. Wind is one of the lowest cost options for new generation in NZ. And if the forecasts related to the reducing cost of wind power hold true, the wind could undercut existing thermal generation within a few years".
Globally, wind is one of the leading sources of new electricity generation. A report released yesterday by the Global Wind Energy Council shows that 44.8 GWs of new wind generation was installed around the world in 2012. This is more than four times New Zealand's total generation capacity. Steve Saywer, GWEC's Secretary General recently commented that wind is now competitive in an increasing number of markets, despite fossil fuel subsidies which last year amounted to an incentive to emit CO₂ of about $110 per tonne.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
David Suzuki: Health effects from wind power unfounded
www.straight.com
16 Apr 2013
For a study published in the American Psychological Association's Health Psychology journal, researchers from New Zealand's University of Auckland showed readily available anti-wind-power film footage to 27 people. Another 27 were shown interviews with experts who said infrasound, such as that created by wind turbines, can't directly cause negative health effects. Subjects were then told they would be exposed to two 10 minute periods of infrasound, but were actually only exposed to one.
After both real and "sham" exposure, people in the first group were far more likely to report negative symptoms than those in the second. In fact, subjects in the second group reported "no symptomatic changes" after either exposure. According to the researchers, "Results suggest psychological expectations could explain the link between wind turbine exposure and health complaints".
Another study, which has yet to be published, shows people living near wind-power installations report more health problems during anti-wind campaigns. Researchers from Australia's Sydney University found only 120 complaints from people living within five km of the country's 49 wind farms between 1993 and 2012. But 68% were from people living near five wind farms targeted by anti-wind farm groups, and 82% occurred after 2009, when wind-energy opponents started highlighting health scares in their campaigns
The power of suggestion can be extremely effective, especially when it comes to human health. Unfortunately, in the case of wind power, this can delay or even stop wind-power installations that are a necessary part of the shift from polluting fossil fuels to clean energy, as has happened recently in Canada.
In fact, science shows that wind power does not negatively affect human health in any significant way. An independent panel convened by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection reviewed the available research and released a report last year. It found no scientific evidence to support most claims about "Wind Turbine Syndrome", infrasound effects and harm blamed on wind power such as pain and stiffness, diabetes, high blood pressure, tinnitus, hearing impairment, cardiovascular disease and headache/migraine.
At worst, there is some evidence that wind installations may cause annoyance and sleep disruption. But most of the resulting minor effects can be overcome by regulations governing how close windmills are to residences. In Ontario, the required setback is 550 metres. At this distance, audible sound from windmills is normally below 40 decibels, which is about what you'd find in most bedrooms and living rooms.
On the other hand, we know that using fossil fuels for energy has profound effects on human health--and on the economy. The Canadian Medical Association reports that in 2008 air pollution in Canada was responsible for 21,000 premature deaths, 92,000 emergency room visits and 620,000 visits to a doctor's office. And a new study by the Pembina Institute found that "health impact costs associated with burning coal for electricity in Alberta are close to $300 million annually".
According to Pembina researchers, "Coal plants are a major source of toxic air contaminants, including mercury, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, and particulate matter. The study shows that in Alberta each year this pollution contributes to over 4,000 asthma episodes, over 700 emergency visits for respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, and around 80 hospital admissions, with chronic exposures resulting in nearly 100 premature deaths".
Factor these costs into the equation, and coal and other fossil fuels don't seem like the bargain they're purported to be--especially considering the sector is subsidized by about $1.9 trillion a year worldwide, according to the International Monetary Fund. With the costs of renewable energy coming down, and the technology improving, more and more research shows that switching from fossil fuels to clean energy is feasible.
When it comes to wind power, we have to be careful to ensure that impacts on the environment and on animals such as birds and bats are minimized, and we should continue to study possible effects on health. But we must also be wary of false arguments against it.
16 Apr 2013
For a study published in the American Psychological Association's Health Psychology journal, researchers from New Zealand's University of Auckland showed readily available anti-wind-power film footage to 27 people. Another 27 were shown interviews with experts who said infrasound, such as that created by wind turbines, can't directly cause negative health effects. Subjects were then told they would be exposed to two 10 minute periods of infrasound, but were actually only exposed to one.After both real and "sham" exposure, people in the first group were far more likely to report negative symptoms than those in the second. In fact, subjects in the second group reported "no symptomatic changes" after either exposure. According to the researchers, "Results suggest psychological expectations could explain the link between wind turbine exposure and health complaints".
Another study, which has yet to be published, shows people living near wind-power installations report more health problems during anti-wind campaigns. Researchers from Australia's Sydney University found only 120 complaints from people living within five km of the country's 49 wind farms between 1993 and 2012. But 68% were from people living near five wind farms targeted by anti-wind farm groups, and 82% occurred after 2009, when wind-energy opponents started highlighting health scares in their campaigns
The power of suggestion can be extremely effective, especially when it comes to human health. Unfortunately, in the case of wind power, this can delay or even stop wind-power installations that are a necessary part of the shift from polluting fossil fuels to clean energy, as has happened recently in Canada.
In fact, science shows that wind power does not negatively affect human health in any significant way. An independent panel convened by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection reviewed the available research and released a report last year. It found no scientific evidence to support most claims about "Wind Turbine Syndrome", infrasound effects and harm blamed on wind power such as pain and stiffness, diabetes, high blood pressure, tinnitus, hearing impairment, cardiovascular disease and headache/migraine.
At worst, there is some evidence that wind installations may cause annoyance and sleep disruption. But most of the resulting minor effects can be overcome by regulations governing how close windmills are to residences. In Ontario, the required setback is 550 metres. At this distance, audible sound from windmills is normally below 40 decibels, which is about what you'd find in most bedrooms and living rooms.
On the other hand, we know that using fossil fuels for energy has profound effects on human health--and on the economy. The Canadian Medical Association reports that in 2008 air pollution in Canada was responsible for 21,000 premature deaths, 92,000 emergency room visits and 620,000 visits to a doctor's office. And a new study by the Pembina Institute found that "health impact costs associated with burning coal for electricity in Alberta are close to $300 million annually".
According to Pembina researchers, "Coal plants are a major source of toxic air contaminants, including mercury, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, and particulate matter. The study shows that in Alberta each year this pollution contributes to over 4,000 asthma episodes, over 700 emergency visits for respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, and around 80 hospital admissions, with chronic exposures resulting in nearly 100 premature deaths".
Factor these costs into the equation, and coal and other fossil fuels don't seem like the bargain they're purported to be--especially considering the sector is subsidized by about $1.9 trillion a year worldwide, according to the International Monetary Fund. With the costs of renewable energy coming down, and the technology improving, more and more research shows that switching from fossil fuels to clean energy is feasible.
When it comes to wind power, we have to be careful to ensure that impacts on the environment and on animals such as birds and bats are minimized, and we should continue to study possible effects on health. But we must also be wary of false arguments against it.
Brazil's wind-power generating capacity soars
india.nydailynews.com
17 Apr 2013
Sao Paulo, April 17 (IANS/EFE) Brazil's wind-power generating capacity soared 73% in 2012 to 2.5 GW, thanks to the commencement of operations at 40 new wind farms, the Brazilian Wind Energy Association said. Wind farms provided electricity to about 7.5 million people, or a population larger than that of Rio de Janeiro, the industry group said in a report.
Wind-power investment totaled 3.5 billion reais (about $1.77 billion) last year, with 15,000 direct and indirect jobs being created, the association said. Average monthly power production reached 556 MW in 2012, with peak output of 771 MW registered in October, marking a new record, the trade group said. Installed wind generation capacity is expected to grow around 141% this year to 6 GW, the association said.
Investment in Brazil's wind power industry is projected to total about $10 billion between 2013 and 2017, the trade group said. Brazil avoided emitting 1.2 million tonnes of CO₂, the gas believed to cause global warming, last year, thanks to the wind farms, the association said. The South American country's new wind farms use more powerful turbines and towers that are up to 100 meters tall, the trade group said.
17 Apr 2013
Sao Paulo, April 17 (IANS/EFE) Brazil's wind-power generating capacity soared 73% in 2012 to 2.5 GW, thanks to the commencement of operations at 40 new wind farms, the Brazilian Wind Energy Association said. Wind farms provided electricity to about 7.5 million people, or a population larger than that of Rio de Janeiro, the industry group said in a report.
Wind-power investment totaled 3.5 billion reais (about $1.77 billion) last year, with 15,000 direct and indirect jobs being created, the association said. Average monthly power production reached 556 MW in 2012, with peak output of 771 MW registered in October, marking a new record, the trade group said. Installed wind generation capacity is expected to grow around 141% this year to 6 GW, the association said.
Investment in Brazil's wind power industry is projected to total about $10 billion between 2013 and 2017, the trade group said. Brazil avoided emitting 1.2 million tonnes of CO₂, the gas believed to cause global warming, last year, thanks to the wind farms, the association said. The South American country's new wind farms use more powerful turbines and towers that are up to 100 meters tall, the trade group said.
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