“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” I don’t mean to get Biblical on you, but that describes the sensation I’m getting these days. If you prefer Bobby Dylan, then how about “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” Or, to paraphrase Donne, “…never send to know for whom the wind blows; it blows for thee.”
In any event, there’s a great honkin’ surge in wind energy that’s been building. I’ve noted this a good number of times, but here is some more anecdotal evidence of what we’re seeing and what we can expect.
For instance, in Northeast England, there are plans well underway to develop an offshore wind hub. See this video from the “Financial Times” that reports not only on the move to generate wind power but for the area to be “a center for the development and manufacture of the next generation of turbines.” The New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) serves not only the push for wind but also marine renewables, PV, DG, and other emerging technologies.
The British Royals are fully on board as well. The Crown Estate announced last year an agreement to purchase the world’s largest offshore wind turbine, Clipper‘s 7.5 MW MBE turbine. They also announced today the results of their most recent bidding for sites. “The quantity and quality of bids received demonstrates the potential capacity of the selected zones and a healthy appetite amongst developers, who have risen to the challenge of building 25 GW of offshore wind energy by 2020.”
In Germany, one of the world’s hotspots for wind energy, there’s a new research institute, the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology. For the whole panoply of activity in Germany, see the website of the German Wind Energy Association.
Here’s a very big project indeed: DONG Energy and Siemens announce the largest offshore wind turbine supply agreement in history, a mere 500 turbines to generate 1.8 GW of electricity.
The European Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition (EWEC) is taking place this week in Marseilles. See their introductory video for a good look at the event.
Wind Installations Continue To Break Records Across the Globe is a recent headline from RenewableEnergyWorld.com. “Worldwide, more than 27 gigawatts (GW) of new wind capacity was commissioned in 2008, a 36% increase on 2007.” Big numbers, n’est-ce pas? Steve Sawyer, Secretary General, Global Wind Energy Council, is quoted in the article: “These figures speak for themselves: there is huge and growing global demand for emissions-free wind power, which can be installed quickly, virtually everywhere in the world.”
In Air force one, “The Economist” reports that the US has overtaken Germany as the number wind energy producer. See this excellent chart from “The Economist” and the Global Wind Energy Council.
There is no doubt, however, that the world economic crisis is taking at least some of the wind out of the sails of the industry, as ’twere. BusinessWeek reported here back in January that “According to market researcher Emerging Energy Research (EER), new installed wind capacity worldwide will increase by just 14% in 2009-less than half the typical annual growth rate booked in the past decade. Consultancy Accenture (ACN) projects wind power capital expenditures over the next two years could fall by as much as 30%.” Green stimulus packages across the world, though, promise to help provide a jolt to the industry where it might be sagging, and tax credits, in the US certainly, are also a boon.
Offshore Wind in the Northeast has been a subject here on several occasions. Now – and I would have to say, finally – the Great Lakes states are looking at offshore. Here is a fine article from the “Traverse City Record-Eagle” about a recent study from the Land Policy Institute (LPI) at Michigan State University (MSU). One of the MSU folks involved said: “The potential is quite, quite high. The best wind in Michigan is actually offshore. There’s enough wind out there to take care of all the electric needs in Michigan and more.”
Meanwhile, over in New York, there’s a 252 MW project under review for an island in Lake Ontario. See also this item on the project from “Wind Watch: Industrial Wind Energy News.”
All this activity is a little breathtaking for an old soul like me who’s been dreaming about wind and other renewables since the first Earth Day. In Chicago – The Windy City, natch – they’re going to have WINDPOWER 2009 Conference & Exhibition in May. It all adds up to a tremendous amount of power, clean and limitless. What’s not to love?
