Is Current Wind Growth Sustainable? | Renewable Energy World Magazine Article - 0 views
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wind farms are not only capital intensive but also have a long gestation period – could prove to be prohibitive for many potential investors.
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terms of global policy, governments need to boost investments in onshore and offshore wind generation through the right mix of supportive policies and incentives.
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wind energy will become even more attractive as it serves as an insurance against future increases in fuel and carbon prices, while reducing our dependency on fossil fuels imported from volatile regions.
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Both in Europe and in the US, some 40% of all new power generating capacity installed in the past two years was wind energy. If the economic crisis continues, however, the reduction in power demand will start to impact wind energy, simply because of lower demand for new power plants. Nevertheless, the medium and long-term outlook remains very healthy, as political momentum is building towards a low carbon economy, without which humankind will not overcome three of the biggest concerns of our time – climate protection, energy security and the provision of jobs.
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Wind power’s credentials as a rapidly deployable clean technology have put it at the forefront in the fight against climate change. Neither new nuclear capacity or carbon capture and storage (CCS) will contribute to CO2 reductions within the timeframe that the climate scientists give us. As a no-fuel, no-carbon emissions source of electricity, wind energy will play a big part in reducing carbon emissions before 2020.
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A key element for policy makers is to dramatically improve competition in power markets, to ensure that investors, rather than consumers, are exposed to
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The growth in wind power capacity has shown no signs of slowing, even in these tough economic times. For two years running there has been more new wind power capacity installed than any other power generating technology in Europe – including coal, gas and nuclear. In 2009 the European market for wind turbines experienced a 23% growth rate, the same as the average growth rate over the last 15 years.
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future carbon and fuel price risk.
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Wind power is a leader now, and will remain so in the future, attracting big investments and creating jobs. There is a boom waiting to happen in offshore wind energy. But, Europe’s ageing electricity grids must be upgraded and extended, and the EU must also pursue a drive to build an offshore grid in the North and Baltic seas that will connect offshore wind farms to the shore, piping vast amounts of CO2-free energy to consumers at affordable prices.
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cleaner energy
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he fact that wind is the most cost effective and scalable renewable source of energy.
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past several years.
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dynamic growth rate of the
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Because of the small size of the existing installed base, the offshore wind sector will see higher growth percentages while the number of onshore turbines will continue to outpace those installed offshore.
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Continued investment in grid infrastructure is critical for growth as well as wind turbine technology investments that improve efficiency and reliability while driving down emissions. Countries with the most efficient and flexible permitting processes will benefit by realizing the installation of the most advanced technology.
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but renewable sources, and in large part, wind energy, have an extremely important role to play.
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A fundamental value of wind is that it lowers risk in the overall generation mix by bringing in a fixed electricity cost. You don’t have any fuel risk, so you don’t have these big price spikes that you see when you generate electricity from gas or oil.
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The wind power market is still intact. Demand for ‘green’ power stations remains unabated and nearly all governments have adopted policies aimed at environmental sustainability.
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As our industry is still very young, wind power currently contributes only around 1.5% to global electricity supplies.
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this merely serves to highlight the enormous potential for the future, especially as wind power is not only clean but also inexpensive. This is something that more and more governments and energy companies are realizing.
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"The growth in wind power capacity has shown no signs of slowing, even in these tough economic times. For two years running there has been more new wind power capacity installed than any other power generating technology in Europe - including coal, gas and nuclear. In 2009 the European market for wind turbines experienced a 23% growth rate, the same as the average growth rate over the last 15 years."Both in Europe and in the US, some 40% of all new power generating capacity installed in the past two years was wind energy. If the economic crisis continues, however, the reduction in power demand will start to impact wind energy, simply because of lower demand for new power plants. Nevertheless, the medium and long-term outlook remains very healthy, as political momentum is building towards a low carbon economy, without which humankind will not overcome three of the biggest concerns of our time - climate protection, energy security and the provision of jobs." "Wind power is a leader now, and will remain so in the future, attracting big investments and creating jobs. There is a boom waiting to happen in offshore wind energy. But, Europe's ageing electricity grids must be upgraded and extended, and the EU must also pursue a drive to build an offshore grid in the North and Baltic seas that will connect offshore wind farms to the shore, piping vast amounts of CO2-free energy to consumers at affordable prices."
