Your Guide to Wind Generation

Transcription

1 Your Guide to Wind Generation

2 The Statistics Wind energy is one of the fastest growing renewable energy sources in the world. The UK installed 1.7GW of new offshore wind capacity in 2017, growing by 25% more than any other European country. Furthermore, 2017 was a record year for offshore wind in Europe according to statistics released earlier this month by Wind Europe. 13 new offshore wind farms were completed, and a further 11 offshore wind farms are currently under construction. Once complete these wind turbines should give us a total of 25GW of installed and grid-connected capacity. Europe added 4.5GW of wind energy capacity in the first half of 2018, the figure is down on the same period last year (6.1GW), but is still in line with expectations. However, offshore wind in Europe remains heavily concentrated in a small number of countries, 98% in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. contactloveenergysolutions.com

3 How do wind farms work? Wind turbines are a simple, yet effective way of generating renewable energy. As the wind rotates the blades which face into the wind and are tilted to generate the greatest rotation the blades rotate a shaft and generator, which then turns t he energy generated into electricity. The more modern wind turbines will also have sensors that can detect which direction the wind is coming and how much power it has. This enables the blades to rotate toward the wind or shut down if the wind is too low, or too powerful. contactloveenergysolutions.com

4 Why are wind farms popular? Wind energy is one of the fastest growing renewable energy sources in the world. The UK installed 1.7GW of new offshore wind capacity in 2017, growing by 25% more than any other European country. It is estimated that 40% of the wind that hits Europe passes over the UK first, meaning that the UK is able to generate a vast amount of renewable energy from wind power. In addition to this, wind farms are cheaper than other methods of renewable generation making wind farms and wind energy an increasingly popular renewable energy source for the UK and Britain. contactloveenergysolutions.com

5 The benefits of offshore wind 1. Offshore wind is more reliable than onshore wind, it can also produce significantly more energy as there is far more wind out at sea. 2. While onshore wind has a large visual impact to landowners, there is little visual impact with offshore wind. 3. Offshore wind is one of the greenest forms of energy generation available today, it has little impact on wildlife such as birds and even provides offshore reefs for fish. contactloveenergysolutions.com

6 The cons of offshore wind 1. Offshore wind turbines are expensive. All though they are one of the greenest form of renewable energy, almost double the cost of onshore wind due to the costs of constructing huge wind farms out at sea. 2. People have complained that these are a violation of the natural beauty of locations. As a result, of this, wind turbines have been moved even further away from the shore, resulting in some hefty maintenance costs. 3. Offshore wind also means higher connections costs to the grid as proximity to the site is more difficult. contactloveenergysolutions.com

7 The benefits of onshore wind 1. Onshore wind farms cost half as much as offshore wind and a quarter as much as solar power, making onshore wind extremely cost effective. 2. It is a clean fuel source and very environmentally friendly. Wind energy does not pollute the air like power plants that rely on combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas. While building wind turbines involves some emissions, once they are set up and running they have very little carbon footprint. 3. Wind is a form of solar energy and winds are created by the heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the rotation of the Earth and the Earths surface irregularities. As a result of this, as long as the sun is shining, and the wind is blowing, the energy that is produced can be harnessed to send power to the grid. 4. Wind turbines have little impact on the land that they are built, farmers or land owners are still able to work around them and once removed they leave no impact to the land they were built on. At the same time, they do not poison the land or release toxins. contactloveenergysolutions.com

8 The cons of onshore wind 1. Wind turbines have a large visual impact as they are mainly built on top of hills and raised land in order to capture the most wind in order to generate more energy. 2. When wind turbines are not running, they will need fossil-fuel backup as they take up a greater proportion of our overall energy generation. 3. Wind turbines produce noise, this may disturb local residents, however many farms have a significant amount of land and this should not be a problem. 4. There are also concerns that they may affect wildlife such as birds and bats. contactloveenergysolutions.com

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