Turbulent times for wind power
I’m a big supporter of renewable energy and believe that it is the only way the UK will meet its targets and reduce its carbon emissions. These views have been presented a number of times on this blog. But recently I have become a little more sceptical about wind turbines. There have been a series of stories in the MSM that draws on some interesting findings.
First of all, there was a report by Renewable Energy Foundation on the efficiency of wind turbines, which only generate about 28% of their capacity. This especially highlighted the problem of inland wind turbines, including one on the M25 which generated 8% of its capacity.
So build more at sea seems to be what this suggests, and this is certainly what the Government intends to do, with the world’s biggest wind farm to be built off the Kent coast. Of course this has annoyed some of the locals who complain about the eyesore (I think they look impressive personally) and the damage to the local birds (just like buildings!). But even those at sea rarely achieve their optimum output.
Currently there are 30 wind turbines on the Kentish Flats. Interestingly there have been some issues. After just one year of operations, 9 are out of action waiting repair, with the tops of the turbines having to be sheared off and the gear boxes replaced. I hope this isn’t a recurring problem.
One of the problems is of course that not enough has been invested in the past to make current wind turbines as efficient as they could be, but this will hopefully change over time.