tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post114726017352549469..comments2024-03-13T18:55:49.391+00:00Comments on Energy Balance: Massive New European Wind Farm.Professor Chris Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-1150224119775054282006-06-13T19:41:00.000+01:002006-06-13T19:41:00.000+01:00Hi Patrick,thanks for getting in touch, and for th...Hi Patrick,<BR/><BR/>thanks for getting in touch, and for the information, which is most interesting! If indeed we might expect about "double" the capacity factor of 0.2, as you say, that would cover the average U.K. household consumption of "electricity". However, there is another 20,000 kWh/year of additional heating capacity that needs to be found per unit too: a typical value for the U.K., and which is currently provided mainly by burning natural gas. By living in energy efficient buildings, around 50% of this requirement for "space heating" could be cut (ideally, at any rate); however, a significant amount of energy in additional to the prevailing electricity demand still needs to be found. Ideally and ultimately this should be done without using gas, now that the U.K. is a net importer of this fuel, to ensure "security of supply". How this will be done I am not certain. Some argue for it as part of the case for nuclear, implying that we simply need to generate more electricity and to use that for heating purposes. Alternatively, some appropriate mix of renewables, nuclear, coal and gas, so long as it is available to be imported into the U.K., could provide additional electricity, in combination with microgeneration and efficient CHP systems. I think the solution will be determined according to a system of localised energy economics, with a decreasing reliance on a national grid system.<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/><BR/>Chris.Professor Chris Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12060542089215379056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19508699.post-1150221268878393942006-06-13T18:54:00.000+01:002006-06-13T18:54:00.000+01:00In regards to your blog on "massive new european w...In regards to your blog on "massive new european wind farm", I would like to mention that your calculations for the amount of energy produced by offshore wind projects seems to be pessimistic in the least. It is noted from experience that even offshore projects with technical problems resulting in a turbine availability of 50-60%(such as Horns Rev) achieve a higher capacity factor than you stated. The real capacity factors of offshore wind farms are more in the order of 40% and greater as demonstrated in the following excerpt from the International Energy Agency's report on Offshore Wind Experiences: <BR/>"Production data are available for the Nysted and Horns Rev wind farms in Denmark. In 2004 Nysted saw a capacity factor of just under 40% while production in the first four months of 2005 yielded a capacity factor of over 47%. Horns Rev saw major technology problems in 2004 resulting in unavailability of 30%-50% of the turbines throughout the year. Thus, its full-year capacity factor is only 26% in 2004, while during the first four months of 2005, when the turbines were fully operational at all times, the capacity factor reached just over 53%. Given that 2004 was considered an average wind-speed year for the Danish climate, long-term capacity factors can be expected at around 40% for Nysted and around 45% for Horns Rev, meeting or even exceeding initial expectations." (Please see: http://www.iea.org/textbase/papers/2005/offshore.pdf for more info)<BR/><BR/>Also, calculations using the above mentioned capacity factor of 40% would result in 4,380 kWh/year per home if 8 million homes are to be supplied by wind farms, which is more than enough according to your estimates of average U.K. household consumption of 3,500 kWh/year. 10*10^9 Watts*24hrs/day *365days/year*0.40Cap.Factor = 35.04 TWh/year, divide this by 8 million homes and one gets 4.38 MWh/year!<BR/><BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/><BR/>Patrick<BR/>Engineering Student, <BR/>University of Guelph,<BR/>CanadaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com