Are Wind Farms really the future?

With the inquiry well underway in Woore about a wind farm that might be built south east of Audlem, (see AudlemOnline reports), Roland Hall poses some questions about this form of renewable energy. He asks:

Are Wind Farms really the future?With the planning appeal for the Wind Farm near Woore underway I have been taking a greater interest in what the Technical Press has to say about On-shore Wind Energy rather than the spin version put about by politicians, the green lobby and consultants.

Many of us asked what electricity was generated by on-shore wind power during the cold spell last winter when there was little wind inland. The lack of answers is a clue to the fact that it was probably very little and we were largely dependant on the traditional sources of coal and nuclear.

The wind turbine industry always quotes the installed capacity of its generators and this might be 2megawatts from a 25 metres/second wind (50 knots).This is the top end of the UK wind scale and approaches the cut off point when the wind is so strong the turbine has to be shut down. Wind speeds of 10 metres/second (20 knots) are more common and this has a dramatic effect on the power output.

It is fact that the electricity produced is proportional to the wind speed cubed and this means that at 10 metres/second wind speed the quoted 2megawatts(2000kw) becomes 130kw,6.5% of the claimed output! Winds lower than 5 metres/second are insignificant and while the turbine blades may turn and look good no significant electricity is generated and the installations themselves need considerable power to operate.

Wind speed variesA further complication is that wind speeds can vary by a factor of 3 over a very short period, which means a power change of 27 to 1. To keep the National Grid stable other forms of generation have to be running on standby.

The green lobby are quick to accuse anyone against the Wind Farms of NIMBYism, but they have been partly responsible for the situation our energy suppliers find themselves in, and even they have now said nuclear has a part to play. It was the likes of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace etc that in the 1980's frightened successive UK governments into abandoning the most highly developed and safe nuclear generation in the world and in the process losing the technical expertise and skills we seek today.

The fears created by Chernobyl and Three Mile Island were used to undermine the safety of the UK Nuclear Industry whose record was second to none. Even as we reflect on those terrible incidents in Russia and America, today they present no danger to our climate – the sites have been concreted over and allowed to decline as science predicts.

Coal and NuclearWith the exception of France, who decided to continue with nuclear 20 years ago, all developed countries have a high dependence on coal (e.g. Germany 50%), but the green lobby has turned its sights from nuclear to coal. It is a fact that wind energy can never replace coal and the nuclear industry needs time to get back up to speed.

We will need coal fired power stations for the foreseeable future and what is required is for scientists to be given the money to develop cleaner coal through carbon capture, not protests to close down essential energy producing resources. If the equivalent amount of money (£'s per kwh generated) is given to clean coal development as is currently provided for inland wind farms, the world's scientists would solve the problem.

Of course we must maximise our renewable energy sources, including hydro, wave and off shore wind but it is the large scale generation that is key. Subsidising inefficient means of generation will have minimal impact on our carbon emissions. Small scale generation is not significant or cost effective and only makes those who can afford it feel good and the opportunity to put a green boot print on the rest of us.

Roland Hall (with acknowledgement to fellow members of the Institution of Engineering and Technology)

Audlem Online will be publishing articles expressing very different views while the debate continues in Woore.

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