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Wind is a form of solar energy caused by a combination of three concurrent events:

1. The sun unevenly heating the atmosphere

2. Irregularities of the earth's surface

3. The rotation of the earth.

Wind flow patterns and speeds vary greatly across the United States and are modified by bodies of water, vegetation, and differences in terrain. Humans use this wind flow, or motion energy, for many purposes: sailing, flying a kite, and even generating electricity.

The terms "wind energy" and "wind power" both describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity.

A wind turbine turns wind energy into electricity using the aerodynamic force from the rotor blades, which work like an airplane wing or helicopter rotor blade. When wind flows across the blade, the air pressure on one side of the blade decreases. The difference in air pressure across the two sides of the blade creates both lift and drag. The force of the lift is stronger than the drag and this causes the rotor to spin. The rotor connects to the generator, either directly (if it's a direct drive turbine) or through a shaft and a series of gears (a gearbox) that speed up the rotation and allow for a physically smaller generator. This translation of aerodynamic force to rotation of a generator creates electricity.

Types of Wind Turbines

The majority of wind turbines fall into two basic types:

When wind turbines of any size are installed on the "customer" side of the electric meter, or are installed at or near the place where the energy they produce will be used, they're called "distributed wind.

Many turbines used in distributed applications are small wind turbines. Single small wind turbines-below 100 kilowatts-are typically used for residential, agricultural, and small commercial and industrial applications.

Small turbines can be used in hybrid energy systems with other distributed energy resources, such as microgrids powered by diesel generators, batteries, and photovoltaics.

These systems are called hybrid wind systems and are typically used in remote, off-grid locations( where a connection to the utility grid is not available) and are becoming more common in grid-connected applications for resiliency.

Learn more about distributed wind from the Distributed Wind Animation or read about what the Wind Energy Technologies Office is doing to support the deployment of distributed wind systems for homes, businesses, farms, and community wind projects.

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Wind is a form of solar energy caused by a combination of three concurrent events: The sun unevenly heating the atmosphere Irregularities of the earth's surface The rotation of the earth. Wind flow patterns and speeds vary greatly across the United States and are modified by bodies of water, vegetation, and differences in terrain.

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Update (10 Apr. 2013): This article was used as a source of reference in the New Straits Times article "Getting wind of the situation" (pg. 7, Green Technology section, April 9, 2013) by Gregory Basil.

Is it possible to harness the wind energy on a large-scale basis to generate electricity in Malaysia? Malaysia's mean annual wind speed is low at no more than 2 m/s. Nonetheless, the wind does not blow uniformly throughout Malaysia; wind speed varies according to region and month.

Malaysia experiences two main weather seasons: southwest monsoon (May/June to September) and northeast monsoon (November to March). Wind speeds during the southwest monsoon are often below 7 m/s, but during the northeast monsoon, wind speeds could reach up to 15 m/s particularly in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Moreover, during April to September, the effects from typhoons striking neighbouring countries (such as Philippines) may cause strong winds (even exceeding 10 m/s) to Sabah and Sarawak.

So although Malaysia, as a whole, experiences low wind speeds, some areas in this country see strong winds during certain periods of the year.

I requested the wind speed data for 14 towns from all over Malaysia from the Malaysian Department of Meteorology. These data were from 1989 to 2008 (20 years), and in addition to them, I included the wind speed for Serdang, the town where my university main campus is located. For Serdang, the wind speed data were from 1985 to 2007 (23 years). All wind speeds were typically measured 2 meters above the ground.

From my analyses, Malaysia experiences stronger winds in the early and late parts of the year. On the whole, Malaysia's mean annual wind speed is 1.8 m/s. However, towns in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia such as Mersing, Kota Baharu, and Kuala Terengganu experience stronger winds. For these places, their mean monthly wind speed could exceed 3 m/s. East Malaysian towns, Kota Kinabalu and Labuan (with the exception of Kuching) also see stronger wind speeds than the national average.

Okay, let's round up the mean wind speed of Malaysia to 2 m/s. This is the national average of wind speed at 2 m height above ground. Roughly, doubling the height increases wind speed by 10%. Since a typical wind turbine is 32 m above ground, this means the average wind speed at the height of 32 m above ground increases to nearly 3 m/s.

The energy per square meter area of a wind turbine is determined as:

0.5 x air density (kg per cubic meter) x wind speed x wind speed x wind speed

Note that wind speed (m/s) is cubed (multiplied by itself thrice). Using the aforementioned equation and taking air density as 1.3 kg per cubic meter and mean wind speed as 3 m/s give the energy per square meter area of a wind turbine as 17.55 W.

The diameter (d) of a typical wind turbine is 25 m, so the circular area of a wind turbine is:

3.142 x 0.25 x d x d = 491 square meter

Hence, the total power generated from a single windmill is:

17.55 W per square meter x 491 square meter = 8,617 W

However, the efficiency of windmills is not 100% but typically only about 50%. This means the actual total power generated from a single windmill ( i.e., after correcting for inefficiency) is half of 8,617 W or 4,309 W.

Now let's determine the power that could be generated from a square meter of land area occupied by windmills. Windmills cannot be placed too closely to each other. Doing so would cause one windmill to slow down the wind speed for another windmill. But placing windmills too far from each other wastes land area. Typically, windmills are placed no less than five times their turbine diameter without losing power. Hence, the power that could be generated by windmills per unit land area is

power per windmill (W) / land area per windmill (square meter)

or

4,309 W / [(5 x 25 m) x (5 x 25 m)] = 0.28 W per square meter land area

Recall that the diameter of a typical wind turbine is 25 m and two adjacent windmills are placed apart by five times their turbine diameter.

Windmills typically require a minimum wind speed of between 3 to 5 m/s to generate electricity. This means there would be periods of too low wind speeds for the windmills to generate electricity. Periods in a day with enough wind speed for the windmills to generate electricity is called "load factor" or "capacity factor". So, what is the load factor for windmills in Malaysia on the whole?

In calm weather, the typical wind speed distribution in a day can be depicted as below.

Wind speed is higher during the day (from sunrise to sunset) than that during periods before sunrise and after sunset. Wind speed follows a sine curve during the day, and it remains constant for periods before sunrise and after sunset. I am going to roughly estimate Malaysia's load factor by assuming that maximum wind speed is twice the daily average wind speed and that the average wind speed during the day is also twice that during early morning and night.

Consequently, the period when wind speed exceeds 3 m/s, which is required for windmills to generate electricity, is calculated to be from 8:45 to 17:15 hours. This is a duration of 6.5 hours or a load factor of 27% where windmills are able to harness the wind for electricity generation.

Thus, the power that could be generated by windmills per unit land area is 27% of 0.28W, which is 0.0756 W per square meter land area or 1.8 Wh of electricity generated per square meter land area per day.

Malaysia's demand in electricity by 2020 is expected to reach 124,677 GWh, so if wind power is to meet, say, 10% of this projected electricity use, the total land area of Malaysia needed for windmills is:

(124,677 x 1000 x 1000 x 1000 x 0.1) /( 1.8 x 365) = 18,977 square kilometer

This area is equivalent to 6% of the total land area of Malaysia, or equivalent to over 1.2 million windmills to be set up.

Currently, it cost about RM1 for every 1 W of electricity generated from wind energy in Malaysia. Thus, to meet 10% of Malaysia's electricity demand in 2020 would cost approximately RM1.4 billion to setup the required number of windmills. These figures so far show it is plausible to harness the wind energy for electricity generation in Malaysia.

Although the minimum wind speed required for windmills is between 3 to 5 m/s, the minimum wind speed for commercial viability is instead 7 m/s. None of the 15 towns I analyzed had mean monthly wind speeds exceeding even 5 m/s.

According to Tenaga Nasional, in collaboration with Argentina's renewable energy firm, Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona S A (Impsa), 500 to 2000 MW worth of electricity could be generated from wind energy in Malaysia (meeting between 3.5 to 14% of the expected demand in electricity by 2020). They further reported there are areas such as the Malaysian-Thailand border which see wind speeds up to 15 m/s.

It is interesting to note that wind energy suffers contrasting problems with solar energy. Technology for solar energy is prohibitively expensive for large scale use in Malaysia. In contrast, harnessing wind energy is much cheaper than that for solar energy to set up in this country. Malaysia enjoys plenty of sunshine (as much as 3 kWh per square meter) all year round, but Malaysia sees only low wind speeds and sees high winds only at certain times of the year.

I believe there is certainly an avenue for using wind energy in Malaysia, but wind energy can only be used in limited areas and in certain periods only ( e.g., early and late in the year). Coastal areas, especially in east Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, including small islands (such as Perhentian Island), could benefit from wind energy. But for the majority of Malaysia, the solution of large scale and uninterrupted renewable energies lies elsewhere.

References

1. "Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air" by David J.C. MacKay, UIT Cambridge Ltd., 2009.

2. "Harnessing the power of the wind" by Yvonne Chong, Malaysian Business, Oct. 16, 2009.

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Possibility of electricity from wind energy in Malaysia: Some rough calculations - Christopher Teh

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Update (10 Apr. 2013): This article was used as a source of reference in the New Straits Times article "Getting wind of the situation" (pg. 7, Green Technology section, April 9, 2013) by Gregory Basil. Is it possible to harness the wind energy on a large-scale basis to generate electricity in Malaysia?

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RenewableUK is the UK's leading not for profit renewable energy trade association

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Plans for the world's biggest offshore windfarm off the Yorkshire coast are to be expanded to an area five times the size of Hull after being approved by ministers.

The multibillion-pound Hornsea Project Two would see 300 turbines - each taller than the Gherkin - span more than 480 sq km in the North Sea.

Fifty-five miles off the coast of Grimsby, the project by Denmark's Dong Energy is expected to deliver 1,800MW of low-CO ₂ electricity to 1.8m UK homes.

The development would represent a large boost to the UK's wind energy industry, with Dong Energy pledging to invest £6bn in the UK and create more than 2,500 jobs. However, the company has yet to make a final investment decision on Hornsea Project Two and a spokesman said it could be two years before it is signed off.

Greg Clark, the business and energy secretary, said: "The UK's offshore wind industry has grown at an extraordinary rate over the last few years, and is a fundamental part of our plans to build a clean, affordable, secure energy system. Britain is a global leader in offshore wind, and we are determined to be one of the leading destinations for investment in renewable energy, which means jobs and economic growth right across the country."

Ministers said the windfarm would create 1,960 construction jobs and 580 operational and maintenance jobs.

Brent Cheshire, Dong Energy's UK chairman, said: "Development consent for Hornsea Project Two is very welcome. We have already invested £6bn in the UK, and Hornsea Project Two provides us with another exciting development opportunity in offshore wind. Hornsea Project Two is a huge potential infrastructure project which could provide enough green energy to power 1.6m UK homes. A project of this size will help in our efforts to continue reducing the cost of electricity from offshore wind and shows our commitment to investing in the UK."

The government approval comes amid uncertainty over the future of the Hinkley Point C nuclear project after Theresa May delayed signing off the new £18bn power plant last month. The crown estate - still legally owned by the Queen - said this weekend that offshore windfarms will be on course to meet 10% of the UK's electricity by 2020. Hinkley Point C, the organisation pointed out, was not expected to be constructed until the mid-2020s and even then would produce only 7% of the country's power.

Huub den Rooijen, director of energy, minerals and infrastructure at the crown estate, said: "Offshore wind is already on course to meet 10% of the UK's electricity demand by 2020. Major developments of Hornsea Project Two's scale will pave the way for its continued growth alongside driving down costs, creating high-value jobs, and supporting the UK's transition to a low-carbon energy supply."

The Hornsea decision was due to be announced two months ago but was delayed amid fears the noise of building the massive windfarm would disturb porpoises. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs proposed designating a vast, 36,000 sq km (14,000 sq mile) tranche of the North Sea - including the entire 300 sq km area of the proposed wind farm - as a special area of conservation for the harbour porpoise. A habitats regulations assessment was carried out to look at "the likely significant effects of the project, both alone and in combination with other plans and projects" on the porpoise protection zone.
Topics

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Second phase of world's biggest offshore windfarm gets go-ahead

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Plans for the world's biggest offshore windfarm off the Yorkshire coast are to be expanded to an area five times the size of Hull after being approved by ministers. The multibillion-pound Hornsea Project Two would see 300 turbines - each taller than the Gherkin - span more than 480 sq km in the North Sea.

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Clean Power

Danish wind energy giant DONG Energy has completed the installation of the world's largest wind turbines at the Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm in England.

DONG Energy announced last week that it had successfully completed the installation of the first of thirty-two 8 MW wind turbines at the Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm which it is developing, currently under construction in Liverpool Bay, off the west coast of England.

The 8 MW wind turbines, built by Vestas, are the largest in the world, standing at 195 meters - in excess of two Big Bens.

This is the first time Vestas' V164-8.0 MW wind turbines will be used in an offshore wind farm, though certainly not the last, as the number of extra-large-scale offshore wind farms continue to grow. Upon completion, the Burbo Bank Extension will have a final capacity of 258 MW, and generate enough electricity to supply approximately 230,000 UK homes with clean electricity.

"The installation of this world-first technology shows that DONG Energy is leading the way in offshore wind energy," said Claus Bøjle Møller, Project Director at DONG Energy. "By using bigger turbines, we're able to bring down the cost of providing clean, renewable energy to homes around the UK. This first turbine is a significant achievement for the project, and we're looking forward to producing the first green energy later this year."

DONG Energy confirmed its intention to build the 258 MW Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm back in December of 2014. Meanwhile, it was in February of 2014, while DONG Energy was still mulling over its decisions, that Vestas confirmed that its V164-8.0 MW turbines would be used for the Burbo Bank Extension.

"The performance of the 8 MW turbine from Vestas is very promising," Samuel Leupold, Executive Vice President in DONG Energy, said at the time. "I see this as a very concrete step towards reducing the cost of electricity from offshore wind. A competitive market for all components is essential to accomplishing this. I look forward to working with Vestas and the other members of our supply chain to find further reductions in the cost of electricity."

The Burbo Bank Extension is expected to reach completion and full commissioning in the first half of 2017.

About the Author

Joshua S Hill I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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DONG Energy Installs World's Largest Wind Turbine

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Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest September 12th, 2016 by Joshua S Hill Danish wind energy giant DONG Energy has completed the installation of the world's largest wind turbines at the Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm in England.

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2014 was a record year for the wind industry, with annual installations crossing the 50 GW mark for the first time. It was also the first year that Asia overtook Europe as the region with the most deployed wind capacity. Much of this was driven by the phenomenal growth of the Chinese market. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) recently reported that the wind market in China grew by 45% in 2014, with an impressive 23GW of new wind power installed.

With China expected to raise new energy development targets for the 2016 to 2020 period, this rate of progress shows no signs of slowing down. This year of 2015 alone, China will install an estimated 23 to 25 GW of wind energy, accounting for nearly half of all global wind installations. Wind power has overtaken nuclear power in China, in fact, at full pace, China's wind farms could now produce more energy than all of the nuclear power plants in the US. Global Data analysts also believe that China could overtake the US as the leading generator of wind power as soon as 2016.

However, China will still have to overcome several hurdles in order to increase renewable energy production. With this in mind, we examine the factors that have allowed China to deploy wind power so successfully, and the challenges it will need to address in order to continue to progress.
Three reasons for China's success in wind power so far:
One of the reasons that the Chinese wind turbine industry has been able to progress so rapidly is that several of the leading firms were large heavy-machinery manufacturers and utility firms, which already had capabilities in fields relating to manufacturing, as well as in large-scale project management for deployment. In addition, licensing agreements between Chinese firms and European design houses have proved an effective method of driving forward technological advancements, allowing Chinese lead firms to develop technology using the pre-existing expertise of foreign partners.

Last year the Chinese government committed to 20% of its energy coming from wind, solar, nuclear and other zero-emission sources by 2030. Beijing also says it plans to increase China's wind power capacity to 200,000 MW by 2020. In comparison, nuclear is only predicted to rise to 58,000 MW over that period.

The government is also focused on cutting the cost of wind power so it can compete with the 'golden standard' set by nuclear and the low costs now experienced by coal. With recent reductions in wind subsidies, the government continues to place higher demands on technology including greater efficiency and reliability and most importantly, MW hours.

From our experience, Chinese firms tend to work in a much faster and more agile manner, learning quickly, trying different techniques and learning from experience. The country also benefits from a number of state owned organisations which are incredibly focused on developing their own expertise within wind power, ensuring that new skills, techniques and technologies are adopted across the country. All of this helps accelerate new wind farm deployments.

Three future challenges China needs to address to continue growth in wind:

As wind farms become saturated in densely populated areas, many wind firms are forced to move to more remote and less conventional locations. Offshore is one of the areas where expansion is possible; here wind power could remain close enough to demand centers such as the big coastal cities, but would be away from residential areas. However, offshore does also present a number of logistical complications, from initially building the farms through to issues with servicing and maintenance. A large storm may put you down for three weeks if the conditions remain unfavorable.

Constructing wind farms at high altitude is another option. However, this puts additional stress on the equipment. As the air gets thinner due to the reduced pressure, it loses some of its insulating properties, meaning that equipment built to work at high altitudes needs to be designed with sufficient safety spacing distances to prevent high voltage arcs or breakdowns between conductors and other electronic components. Cosmic rays are also more pronounced at higher altitude. These interact with silicon in such a way that they can cause it to puncture, which in turn, can cause the converters to fail. Therefore, additional technological considerations need to be taken into account in some regions.

Embracing new technologies, such as software that can monitor and optimize the wind farm as it generates electricity, could help Chinese firms to boost a wind farm's energy production by as much as 20% and create $100 million in extra value over the lifetime of a 100 MW farm. It works by installing dozens of sensors inside each turbine, which monitor everything from the yaw of the nacelle, to the torque of the generator and the speed of the blade tips. This data can then be used to optimize the wind equipment and power output. A select number of companies in the region have already embraced this new technology. For example, GE's Brilliant wind turbines, which harness the power of the Industrial Internet to analyse tens of thousands of data points every second, have been installed at the Huaneng Corporation's Huaneng Dali Longquan wind farm in the Yunnan province of China.

The challenge for wind companies throughout China, however, is to select partners with the technological expertise to drive innovation in the market and bring high-quality, reliable power to the region for many years to come.

Large distances between wind farm locations and areas of demand are also an issue due to the need for investment to improve transmission and distribution capacity. While the government is adding new transmission lines, the integration to the grid network remains one of the most serious challenges facing the wind industry in China. A recent report from the GWEC stated that the lack of flexibility in the grid system, coupled with general lack of a real electricity market where electricity can be traded, were some of the key barriers to wind development. For example, northern China boasts good wind resources, but rapid development of wind power in this area has outpaced the local grid, leading to substantial requirement to curtail excess wind power. To help overcome this, a number of new transmission lines need to be developed, in order to link power from its source to its demand center.

The rapid development of the wind power industry has created a new set of challenges for China to address. Despite this, the GWEC still predicts that China will install an additional 100 GW by the end of 2019, exceeding the country's 200 GW target for 2020 a year ahead of time. To grow sustainably to meet this target, wind companies throughout the region must develop long-term partnerships with industry experts, such as GE, at every phase, from conception and design to installation and continued optimization and maintenance, to drive innovation and efficiency. If this collaboration continues the future will be bright for the Chinese wind industry.

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This article is reposted from a GE newsletter 2014 was a record year for the wind industry, with annual installations crossing the 50 GW mark for the first time. It was also the first year that Asia overtook Europe as the region with the most deployed wind capacity.

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HONG KONG-The Chinese government has halted the expansion of wind power in its northern provinces where a large number of turbines are churning out power that's being wasted. The move underscores the challenges facing China as it works to fulfill its clean energy ambitions.

Chinese regulators said the windswept regions of Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang will suspend the approval of new wind projects in 2016, according to a March 17 statement published on the website of China's National Energy Administration. The six regions have installed nearly 71 gigawatts of turbines, more than the rest of China combined. It's at least the fourth time in five years that Beijing has ordered wind operators there to slow down growth.

The decision highlights a growing concern among energy analysts that China's spectacular growth in renewable energy is bumping up against the reality of grid constraints and shrinking electricity demand. Solar panels and wind turbines were virtually nonexistent in China a decade ago, and now the country leads the world in installing both.

Wind power installations, in particular, have exploded over the last five years as part of the country's ambitious push to combat climate change and bring down dangerous levels of air pollution from its massive coal consumption. Already the world's wind energy giant, China installed an additional 33 gigawatts of wind turbines in 2015, more than half of new installations worldwide, as developers rushed to build as many projects as possible to meet a year-end deadline for subsidies.

But too much of that energy is being squandered. In 2015 alone, 33.9 billion kilowatt-hours of wind-powered electricity was wasted, government statistics show-equivalent to the electricity consumed by 3 million American households a year. That was about 15 percent of China's total wind power generation, up from 8 percent a year earlier.

Some of the wind-generated electricity had no place to go because there's no transmission infrastructure to carry the power to population centers. In other cases, developers couldn't compete with coal for contracts to connect to the grid.

"Energy waste on wind farms in China has already become a major problem impacting the healthy development of the wind power sector," the National Energy Administration said in its statement. "Unless we take tougher measures to cut waste, the rate of wasted wind power will continue to get worse this year."

Xie Guohui, an analyst at the State Grid Energy Research Institute, an influential think tank based in Beijing, echoed that there is little prospect for immediate improvement.

"Even though China will not approve new projects, the scale of existing wind power installations is huge, leaving the grid struggling to cope with it," Xie said. "In the best-case scenario, this policy will help China's wind power curtailment maintain the same level as it was last year."

China's grid has long been a challenge for wind power producers and other renewable energy developers. Because the country's strongest gales, brightest sunlight and most powerful rivers are inland and far from its energy-guzzling coastal provinces, China must rely on transmission lines to deliver the clean electricity hundreds of miles from where it's produced. Although the country has extended transmission networks in recent years, the number of new renewable energy installations has been rising far faster than new lines have been built.

The intermittent nature of renewable energy also poses safety challenges for grid operators. Overcoming that requires financial resources and profound improvements to electricity lines. Further, until late last year, China's government-regulated power allocation scheme gave coal priority on the grid by guaranteeing each coal plant a certain amount of operating hours and leaving renewable energy developers struggling to compete.

At the same time, China's demand for energy has been growing at a slower pace than in previous years, due to its economic slowdown and improved energy efficiency across its economy. Data from the China Electricity Council show that the country's consumption of electricity increased by only 0.5 percent in 2015, the smallest increase this decade.

"The main cause of idling turbines is an overcapacity in China's power generation," said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University. "China's power supply currently surpasses its demand by 20 to 25 percent. All the electricity producers in the country are going through a tough time, and wind power developers are not an exception."

According to a new government regulation issued in November, China will give wind power generators and other cleaner electricity producers priority ahead of coal in selling their output to distributors and large industrial users-though detailed guidelines have yet to come. Earlier this month, Beijing slapped a quota on regions' non-hydro renewable energy consumption, requiring Chinese grid operators to ensure that at least 5 percent of the electricity in their transmission network comes from wind, solar or biomass. But critics complain that the requirement is too easy to meet, and that there's no penalty for not complying.

For some analysts, China's move to suspend the approval of new projects in wind-curtailed regions has a silver lining, because it will force wind project developers to shift their attention from building in northern Chinese regions, which have the strongest winds but the worst grid problems, to other regions.

"Projects approved [in the north] prior to 2016 can still be built. However, we believe most developers will slow the construction in those curtailed regions in 2016," said Zhou Yiyi, a Shanghai-based analyst from market research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Instead, she said, the developers will build wind power projects in the south, where fewer idled turbines exist and increased profits are available to developers.

What does this all mean for China's goal of putting up at least 20 gigawatts of new wind capacity this year?

Zhou said that across China 48 gigawatts of permitted capacity is in the pipeline waiting to be built, and roughly 40 percent of that, or about 20 gigawatts, is in non-curtailed regions that are closer to transmission lines and don't have energy waste problems.

"In other words, 20 gigawatts is still an achievable target," Zhou said.

While it remains unclear whether the policy will leave a mark on China's long-term renewable energy growth and climate targets, experts say the country is on the right track.

One reason: Coal plants, the main source of China's carbon pollution, may be worse off than wind farms and turbines.

"The government has imposed even tougher restrictions on coal-fired power generation," said Lin of Xiamen University. "With low electricity demand and more generation capacity coming online, [the implication] this year is that one out of four coal-fired power units could stand idle, while that figure could be one out of five for wind turbines, on average."

"Chinese policymakers are still doing their best to back up the renewable energy industry," Lin said.

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Facing Grid Constraints, China Puts a Chill on New Wind Energy Projects

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HONG KONG-The Chinese government has halted the expansion of wind power in its northern provinces where a large number of turbines are churning out power that's being wasted. The move underscores the challenges facing China as it works to fulfill its clean energy ambitions.

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Wind Energy Could Power China, Study Finds | Worldwatch Institute

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As China's demand for electricity increases an estimated 10 percent each year, the country is projected to need an additional 800 GW of coal-generated electricity during the next 20 years. With current wind energy payments of 0.4 RMB (US$0.059) per kilowatt-hour, wind energy could displace 23 percent of coal-generated electricity.

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As a clean, relatively cheap and reliable alternative to burning fossil fuels, wind power plays an important role in China's energy mix. Given concerns about the country's dependence on imported petroleum and about the serious air pollution caused by burning coal, the mandate to shift from fossil fuels never has been stronger.

The urgency is reflected in China's ambitious target under its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to supply 20 percent of electricity from renewable energy resources by 2030.

China's track record on renewables already is impressive. The country installed nearly half of all new global wind capacity in 2015, adding 30.8 gigawatts (GW) (PDF) (other sources show 30.5 GW) for a total capacity exceeding 145 GW . (See Figure 1.)

China also is the largest investor (PDF) in renewable energy, spending $102.9 billion in 2015 alone. Forty-three percent of these investments specifically have targeted wind power.
Figure 1. Wind Power Cumulative Capacity and Annual Additions, by Country, 2015. Source: REN21, Renewables 2016 Global Status Report.
Yet China fails to take full advantage of its extensive wind power resources. According to the central government, 33.9 GW of wind-generated electricity went unused in 2015 alone - representing nearly 15 percent of total wind energy generated, valued at $2.77 billion.

The scale of this waste is enormous, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 3 million American households and greater than the United Kingdom's total wind power generation in 2015. Perhaps most striking, although China nearly has doubled the installed wind generation capacity of the United States (145.1 GW versus 75.0 GW), actual Chinese generation is less than U.S. generation (186.3 terawatt-hours [TWh] versus 190.9 TWh).

This wasted energy reflects not only sunk investment and foregone economic benefit, but also a missed opportunity to fight climate change. Wind power in China has the potential to offset billions of kilowatt-hours of electricity generated by fossil fuels, such as coal, that produce substantial greenhouse gas emissions.

With these obvious benefits in mind, what headwinds is China facing?

Slowing economic growth

In 2015, China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at the slowest rate in 25 years, a trend reflected in the country's flatlining power demand. According to the National Energy Administration, total electricity consumption in 2015 was 55,500 TWh, an increase of only 0.5 percent from the previous year. This increase is 3.3 percentage points below the 2014 level and reflects the lowest growth since 1974. Meanwhile, siginficant new wind power capacity was added in 2015 under the expectation of continued strong economic growth and power demand - resulting in an oversupply.

A growing energy infrastructure gap

Inconsistencies between national and provincial governance of the energy sector is sapping China's electricity infrastructure.

Prior to 2011, provincial governments were permitted to approve all wind power projects smaller than 50 megawatts. Embracing newly affordable wind technologies, local power producers applied rapidly for generation permits, most of which were below this cap. Provincial governments were happy to approve these 49.5 MW power projects to attract investment and improve provincial GDP performance. Taken together, however, these small-scale plants rapidly have overwhelmed China's electrical grid infrastructure.

Responding to this challenge, the central government (Chinese) changed permitting regulations in 2016, expanding national regulatory oversight to all new provincial wind power additions.
Figure 2. China Wind Power Installed Capacity versus Grid-Connected Capacity, 2006-14. Source: Xi Lu et al., Challenges faced by China compared with the U.S. in developing wind power.
Xie Guohui, an analyst at the State Grid Energy Research Institute, said, "Even though China will not approve new projects, the scale of existing wind power installations is huge, leaving the grid struggling to cope with it." And a professor from Xiamen University noted, "The main cause of idling turbines is an overcapacity in China's power generation. China's power supply currently surpasses its demand by 20 to 25 percent." (See Figure 2.)
Figure 3. Wind Power Installed Capacity by Province, 2014
Infrastructure considerations also are important because of the disparities between where Chinese wind energy is generated and where it is needed. Northern China provides nearly 80 percent of the total wind generation. (See Figure 3.)

However, consumption of electricity is heavily concentrated along the coast and in the South. In 2014, an estimated 47 percent of wind power curtailment (Chinese) was caused by limited ability to consume it in Gansu province. Simply put, most Chinese wind energy has to travel a long way to reach a sufficiently large market for electricity. Although some transmission lines exist, new wind installations quickly have outpaced infrastructure additions.

Disconnect between provincial and national governance in China
Figure 4. Electric Generating Capacity by Fuel Type, 2000-13. Source: The Energy Collective, China's Electrcity Sector at a Glance: 2013
In China, coal plants are still the main source of electricity (see Figure 4), and the central government still maintains guaranteed quotas for coal-fired electricity generation. Meanwhile, there are no mandatory quota regulations on regional grids to integrate wind-powered electricity, leaving renewable energy struggling to compete. That said, the Renewable Energy Law, issued in 2005, "requires local governments and state-run power grid operators to buy all electricity produced by a firm using renewable sources that fall within the government quota," said Yang Fuqiang.

Authorities in Yunnan province issued a policy in November that slapped an extra surcharge on wind and hydropower producers and used the revenue to subsidize coal-fired plants.

The Xinjiang Provincial Government not only squeezed the production quotas of wind, solar and hydropower producers, but also levied an extra fee on them and used this revenue to subsidize coal-fired power plants in December.

The Gansu Provincial government cut the price paid to wind power producers per watt by 40 to 75 percent from the state-run operator of the local grid.

For local governments, coal-fired plants are still more important than wind power because they are the primary source of tax revenue and employment. As a result, national laws and regulations often are unpredictable and are poorly communicated by provincial authorities.

On March 31, the Chinese Wind Energy Association accused three provincial governments of adopting policies that violated the Renewable Energy Law:

China's wind policy forecast

According to Haibing Ma, China Program Manager at the Worldwatch Institute, "Current policies can only solve the curtailment problem to a limited extent. The more important thing is electricity market reform."

Wind power development is not simply a question of capacity building, but also reflects the need for a comprehensive plan and policy implementation. Although China's ambitions to develop renewable energy are admirable, it also is important to identify the problems and challenges associated with this transition and to apply the lessons learned in the next stage of development.

Curtailment likely will be a short-term problem, as wind power is essential for China to achieve its INDC target under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. And electricity reform is being hotly debated in the country. Therefore, the Chinese government needs to move fast, both centrally and locally, and private sectors need to adjust to a new relationship between energy supply and consumption.

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As a clean, relatively cheap and reliable alternative to burning fossil fuels, wind power plays an important role in China's energy mix. Given concerns about the country's dependence on imported petroleum and about the serious air pollution caused by burning coal, the mandate to shift from fossil fuels never has been stronger.

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General Electric Co. has ceded its position as the world's No. 1 wind turbine manufacturer to a Chinese competitor, according to 2015 market data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. Ltd. received orders for 7.8 gigawatts of new wind turbines in 2015, exceeding GE, which dropped to No. 3 globally with 5.9 GW of new commissioned capacity, according to BNEF. Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Denmark attracted 7.3 GW of new orders in 2015, solidifying its No. 2 ranking in the global supply chain.

While Goldwind maintains a North American headquarters in Chicago and has provided turbines to several U.S. wind farms, BNEF said that almost all of the company's recent growth was in the Chinese market, where wind power developers are riding an unprecedented boom. About 29 GW of new capacity came online in China last year alone (ClimateWire, Feb. 2).

David Halligan, CEO of Goldwind Americas, said Goldwind is pleased to be at the forefront of a global wind market that "is growing at an exponential rate."

"While Goldwind's anchor is in China, our global aspirations remain strong and we are continuously looking for opportunities across many different geographies," he said in email.

GE Renewable Energy, a division of the 124-year-old conglomerate that makes products from light bulbs and aircraft engines to advanced software applications, also saw rising demand for its advanced wind turbine technologies, especially in the United States, according to BNEF. But GE's turbine orders increased by 700 megawatts over 2014 levels, a modest gain compared to its two largest rivals.

GE ranked atop BNEF's turbine manufacturing index in 2014. But was outperformed by Vestas in 2013, when the U.S. supply chain contracted due to the expiration of the federal production tax credit (PTC) in late 2012.

Congress' most recent extension of the 2.3-cent-per-kilowatt-hour PTC should help firms like GE and Vestas further grow their U.S. markets. But catching up with a soaring China may prove difficult.

"China has just as many complex barriers to renewable power integration as we do, but it also has a strong national commitment to scaling up renewable energy," said Kate Gordon, vice chairwoman of climate and urban sustainability at the Paulson Institute, which has worked closely with government and private-sector partners to promote clean energy in China.

"Contrast that with the U.S., where our wind energy subsidies are on-again, off-again, and where states ratchet up and down renewable portfolio standards depending on the political winds," she said.

Calls and emails to GE officials were not returned yesterday. But the company is not standing still in the global wind energy market. Its recent acquisition of the power and grid division of the French energy giant Alstom substantially expanded its renewable energy footprint and positioned the company as a leader in the highly active offshore wind power market, especially in Europe.

Jeff Immelt, GE's chairman and CEO, called the $10.6 billion acquisition of Alstom's power and grid business "another significant step in GE's transformation." GE now owns more than 30,000 wind turbines around the world. And its Alstom-designed Haliade turbines, rated at 6 MW, are set to be installed in a number of settings, including the first U.S. offshore wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean off Rhode Island.

While all Chinese turbine manufacturers fared well in 2015, Goldwind was the runaway leader among its peers, both domestic and international. Four other Chinese firms also ranked among the world's top 10 turbine manufacturers. They include Guodian, Ming Yang, Envision and CSIC.

"It's hardly surprising that five Chinese manufacturers made the top 10 ranking in a year where China contributed roughly half of the global capacity," said Amy Grace, head of wind research for BNEF. "It is more surprising how dominant Goldwind was in its domestic market. The company commissioned more than 2 ½ times the amount of capacity as the next largest Chinese manufacturer, Guodian."

A spokesman for Vestas, headquartered in Denmark but with a major manufacturing hub in Colorado, said in an email that the company enjoys a "truly global footprint," with new wind energy projects launched in 34 countries last year, including the United States.

"The U.S. is obviously an important market for Vestas-our largest in terms of orders and deliveries in 2015," said the spokesman, Michael Zarin. He added that Vestas employs an estimated 4,760 U.S. workers, more than in Denmark.

For onshore turbines, Germany's Siemens AG and Spain's Gamesa Corp. Tecnologica SA rounded out the top five manufacturers in 2015, with each attracting 3.1 GW of new orders. Siemens led all manufacturers in the offshore turbine market, commissioning 2.6 GW of new orders for the year, according to BNEF.

John Hensley, manager of industry data and analysis at the American Wind Energy Association, said that while Chinese turbine makers are making significant market gains in Asia, there is relatively little risk of a surge in turbine imports from China to the United States.

That's in part because a wind farm's primary components-nacelles, blades and towers-are large and expensive to ship on oceangoing vessels. And once in the United States, the equipment must move by truck or rail from seaports to production sites mostly in the nation's interior.

But Hensley also said that developers and financiers of U.S. wind farms are often more comfortable using domestically produced turbines that have been proven to work under varied weather conditions unique to the United States. "We expect that market trend to continue moving forward," he said.
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500

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Chinese Wind Turbine Maker Is Now World's Largest

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General Electric Co. has ceded its position as the world's No. 1 wind turbine manufacturer to a Chinese competitor, according to 2015 market data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. Ltd. received orders for 7.8 gigawatts of new wind turbines in 2015, exceeding GE, which dropped to No.

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Wind farm project development | Windpower Monthly

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Read news & analysis of wind farm project development, wind assessment, permitting, construction & contracts on Windpower Monthly

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Wind Energy Projects | Department of Energy

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Robust turbine technologies at Record Hill allow more power output during extreme weather conditions than conventional wind energy technology.

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The renewable energy market is steadily growing in an African continent that can pride itself to possess in abundance a good mix of resources - sun, water, biomass and wind. Although far less uniformly distributed than the well documented solar resources, Africa with a large coastline still has one of the best potential for wind power production. Over the last decade, there has been a gradual decrease of the cost of wind power generation that is becoming very competitive compared to fossil fuels ones. Some countries, positioned in optimal locations, have sought to grab the opportunity to move from existing conventional power generation towards an increasing share of renewable energy. In doing so, they have developed local markets that are experiencing high growth rates and attracting a plethora of global companies from the sector. To give a better appreciation of the wind industry's size in Africa, let's take a look at the five current biggest wind energy markets and some the keys players.

Conditions for wind

Generally speaking, annual average wind speeds greater than 4 meters per second (m/s) (9 mph) are required for small wind turbines. For utility-scale wind power plants, a minimum average wind speed of 6 m/s (13 mph) would be needed. It is then not a surprise to find that the best wind in Africa is located in the coastal regions of the continent: in the North, the East, the West and the South. The five biggest markets are also originated from these areas. As a matter of clarity, it is important to specify that markets have been ranked in function of their recorded capacity, either operational or under construction.

1.South Africa

With the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) launched in 2011, South Africa stands without the shadow of a doubt as the major contributor of the wind industry of the entire continent. The programme has been designed to contribute to meeting the national renewable energy target and to stimulate the renewable industry in South Africa. REIPPP is handled by the IPP Office and the programme is organised in rounds or bid windows. So far there have been 4 rounds. The main evaluation criterion for the bid selection process is pricing but other factors such as job creation, local content and black economic empowerment do also play a part. Since 2011, a total of 1,170 MW of wind turbine capacity has been built and another 840 MW is currently in the pipeline. Overall, South Africa is aiming to install 8,400 MW of wind capacity by 2030.

The REIPPPP is proving to be extremely successful in assisting to meet South Africa's energy demand and this success has been lauded globally. Being cited as a best practice example by the industry, many others Africans countries, especially in the north are thinking of replicating the winning formula.

It is only fair to say that this programme has demonstrated that the public private partnership model can fast track the delivery of much needed large-scale infrastructure projects.

2.Morocco

Before the advent of the South African market, the wind industry on the continent was particularly dominated by North African countries. In terms of installed capacity, Morocco currently sits in second position. So far, 870 MW have been installed and another 50 MW is under construction. As opposed to sub-Saharan African countries, Morocco has a high electrification rate, over 95% so the exploitation of the renewable resources is seen as a way to help the country becoming self-sufficient. Through the Moroccan wind energy programme, managed by a public body, the government has established a target of 2 GW of installed wind power by 2020 for an investment of USD 3.5 billion.

3.Egypt

Egypt occupies the third position but is very close to Morocco. In fact, the two countries are battling for the leadership of the market in the region. Egypt enjoys excellent wind regimes, particularly in the Suez Gulf where the average speed reaches 10.5 m/s. The market kick-started around 2001 and in 15 years, they have built about 750 MW of wind capacity. Egypt ambitions are to become the main renewable energy hub of North Africa, with manufacturing of components and the training of relevant technical skills. They have set a national target to 4.3 GW of renewable energy to its national production capacity by 2022. Wind energy is a vital part of these renewable energy developments as it will account for almost half (2 GW) of the declared target.

The Egyptian wind market is offering great prospects in part due to firm government backing which is fuelling investors' interest and confidence in the country's renewable energy future. Through the introduction of generous Feed-in Tariff (FiT) schemes (e.g. US$9.57 cents/kWh for the first 5 years) and governments plans to invest over USD $10 billion in renewable energy projects over the next decade, it has also encouraged international investment in the sector.

4.Ethiopia

East Africa's coast is well endowed with wind resources and has been gaining ground with commercial scale projects. Positioned in fourth position, Ethiopia has installed more than 320 MW of wind farms to date. Quite notably here, the dry season in Ethiopia is also the windy season, meaning that wind power is a good complement to hydropower, which is by far the biggest source of renewable energy. With over 75% of the country 100 million people not connected to the national grid and mainly living in rural areas, Ethiopia's energy needs are huge. To meet rising demand the government needs to increase its electricity production by 20 to 25% per year, according to figures from the country's energy ministry. In addition to that, Ethiopia has set a target of slashing its carbon emissions by 64% within the next 14 years, one of the most ambitious national goals across the planet. So clearly the Ethiopian space should be watched carefully.

5.Kenya

Kenya, which just a couple of years ago would have not made the list, is now proudly standing in fifth position, courtesy of one project, Lake Turkana. At its completion, this wind farm would simply be the biggest on the continent and on its own merit would lift the current country wind capacity from 14 MW to 324 MW. This would be enough to leapfrog Ethiopia and move onto the fourth position, providing of course that there is no movement in the Ethiopian market, which is unlikely.

Figure 1. The five biggest wind markets in Africa.

Key players

The wind market in Africa, especially in South Africa, has attracted some of the world's largest multinational companies. The likes of Siemens, General Electric, Mainstream Renewables, EDF, Iberdrola Renewables, Engie, and Acciona are actively engaged in the continent. In North Africa, NREA in Egypt is the one of the largest owner/operator of wind energy capacity, followed by the Moroccan public utility ONE.

For the turbine manufacturers, the market is mainly dominated by global leaders in the industry like Siemens, Gamesa and Vestas.

Conclusion

The 5 biggest markets in Africa are as expected in regions identified with strong wind resources. The wind industry on the continent was initially concentrated in North Africa, before taking off at a more significant pace in South Africa. With Ethiopia and Kenya, the East African market is progressively developing.

Taken altogether, the installed capacity of wind farms in these five countries is about 3.1 GW currently operational, and 1.2 GW under construction. Although in absolute terms this does not exceed 1% of the global total (433 GW in 2015 as per GWEC), it is nevertheless encouraging to see that Africa has finally awoken and warmed up to the industry. Should the growth rate be sustained, a totally different picture will emerge on windy Africa by the end of the decade.
http://www.thewindpower.net/index.php http://www.energyintelligence.co.za/reippp-all-you-need-to-know/ http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-06-28-with-sub-sahara-africas-largest-wind-farm-ethiopia-seeks-to-be-green-energy-super-power Global Wind Report - Annual Market Update 2015 - GWEC
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tony Tiyou holds a triple Engineering Master's Degree in addition to qualifications as a Renewable Energy expert from the European Energy Centre, UK. Tony co-founded O'wango & TT Smart (O&TT), a consultancy that aims to prove renewable energy and energy management solutions to respond to power challenges.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Renewables in Africa, www.renewablesinafrica.com

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Elsevier Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1GB, United Kingdom

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The five biggest wind energy markets in Africa

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The renewable energy market is steadily growing in an African continent that can pride itself to possess in abundance a good mix of resources - sun, water, biomass and wind. Although far less uniformly distributed than the well documented solar resources, Africa with a large coastline still has one of the best potential for wind power production.

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Karachi: Gul Ahmed Wind Power Limited kick-started generation from its 50- megawatt wind power project in Jhimpir of Thatta district.

The company said the project will distribute electricity to the Central Power Purchaser Agency as an independent power producer.

"It aims at providing a sustainable tariff at a fixed price for 20 years, by installing 20 state-of-the-art German-manufactured wind turbines of 2.5MW each by Nordex," the company said in a statement.

The project's sponsors include Gul Ahmed Energy Limited, one of Pakistan's paramount business groups, the InfraCo Asia Indus Wind Pte. Ltd of Singapore and International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group.

"This is the first of many wind projects of the group to tackle the electricity shortage," the statement quoted Iqbal Alimohamed, chief executive officer at the company as saying. "This is a remarkable effort by the private sector to come forth to face the challenges, currently being encountered by the country." Gul Ahmed Energy is already supplying 136MW of electricity to K-Electric from its furnace oil-based power plant.

The wind corridor of Jhimpir, 120-kilometre north east of Karachi, is luring investment from local as well foreign investors. Most of the operational wind power projects are located in the region.

APP adds: Around 12 wind projects of 587.2MW are already supplying electricity to the national grid, officials said. The officials at the Alternative Energy Development Board said as many as 35 wind power projects, with a cumulative capacity of 1,749.2MW, are at different stages of development and will become operational by 2018. The projects include 50MW FFC Energy Limited, 56.4MW Zorlu Emerji Pakistan, 49.5MW Three Gorges First Wind Farm Pakistan, 50MW Foundation Wind Energy II, 52.8MW Sapphire Wind Power Company, 50MW Yunus Energy, 50MW Metro Power Company, 49.5MW Tapal Wind Energy, 30MW Tenga Generasi, 50MW Master Wind Energy and 49.5MW Gul Wind Energy.

The officials said five projects, having 298MW capacity, have achieved financial close and are under construction. They said 49.5MW Hydro China Dawood Power (Thatta) will be ready by November, 49.5MW Sachal Energy Development in May 2017, 99MW United Energy in September, and 50MW Jhampir Wind Power and 50MW Hawa Energy will be ready by February 2018.

Some 18 wind projects of 864MW are at different stages of development and expected to be completed by 2018. These projects include 50MW each Three Gorge Second Wind Farm, FFC Energy, Tricon Boston Consulting Corporation, Western Energy, Hartford Alternative Energy and Zephyr Power as well as the 14 MW BurjWind Energy project.

The officials said all these projects are being set up in district Thatta.

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Gul Ahmed starts 50MW wind power production

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Karachi: Gul Ahmed Wind Power Limited kick-started generation from its 50- megawatt wind power project in Jhimpir of Thatta district. The company said the project will distribute electricity to the Central Power Purchaser Agency as an independent power producer.

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Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are located in China, India, and the United States. For example, the largest wind farm in the world, Gansu Wind Farm in China has a capacity of over 6,000 MW as of 2012, with a goal of 20,000 MW by 2020.

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GWEC produces graphs showing the exciting growth of the wind power industry around the world.

Media, companies, research institutes and students are free to use GWEC graphs in their work in order to illustrate this growth. Please ensure that GWEC is properly cited as the source of the data.

Click images to view a larger version or contact us for individual jpegs.

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GWEC produces graphs showing the exciting growth of the wind power industry around the world. Media, companies, research institutes and students are free to use GWEC graphs in their work in order to illustrate this growth. Please ensure that GWEC is properly cited as the source of the data. ​​