Introduction

Wind energy is now a mainstream source of electricity. Unlike conventional fuels, wind energy is a massive, indigenous power source, and it will never run out. It has no resource constraints: the ‘fuel’ is free and endless. On top of this, wind energy entirely avoids carbon costs, geo-political risk associated with supply and infrastructure constraints, and energy dependence on other countries. Europe has taken the lead in wind energy and has consolidated its position as global market leader.

“The European Commission is convinced that there is a huge potential for wind energy in Europe", Christopher Jones, European Commission, Introduction to Pure Power, November 200.

State of the art technology

In contrast to the windmills of the 19th century, a modern power generating wind turbine is designed to produce high-quality, network frequency electricity. Wind turbines can operate continuously, unattended, with low maintenance, and some 120,000 hours of active operation can be expected over a design lifetime of 20 years. By comparison, a typical car engine has a design lifetime of the order of 6,000 hours.

Since the early 1980s, the capacity of an individual turbine has increased by a factor of over 200 to up to 6 MW. Larger turbines and improved cost effectiveness has brought down the costs of turbines. Modular and quick to install, wind turbines range in size from a few kilowatts (kW) to 6 MW. Wind turbines are highly reliable, with operating availabilities (the proportion of the time in which they are available to operate) of 98%. No other electricity generating technology has a higher availability.

Many developments and improvements have taken place since the early 1980s but the basic architecture of the mainstream design has changed little. The rotors of most wind turbines face into the wind, and actively ‘yaw’ to follow changes in wind direction. Wind farm developments can be as small as a single turbine or as large as several hundred megawatts (thousand kW). Sited in an area with a good wind resource, a single 1 MW turbine can power 650 households.

Key advantages of wind power:

• Clean energy - no resulting carbon dioxide emissions
• Low cost – at optimum locations, wind can be competitive with nuclear, coal and even gas, on a level playing field
• Wind energy is an expanding source of sustainable jobs
• Rapid deployment – quick to install
• Fuel is free, abundant and inexhaustible
• Provides a hedge against fuel price volatility
• Security of supply - avoids reliance on imported fuels
• Provides bulk power equivalent to conventional sources
• Land friendly - agricultural/industrial activities can continue around it  

 

The European wind power industry

• Employs around 192,000 people (2009 figures)

• Saw investments worth €13 billion in 2009

• Over 10 GW of wind power capacity was installed in 2009 – 23% more than in 2008

• In 2009, for the second year running, more wind power was installed than any other power generating technology, accounting for 39% of total new installations

• Produces 4.8% of the EU’s electricity (end 2009)

• Over 40,000 wind turbines are installed today

• Over 75,000 MW of capacity is installed in total – over 2,000 MW of which is offshore

• Wind energy saves Europe €6 billion per year in avoided CO2 costs, equivalent to taking 25% of cars in the EU off the road

• In 2008, wind power avoided fuel costs of €6.5 billion

• Wind power can drive down electricity prices

 

Development potential of wind energy

The wind power industry has been growing at an impressive rate, within and outside of Europe. The latest industry figures for the EU wind energy market show that cumulative wind power capacity increased by 23% to 74,767 MW (end 2009), up from 64,935 MW at the end of 2008. 10,163 MW of wind power capacity were installed last year, representing a wind turbine manufacturing turnover of some €13 billion.

Wind power has the potential to make a major contribution to the Europe’s increasing energy demand. EWEA projects that 230 GW (including 40 GW offshore) of wind energy could be generating 14-17% of the EU’s electricity need by 2020. In the process it would save an annual 333 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2020, €8.3 billion a year in avoided CO2 costs and €28 billion a year in avoided fuel costs.

What needs to happen?

The 2009 Renewable Energy Directive, which sets a target of 20% renewables in the EU by 2020, must be effectively and rapidly implemented by Member States. To meet this target, the share of renewable electricity in the EU must increase from 15% to at least 34% by 2020.

Wind energy needs an extended and upgraded electricity system – with interconnections between EU countries and links to offshore wind farms - and greater competition in the electricity market in order to fulfil its potential. By 2020, power capacity equivalent to 42% of the EU’s current capacity needs to be built to replace ageing power plants and meet the expected increase in demand – this is the ideal opportunity to equip grids with the technology they need to bring huge amounts of wind power online.

Polluters must pay for emitting CO2, either through carbon taxes or an Emissions Trading System with full auctioning of allowances.

Research funding for wind energy must be increased substantially.

Keep up to date with the latest in wind energy: www.ewea.org/blog
See how a wind turbine works: www.ewea.org/index.php
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