What we can expect from wind energy

wind turbines at sea

Wind power capacity in the world it reached 487 gigawatts (GW) in 2016. In the same way, the standardized reference costs of electricity from wind energy (LCOE), that is, how much electricity generation costs (initial investment, maintenance, fuel cost ...) are falling, until the $ 67 per megawatt hour (MWh), the third lowest value within renewable energies.

Wind power hardly supposes 4% of world energy generation, although BBVA Research in its report "Renewables: The answer is in the wind" believe that improving the efficiency of wind turbines could increase that percentage up to 20% by 2040.

That wind power It is the main renewable alternative energy in the world is known to all. Proof of this are the advances that have been made in recent years in increase the power developed by each wind turbine by multinationals working in the sector, mainly wind turbines that carry out their activity in the open sea.

Although, to achieve this goal, BBVA Research believes that 2.000 GW more capacity is still needed in onshore parks and another 200GW offshore. In total, a goal for 2040 that will need investments worth four trillion dollars.

Latest milestone in wind energy

The latest milestone in this regard was recently announced by the company, a union between the Danish multinational Vestas and the Japanese Mitsubishi known as Mhivestasoffshore.

They have developed a prototype of a9 MW off-shore generator of power, installed on the Danish coast, capable of producing in just 24 hours an amount of energy equivalent to what a home in the United States would consume for two decades. It is primarily designed for wind speeds between 12 and 25 meters per second.

wind turbine

Enough to power a home for 66 years

According to Torben Hvid larsen, Vestas CTO:

"Our prototype has set another generation record, with 216.000 kWh produced in a 24-hour period. We are confident that this 9 MW wind turbine has proven to be market ready, and we believe it will play a key role in lowering offshore wind energy prices. "

Usually talking about kilowatts is a bit difficult and abstract. But according to official bodies, the average electricity consumption of a Spanish home is 3.250 kWh per year. A quantity slightly higher than the average annual consumption of urban dwellings in the main cities of South America. Taking this into account, a day of production could supply electricity to an average home for over 66 years.

So that we can get an idea of ​​the relevance of the development, it is a wind turbine that measures Meters 220 (similar to the tallest building in the city of Madrid). Its rotating blades on the rotor are just over 83 meters long and weigh over 38 tons.

wind turbine

The prototype developed is an advance to a previous 8 MW model, similar to the one that another giant of wind energy such as the German one also has in the portfolio Siemens.

Advantages of wind energy and wind turbine

The importance of this is not so much because of the fact of having a such a large power wind turbine, but also because of the advances that can be developed in the installations of this energy source and that can be applied both to the installations on land and those found in the sea.

London Array Offshore

In addition, the aforementioned implies being able to generate a low-cost electricity from a completely indigenous resource and that it does not emit greenhouse gases.

Where to apply it?

One question we can ask ourselves is whether this is applicable to any territory. The answer is clearly yes, for both onshore and offshore installations.

As regards the former, it is advisable to point out that the repowering of wind farms, mainly located in places with great resources and with lower power wind turbines, since they were the first places where these devices were installed, it is justified by the installation of new larger wind turbines (without having to reach those that can be installed at sea, due to the environmental impact that they could generate in certain places).

Wind turbines

As for installations at sea, what everyone agrees on is to install devices of the highest possible power.

offshore

Since electricity from the wind is very competitive With conventional sources, the resources available to investigate in it are very high, so the achievement of a new record in the future is not ruled out. short term.

Who will be next in the race?


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