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.
Wind energy installed in the world grew 12,4% in 2016, up to 486.749 MW, according to data from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). China, the United States, Germany, India and Spain are the world's leading producers.
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.
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.
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.
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).
As for installations at sea, what everyone agrees on is to install devices of the highest possible power.
Since electricity from the wind is very competitive With conventional sources, the resources available to investigate in it are very highTherefore, the achievement of a new record in the short term is not ruled out.
Who will be next in the race?