America can put our vast, inexhaustible wind resources to work as part of a balanced portfolio of energy efficiency: other renewable resources, and conventional resources to meet growing energy needs in an environmentally sustainable manner.
America faces significant challenges in meeting growing electricity demands. In the new electric industry reality, viable electricity sources must have low greenhouse gas emissions, acceptable water requirements, and pose minimal danger to personnel and society, while remaining cost-competitive and deployable. The electric industry and policy makers are searching for resources ready to meet the nation’s needs within these constraints, and want to know what each resource can contribute.
 | CARE'S POSITION |  |
CARE supports research, use and development of wind power as a part of America's energy portfolio. In five years, from 2000-2005, wind power generation has grown to become a stronger resource on many electric utility systems and is being integrated into the power system.
In fact, wind is now one of the largest sources of new power generation in the country, second only to natural gas. In New Mexico, wind comprises about 7% of our electricity, making New Mexico a leader in wind generation and creating an export commodity as energy demand in western states grows.
Wind is not the only answer to our energy needs, but provides one part of a balanced energy portfolio, with the potential to contribute up to 20% of our nation’s electricity needs in the next few decades.
Some question whether wind power, being a variable resource (meaning it generates electricity when the wind is blowing, and not on demand) is up to the task. Based on a growing body of analytical and operational experience, the answer is a resounding “yes”. The wind industry and the Utility Wind Integration Group (UWIG) are working together in several regions of the country to help utilities and system operators integrate larger amounts of wind power into electric system operations with only modest adjustments in operating protocols. For more information on this, go to the UWIG Web site at uwig.org.
Most people who live around wind farms know the wind blows just about all the time. A typical wind turbine produces power up to 90% of the time, generating electricity in proportion to how strong the wind blows. Wind farms on average will operate at 35-40% of the wind farm’s peak capacity over the course of a year, although specific sites in the region may prove to be even better.
| Wind Power Facts | |
• Wind turbines size, efficiency and power output have continued to increase. The average size of wind turbines installed in 2006 is 1.6 MW.
• Wind power is the second largest renewable energy source in the USA after hydroelectric dams.
• It is the lowest priced form of renewable energy, costing as little as 4-6 cents per kilowatt-hour. Costs vary depending upon an area’s wind resources, project financing government subsidies and the distance the electricity must travel before being used.
• Every source of energy is subsidized; wind is no exception. Technological improvements, economies of scale and industry maturity, plus federal tax credits, are helping wind power close the cost gap with existing nuclear and fossil fuel power.
| How Wind Power Works | |
Electricity is generated when wind powers turbines linked to gearboxes and generators. Wind turns a large propeller shaped rotor, which turns a shaft at 30-60 rpm. The shaft is connected to a gearbox that increases the rotational speed to as much as 1500 rpm--the typical speed necessary for generating electricity. The gearbox shaft then spins an electric generator and the electricity produced is sold into the electric grid like any other power source
Since the sun drives earth’s winds, wind turbines may be thought of as just another way of harnessing solar power. Many areas in the Western and Midwestern United States have great wind power potential.
No power plant--fossil, nuclear or other technology--runs 24-7, 365 days, year after year. All power plants work together and wind decreases the load that they have to meet. Never does a single power plant provide 100% of the electricity on the grid 100% of the time. Our electric grid is complex and robust, built to match power supply with a constantly changing electricity demand, so that when an air conditioner clicks on or lights are turned off, the grid responds accordingly. As the wind picks up it reduces demand the utility must meet with other power plants.
| Pros | |
• Wind is a renewable energy source.
• Wind power is produced domestically and is more secure than foreign energy imports.
• Wind power generation can utilize low-priced land that is not in high demand and make it productive and profitable. (See April 2007 Newsletter)
• Once a wind farm’s turbines are erected and running, it produces no greenhouse gas emissions.
• Wind farms do not use water to generate electricity.
• Wind farms bring new money to rural communities. Property taxes paid by wind generators can reduce the property taxes of local residents and increase funds available for local community infrastructure needs. Landowners with turbines on their properties receive several thousand dollars per year per turbine to harness the wind above their farms and ranches.
• Once a wind farm is constructed, its fuel is free so costs are very predictable for 20 years or more. This long term price stability provides a hedge against rising costs of fossil fuels, while extending their supply.
| Cons | |
• Wind power is not a baseload electricity source that way coal, gas, and nuclear plants are. If the wind stops blowing or blows too hard, power output declines.
• On the cost side, at wind penetrations of up to 20% of system peak demand, system operating cost increases arising from wind variability and uncertainty amount to about 10% or less of the wholesale value of the wind energy, according to uwig. These conclusions will need to be reexamined as results of higher-wind penetration studies--in the range of 25% to 30% of peak balancing-area load--become available. However, achieving such penetrations is likely to require one or two decades. During that time, other significant changes are likely to occur in both the makeup and the operating strategies of the nation’s power systems.
• Wind energy cannot be stored if it is not needed at the time of generation, so utilities must accommodate that power by managing the full range of generation sources. Wind’s variability is best addressed by utilities in the same way they address variability in current generation and load: to control certain resources to match aggregate load. All existing resources (coal, gas, nuclear, etc.) occasionally shut down with no notice, and these forced outages require backup and reserves. Wind is only different in that its output changes are more gradual and can be greater in magnitude, and that is not necessarily more difficult to manage.
• Wind power developers have to compete with other land users whose ventures may be valued more highly than electrical generation.
• Wind power’s “energy footprint” (the amount of surface area needed to generate electricity) is enormous, especially when compared with conventional energy sources. However, wind farm turbines and roads use only about 2% of the total area, leaving 98% of the land for other uses, including farming and grazing.
• Wind turbine siting is an important consideration to mitigate any adverse affect on wildlife. Wind energy will never be a significant source of bird mortality compared to other sources such as buildings, vehicles, communication towers, and even cats. Out of every 10,000 birds killed by human activities, less than one of those is caused by a wind turbine.
• Concerns about birds and wind turbines surfaced originally at the Altamont Pass. Just last year the industry and environmental organizations came to a settlement in the remaining lawsuits that allows clean, emissions-free wind energy to continue to generate electricity while making changes to that project to lessen impacts to birds.
• The experience at the Altamont Pass has not been duplicated elsewhere and remains an anomaly. This demonstrates the site-specific nature of wind project impacts and that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the few places where there are problems.
• The wind industry has found some bat fatalities from collisions with wind turbines, most notably in the Mid-Atlantic states. A bat research program is underway, jointly funded by Bat Conservation International, several wind power companies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. More info about this here. At the moment, the research is focused on testing a sonic deterrent that would warn bats away from wind farms. Much more testing and engineering work needed before it can be declared a solution."
• Many people find windmills to be unsightly and don’t want to be near them.
• Windmills give off a hum and the blades often reflect light causing a strobe effect in daylight and in moonlight. Noise from wind turbines has been found to be at levels equivalent to the hum of a home refrigerator. Proper siting can alleviate problems with shadow flicker.
| Wind Power's Future | |
Europe is the current world leader in wind power development. Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and other EU nations have countrysides dotted with windmills. This trend is likely to continue, since the European Commission has issued a directive saying that renewable energy should supply 22% of European Union electrical demand by 2010.
Wind power’s newest frontier lies offshore. Developments are planned in the Gulf of Mexico offshore Texas, as well as in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts plan, in which entrepreneur Jim Gordon plans to site a 420-megawatt wind farm off Cape Cod, is stalled because local residents feel it will damage their view and fishing grounds. In an ironic twist, many of the area’s wealthy homeowners are committed environmentalists, yet when the time comes to put their money where their mouths are, most oppose building a wind energy facility near their homes.
Norwegian energy company Norsk Hydro is preparing to build fields of 5-megawatt turbines in the North Sea in 600-2200 feet of water. Under ideal conditions, one of these mega-turbines could provide heat and light for 1600 homes.
Wind generating capacity will grow rapidly in absolute terms, but unless ways to store wind power for high demand and wind free periods are developed, it will be very tough for wind electricity to become a core baseload electrical supplier.
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