Wind Power’s Second Wind
Move over solar, wind power is about to have its day in the sun. Energy prices have been falling as wind turbines have been growing. Today’s windmills have come a long way since their humble beginnings on Persian and Dutch farms.
The latest wind turbines have three massive blades, each spanning the length of a football field!
Bigger and Better
Bigger turbines promise more power. The longer and wider blades increase the amount of energy that can be harnessed from the wind. But the major advantage comes from their taller towers that reach high into the atmosphere where the wind blows more steadily.
The setback with renewables like solar and wind is that they are intermittent — we can’t turn on the sun and wind when we need it. But with this more steady wind flow, known as ‘capacity factor’, intermittency becomes less of an issue.
This new reliability sets up wind power to become the world’s new favorite renewable. Sorry solar, your windy sister gives us more than just daytime power.
But, of course, the energy market goes in whichever direction the wind blows, so to speak, based on price. According to Greentech Media, wind power is now the cheapest source of new energy generation in most areas of the U.S.
Opportunity at Sea
We’re now seeing wind farms move from land to offshore. Out in the ocean, there’s more space and less NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) sentiment. Another factor contributing to the movement offshore is the added capacity factor: modern U.S. wind turbines on land are around 40%, but offshore, they are around 50%, and that number is about to get even higher (Future Crunch).
GE is investing $400 million to develop the world’s biggest wind turbine known as the Haliade-X. The enormous wind turbine will have a capacity factor of 63%, which is higher than that of coal and natural gas. Take a look at the scale of this giant:
The first U.S. offshore wind farm came into operation in December of 2016. Now, a much larger project has been commissioned to be built in 2019 by Vineyard Wind 14 miles off the coast of Massachusetts and will produce up to 6% of the state’s total annual energy. Here are the details of the pioneer offshore wind farm:
We should keep a watchful eye on the horizon to see BIG things in the wind sector to come. The International Energy Agency projects wind to become Europe’s largest energy source by 2027.
ACT ON CLIMATE
Jamaica has set a new goal to reach 50% renewable energy by 2030. To inaugurate the new policy, Solar Head of State, a nonprofit seeking to help world leaders become green leaders by installing solar panels on government buildings, developed state-of-the-art solar panels on the Jamaican Prime Minister’s office.
Prime Minister Andrew Holdness stated, “I believe that we can do better. Jamaica has sunshine all year round and strong winds in certain parts of the island.”
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