In a Senegal village, one wind turbine leads to a "building boom"

Oxfam researcher John McGrath visits a village in Senegal, well off the national grid, that has a wind turbine, towering above the baobabs, and a plane of solar panels. Cables lead off to every house and people pay any one of four tariffs, based on how much power they use. The result?

McGrath says there's a new pride, people talk about a “revival of the town”, young people who'd left for the capital are coming back, and people from surrounding areas are moving in, buying land and building houses.

McGrath writes: "A building boom was visibly in progress."

See also: Practical Action's report highly relevant to Ashden winners and Helping to lift people out of poverty also helps cut carbon emissions

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Gamesa invests €150 million in offshore wind in UK

Yesterday morning, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, said, "I want us to be a world leader in offshore wind energy."

A few hours later, the Spanish company, Gamesa, announced plans to base the worldwide centre of its offshore business in the UK, investing up to €150 million through 2014.

Gamesa will also create a wind turbine blade manufacturing plant, a turbine assembly plant and associated R&D centre, port logistics and operation and maintenance services at different locations across the UK.

The British Ambassador to Spain, Giles Paxman, blogs today that this is:

a terrific vote of confidence in the UK’s future leadership in wind energy.

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MD of Ecotricity appears on Rich List 2009

Dale Vince, Managing Director of Ecotricity is listed for the first time on the infamous Sunday Times Rich List 2009, in 657th position. As he hastens to add "I’ve not suddenly got an awful lot of money, this £85 Million is what the Sunday Times team reckons Ecotricity is worth".

Ecotricity were 2007 UK business winners of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy for their role in helping boost the wind energy sector in the UK, particularly for their emphasis on community consultation.

Read Dale's comments on his blog

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New study boosts hopes for offshore wind in SE England

A recent story in The Observer (26.4.09) reports a study by Atmos Consulting that shows wind speeds in the area of East Anglia and Essex are increasing, boosting the hopes of proponents of offshore wind farms along the coast and potentially making the economics more feasible.

According to the research wind speeds in these areas have been rising so much that wind farms site there could generate 50 percent more electricity than previously envisaged.

The data is based on NASA satellite images that shows wind speeds increased from 7.5 metres per second in 1990 to 8.5 metres in 2008. The images measure the size of tiny capillary waves on the ocean's surface, which indicate the wind's strength.

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UK wind farm investment cut

Some concerning news out last week, reported in both The Times:

Britain’s ambition to become a global leader in renewable energy suffered a major setback last night when the world’s biggest investor in wind power said that it was slashing its investment programme.

The announcement comes less than two months after ministers backed a string of huge gas-fired power stations, prompting concern that the Government cannot fulfil its promise of a green energy revolution.

Iberdrola Renewables’ decision to cut its investment in Britain by more than 40 per cent, or £300 million — enough to build a wind farm powering 200,000 homes — is the latest obstacle to Gordon Brown’s target of generating 35 per cent of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Lifting it to that level from the current 5 per cent would cost an estimated £100 billion. But wind energy investments have collapsed as funding dries up in the credit crunch and the price of oil, gas and coal has fallen. Delays obtaining access to the national grid and planning permission have compounded the industry’s woes.

and The Telegraph:

It came a day after Ed Miliband, the Climate Change Minister, angered rural campaigners by saying opposition to wind farms is as socially unacceptable as failing to stop at a zebra crossing.

His comments were made at the screening of a new climate change documentary, The Age Of Stupid, in London.

He said: "The Government needs to be saying, 'It is socially unacceptable to be against wind turbines in your area – like not wearing your seat belt or driving past a zebra crossing'.''

His comments came as a report by a coalition of countryside campaigners said the expansion of wind farms threatened some of Britain's most scenic countryside.

However, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds this week called for a vast increase in the number of wind farms in the UK after a study found far more could be built without damaging wildlife.

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Small wind turbines criticised

Encraft have just published their report on small wind turbines, known as the Warwick Wind Trials, which was supported by the British Wind Energy Association and the Micropower Council. The full report can be downloaded here.

The report states that:

The average energy generated per turbine per day across the sample set has been 214 Wh (including times when turbines were switched off for maintenance or due to failures). This is equivalent to an average of 78 kWh of energy produced per site per year and an average capacity factor of 0.85%. (This compares to typical capacity factors of between 10% and 30% for larger turbines on free standing sites in good areas).

If the results are adjusted to exclude data from periods when turbines were switched off or broken the average energy generated per turbine per day rises to 628 Wh (230kWh per year equivalent) and an average capacity factor of 4.15%.

Of particular note is that turbines on our high rise sites, Eden, Ashton and Southorn Court were able generate as much energy in one month as other turbines in the trial did in one year. It is unfortunate that these high performing turbines had to remain switched off for the majority of the trial following complaints about noise from the building residents.

and comes to the conclusion:

Overall the trial has painted a picture of an industry and technology that is still at development stage and is likely to make a tangible contribution to energy and carbon saving only on the most exposed sites and tallest buildings. The combination of this reality, aggressive and over-optimistic marketing by some suppliers, and the enthusiasm and credulity of the market (and regulators) has potentially led to an unfortunate outcome where the wind industry as a whole is in danger of suffering from a setback in credibility.

The evidence form this trial is that such potential setbacks can be avoided in future by greater openness by the industry as a whole, and more effort to educate the market and opinion formers about the fundamental science and challenges of new technologies earlier. Micro-technologies need not fear customer resistance, because there are plenty of early adopters out there willing to give things a go. Sustainable technologies and a sustainable future require customers who are properly informed and able to take individual decisions that are both economically optimal and environmentally sustainable. Without open data this is impossible.

To get the whole picture, make sure you download the full report, which includes detailed data on the trials.

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Eastchurch Primary School to install wind turbine

Eastchurch Primary School won an Ashden Award in 2006, having established a culture of 'good energy housekeeping'. They already had a 3KWp solar PV array installed, and have now applied for planning permission to install a small wind turbine, as reported in the local newspaper.

Headteacher John Stanford said: "It's a money saver and a potential money earner. The school has got a good track record for sustainable energy and has been successful in a number of environmental initiatives. By next year we are hoping to have the complete package of wind turbines, solar electric, and solar hot water."

Read the full article in the Sheerness Times Guardian

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Dulas gets a Youtube site

Dulas Ltd, one of our 2008 winners, now has their own Youtube page. The initial video there is about a renewable energy installation at a school. Here's the English version of the video, it's also available in Welsh.



There's another Dulas video on Youtube as well, from British Satellite News:

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