Research released in the UK by analysts Pöyry has said that the UK can massively expand wind power by 2030 without suffering power cuts or a melt-down of the National Grid. This is reassuring news as the UK gears up to achieve the goals of the European 20-20-20 agreement, in which all European countries have committed to increasing their share of renewable energies to 20pc by the year 2020.
However, I would highlight that although expanding the use of wind power may not be predicted to cause the 'meltdown' in the National Grid, this doesn't mean the grid should stay as it is. There are ways to markedly improve its performance, especially in relation to renewable energy, because renewables are periodic rather than constant sources of energy and as such, any grid that aims to incorporate them as important methods of generation will need to be "smart". That is, it will need to be able to intelligently switch between viable energy sources as soon as they come on and offline (for example, the wind gets stronger or when the sun goes behind clouds). A smart grid will cope even better with the demands of renewable energy because it can automatically switch between sources, which the current grid is not capable of doing.
The UK government has also stated that by 2020, all buildings are to be fitted with smart meters. These monitor energy consumption and feed information about this back to the utility, as well as allowing the customer to actively make choices about their energy use. The smart meter is the pre-condition to any smart grid and as the government has already taken this step to improving energy efficiency in the UK by 2020, initiating smart grid technologies as the logical next step to really maximising the potential of both smart meters and the UK's capacity for renewable energy generation.
Article:
Wind 'can revolutionise UK power'
By Roger Harrabin
Environment analyst, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8127177.stm
Wind has the power to revolutionise the UK's electricity industry, according to a study published on Wednesday.
Research from analysts Poyry says that the UK can massively expand wind power by 2030 without suffering power cuts or a melt-down of the National Grid.
The cost of electricity would then be determined not by consumer demand, but by how hard the wind is blowing.
When it is windy power will be so cheap that other forms of generation will be unable to compete, the report says.
If accepted by government, these key findings could strongly influence the UK's future energy supplies.
The study was done for National Grid, Centrica and others. The researchers reviewed 2.5 million hourly weather reports on wind speeds all around the UK.
Idle time
If the wind were to drop everywhere round the UK (as happened during the January high pressure cold snap), other generators would make their money by switching on back-up fossil fuel power stations for a very short time, charging extremely high prices, it predicts.
Dr Phil Hare from Poyry said these back-up generators might stand idle for years without making a profit - so the government might need to find a new way of ensuring they were funded.
The study bases its assumptions on current levels of subsidy. It concludes that thanks to the wind subsidy through the "Renewable Obligations Certificates" issued by regulator Ofgem, electricity prices would be negative if the wind were blowing hard.
"The market will have to evolve to accommodate the wind. The average output of a wind turbine is only about a third of its full capacity. So when the wind is blowing strongly you'll have to turn some of the wind power off; otherwise it will swamp the system," Dr Hare said.
"Nuclear power stations will have to be built with variable output so they - like gas and coal plants - can occasionally cut their power when the wind is blowing most strongly. It does look as though nuclear, coal and gas are competing for the same share of the market."
Dr Hare said the study answered another key question: whether we could move to widespread intermittent power from the wind, waves and tides together.
"Some people were worried that the complexity stemming from intermittent wind with an overlay of tidal power peaking twice a day might simply have been too much change for the grid to bear. But our research shows the grid can cope."
The study amplifies a recent paper from National Grid itself stating that a move towards wind power would not necessitate widespread investment in expensive back-up power plants fuelled by gas or coal.
This is a key finding which helps remove one of the main barriers to the advance of wind (although some will remain sceptical).
But it comes with a warning. Dr Hare said: "It will cost more. There is no such thing as cheap green power - that is a myth."
The authors of a report from the Royal Society this week made the same point. But politicians are still reluctant to pass on this message to the public.
