Extracts from NATTA's journal
Renew, issue 150 July-Aug 2004

15 Renewables around the World

Norway: Norsk Hydro is installing a  hydrogen generating windturbine demonstration project outside Haguesund to provide continuous power to ten houses in the town of Utrisa- population 250. Excess power from the turbine will be used to generate hydrogen which can be stored and then used to generate electricity when there is no wind.

France: Greenpeace France say that investing in wind rather than in nuclear would produce over twice as much energy for the same cost and create 2.5 times more jobs over the lifetimes of the plants.

Finland: The continued focus on nuclear power make prospects for wind power in Finland look bleak, despite the good wind regime and the arrival of an anti-nuclear president- evidently he has had to accept the already agreed decision to build the countries fifth nuclear plant.

Estonia: Pakri Tuulepark, an Estonian wind energy developer recently taken over by Norwegian company Vardar, is to build a windfarm with eight turbines in Paldiski, near  Tallinn.

USA: Boneville Power Administration are offering  to use their hydro system to provide electricity storage services to Utilities in the NW of the US  who want to balance the intermittent power from wind projects. Meanwhile, the Mojave Desert, in S. California, is about to host the world largest PV solar project so far- a 5MW plant, with twenty 250kW arrays. On the hydrogen front, the University of Minnesota claim to have discovered a very efficient method of producing hydrogen from ethanol, using an automotive fuel injector to vaporize a mixture of ethanol and water, and then a catalyst to convert that vapor into a mixture of hydrogen, CO2 and other by products. They say a unit small enough to fit in a person's hand would be able to generate enough hydrogen to fuel a 1kW fuel cell, capable of powering an average home. In parallel, the US Dept of Energy is funding research to produce ethanol from non-starchy biomass sources like farm wastes.

China: China is investing over £1 bn in 30 new wind farms in the Xinjiang area. So far it only has 172 wind turbines with 468MW capacity.

Brazil: Brazil  is to commission a 500kW wave project in the Atlantic by 2006 in the northeastern state of Cear- to be developed at Rio de Janeiro Federal University, which has built a demonstration model at its Submarine Technology Laboratory. Construction of a full-size version became feasible when the state signed an agreement this month with Electrobrs, the national electric company.

Italy: Italian utility Enel is planning to generate hydrogen from methane at Porto Marghera, the industrial area of Venice, for electricity production via fuel cells, to heat homes and power buses, cars and even the vaporetti that cruise the Grand canal.

Eire: 80% of Irish people support the use of wind farms to generate electricity, according to a survey conducted by Sustainable Energy Ireland- the organisations established by the Government to promote green energy policies. It said support for wind farms was highest where such farms already existed and that most people did not believe that wind farms had an adverse affect on scenic beauty, wildlife or tourism. 29 wind farms are currently in operation in Ireland, providing power to more than 110,000 users.

However, ESB National Grid has introduced a moratorium on new grid connection from wind projects because it is worried about the potential  instability of its small weakly connected system. At present, about 700MW of wind capacity has connection permits, although only around 200MW is actually connected. But perhaps a further 500MW could soon be seeking permits.  However an independent study by the Commission for Energy found that 3000MW could be connected without only minor grid changes. Green energy supplier Airtricity has argued that the moratorium indicates that ‘ESB are determined to remain the monopoly electricity supplier’. Source Windpower Monthly Jan.