Offshore Wind Farms Can Feed Baseload Units

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OFFSHORE WIND FARMS CAN CREATE BASELOAD REDUCTIONS

Ever since 2008 Germany’s wind farms with over 20,000 wind turbines are being faced with a problem of occasional excess power generation due to high winds that needs large instantaneous load throw offs to maintain grid stability. To avoid that energy producers are paying customers to consume more power during such times and the payments have been as high as €500 a hour per Megawatt excess consumption.

A similar situation could soon take place in Texas or Arizona in the US , the barren Gobi desert and north China’s grasslands, Gujarat in Western India or Piaui and Rio Grand do Norte in north east Brazil. As a matter of fact the two main issues with on shore in grid wind farms are that they result in huge load fluctuations as the wind speed variations are large and they are usually give their best performance in open grasslands or deserts away from consumption hubs and crowded cities.

Germany which has doubled its wind power capacity from 2002 to 2010 and produces almost 7.5 % of its electricity from wind power , has commissioned its first offshore wind farm project in April this year with 12 turbines capable of generating 5 MW each at the Alpha Ventus wind farm in North Sea(Photo :Courtsey Reuters). It is the British and Dutch who are ahead in the offshore wind farm projects with Dong energy that accounts for nearly 50% Netherland’s power supply , and Airtricity Holdings, Scottish Power Renewables and E.ON Climates & Renewables UK accounting for over three quarter of UK’s very impressive 600 MW wind farm capacity.

Since floating offshore wind farms are more stable and of higher capacity, and each wind turbine capable of higher generation of 5 MW more consistently , they would be a good response to the commonly heard complaint of continuously fluctuating load of wind farms. As a matter of fact they could provide as base load augmenters to coastal towns and effectively reduce both the load centre distance as well as the capacity restrictions in the growth of fossil fuel power plants in relatively clean sea side resorts globally.