Windbiz

Validating UK Wind with Good Hard Facts

This government study proves UK's wind resource is reliable and complementary to demand peaks over 34 years.  Building in the UK will continue to spark intense debate, while in the meantime the country will fall short of its Renewable Obligation due to the nature of its quota model and its struggles to permit projects and connect them to a congested grid.  But at least the facts are getting out there. 

EIA Wind Intermittency - Chipping Away at the Doubters

Wind is an intermittent, volatile energy resource that is an expensive, taxing form of generation for the grid to manage. True or false?

In many cases, false. In the past two years the EWEA, DENA, and now the EIA have made the case for wind's place on the grid.  The EIA's recent study looks at the balance of plant issues for wind and the positive affects of wind that is widely distributed throughout the system.  There are caveats for everyone, including geography, wind resource, and type of machines. There is a chart showing the costs of integrating wind into the grid per MWh, in which E.ON's figure is over eight times that of other grid operators at €11.7/MWh, though "it is not clear what these costs include". 

In the end, the study underlines that wind does not need to be backed up on a one-to-one basis, and should be complemented by other renewables such as biomass.  While the EIA isn't the biggest champion of wind, it is positive that the issues are getting onto their research agenda. 

The next big issue is integrating that wind power not just into the grid, but into the electricity market.  Spain's recent increase of its wind target to over 20,000 MW has effectively lifted the grid's wind penetration limits, while at the same time producers are encouraged to sell on the open market.