Wind Energy and renewable energy blog

Government Report Confirms Feed in Tariff Rate Review

The government has committed to reviewing the renewable energy Feed in Tariff (FIT) rates in the spending review report published today. A reduction in FIT rates in the future could threaten small scale householder renewable projects.

The government report says “the efficiency of Feed-in- Tariffs will be improved at the next formal review, rebalancing them in favour of the more cost effective carbon abatement technologies. This will save £40 million in 2014-15. Support for lower value innovation and technology projects will also be reduced, saving £70 million a year on average over the Spending Review period.”

Which carbon ebatement technologies will be favoured has not been specified…

Wind Energy Set to Lead the Way in 2010

More wind energy could be installed in 2010 than any other electricity generating technology if European Wind Energy Association forecasts become reality.

European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) CEO Christian Kjaer announced that an additional 10,000 MW of additional capacity is expected to be installed this year. Kjaer said that despite investor confidence falling at the end of 2009, orders for 2010 show a strong European wind energy market for 2010.

Offshore Wind Energy Vital for Europe’s Future

The European Wind Energy Association has claimed that offshore wind power is vital for Europe’s future in a new report published this month.

The report “The European Offshore Wind Industry – key trends and statistics” confirms that a total of eight new wind farms comprising 199 offshore wind turbines were connected to the grid in 2009. With a combined power generating capacity of 577 megawatts (MW) this represents a growth rate of 54% compared to the 373 MW installed during 2008.

During 2010, the EWEA anticipates the construction of 10 further European offshore wind farms, adding 1,000 MW and equivalent to market growth of 75% compared to 2009.

According to EWEA more than 100 GW of offshore wind farms are currently being planned by project developers and utilities.

Average water depths for offshore wind farms installed during 2009 was 12 metres compared with 21.8 metres for offshore wind farms currently under construction and up to 80 metres for the latest round of offshore areas announced by the UK last week.

Huge Area of Sea Needed for Offshore Wind Turbines

In order to meet the renewable energy aspirations of the UK government, offshore wind power developers need to find 10,000 km2 of sea area.

A strategic environmental assessment carried out by The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) calculated that up to 10,000 km2 of sea area would be needed to accommodate 25 Gigawatts (GW) of installed offshore wind energy capacity. This area of sea could be difficult to find given the number of ecological constraints – birds and marine life – and the need for shallow waters for economic reasons.