The British Wind Energy Association have declared this month that the myth of wind energy intermittency problems has been debunked.
A report published by a coalition of environmental NGO’s is the third this year to conclude that the variability of the wind is not the problem many people say it is when it comes to supplying a significant proportion of green electricity from wind farms.
The report ‘Managing Variability’ was welcomed by the BWEA – and reports similar conclusions to two other independent UK studies published in June this year by National Grid and Poyry.
The Managing Variability report is based on evidence collected from grid operators across Europe. According to the report – experience demonstrates that it is within existing technical capabilities to manage input from wind farms in real time. Thermal plant breakdowns generally pose more of a threat to the stability of electricity networks than the relatively benign variations in the output of wind energy plant. It is also believed that contributions from wind energy of up to 40% or more of electricity consumption can be managed with “quantifiable – and modest – variability costs“.
BWEA Chief Executive Maria McCaffery said: “For some years now BWEA has been saying that managing variability is neither a major technological challenge, nor is it set to significantly impact consumer bills. In fact, added renewable energy capacity on the system will ensure against fossil fuel price volatility.
This report is the final nail in the coffin of the myth of intermittency. We now need to move on and do more to have increased amounts of wind energy on the system, in as short a time as possible. As a source of energy wind is free and manageable. Integration costs will be more then offset by insuring ourselves from the inevitable rises in fossil fuel prices, and we could be looking at net savings as we deploy more wind”.
The report quantified the total costs of wind variability to the electricity consumer at £2 per MWh or 2% on electricity bills at penetration levels of 20%, with cost at £5 to £7 per MWh at deployment levels of 40%. According to the report these costs can be further reduced through more demand-side management and smart and super grid integration.
The report ‘Managing Variability’ was published by WWF-UK, RSPB, Greenpeace UK and Friends of the Earth. The two previous reports covering wind variability and grid integration published in June are The National Grid document “Operating the system beyond 2020″ and the Poyry report “Impact of intermittency: How wind variability could change the shape of the British and Irish electricity markets”
A previous report by the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University described the potential impacts of the variability of wind energy generation upon the UK electricity network. It reported that the development of wind energy will result in a reduced need for conventional capacity.
