The Netherlands - Wind Power: 4 TSO's join forces for North Sea Power Hub - by M. Jonk and C van der Weijden

EU: A new wind power hub in the North Sea

Dutch state owned Gasunie has joined the consortium of Danish Energinet.dk and Dutch and German TenneT to study the possible development of a wind power hub in the North Sea. The power hub will consist of one or more large-scale artificial island(s) for sustainable energy supply in the North Sea near the Doggersbank.

The island should produce 100,000 MW of wind energy. It is expected to contribute substantially to achieving the agreed European targets set out in the Paris climate agreement. If the Paris targets are to be met, it is expected that an additional 180 GW offshore wind capacity will need to be developed. According to the four TSO's these volumes will require power-to-gas solutions as energy transport in gas-form is cheaper than transportation through the electricity grid.

The island is to be situated in a location with favorable winds and the possibilities of tie-ins to offshore wind parks. Power surpluses will be converted to hydrogen for large-scale transportation to shore or for storage purposes.

Gasunie will contribute its gas transport expertise and its expertise in the field of hydrogen conversion and gas storage. Gasunie an TenneT are already combining forces to develop a factory for the conversion of solar and wind energy into hydrogen in the Dutch city of Zuidwending. The hydrogen is expected to be used for municipal busses. If the North Sea Wind Hub is deemed feasible, construction is expected by 2030-2050.

EU-Digest

Netherlands: Alternative Energy Railways: Dutch electric trains become 100% powered by wind energy

Dutch Trains -Alternative Energy - Wind Power

All Dutch electric trains are now powered by wind energy, the national railway company NS has said .

“Since 1 January, 100% of our trains are running on wind energy,” said NS spokesman, Ton Boon.

“So we in fact reached our goal a year earlier than planned,” said Boon, adding that an increase in the number of wind farms across the country and off the coast of the Netherlands had helped NS achieve its aim.

Eneco and NS said on a joint website that around 600,000 passengers daily are “the first in the world” to travel thanks to wind energy. NS operates about 5,500 train trips a day.

One windmill running for an hour can power a train for 120 miles, the companies said. They hope to reduce the energy used per passenger by a further 35% by 2020 compared with 2005.

Read more: Dutch electric trains become 100% powered by wind energy | World news | The Guardian

Alternative Energy - Windfarms: The Advantages of Floating Wind Farms - Beth Day Romulo

Floating Windfarm Platforms

Clean energy engineers in the United States have been working on a project to make offshore wind farms financially and environmentally viable. At the moment, all offshore wind turbines require a fixed platform, which is built into the seafloor. But floating turbines with anchors would offer more flexibility as to where wind farms could be placed.  

Dr. Habib Dagher, the executive director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, is testing an experiment, which simulates conditions that full-scale floating wind turbines might face off the Maine coast, at an installation near Monhegan Island, in 360 feet of water. For 18 months in 2013 and 2014, a small operating version of the wind farm sat in water off Castine, Maine, sending electricity to the grid. This experiment proved that the technology worked. Now, Dr. Dagher’s team is using the data collected to confirm the final forms of the wind farm.

Conventional offshore wind development, which has its foundation deep beneath the ocean floor, are popular in Europe, but energy companies in the United States are just starting to use offshore turbines. Statoil, a Norwegian oil and gas company, is already developing the first commercial scale floating wind farm off the coast of Scotland.

In the US the Obama administration recently released an updated offshore wind plan, which identifies the floating structures as important in fighting climate change. More than half of the US offshore wind capacity is in deep water. Since floating wind farms are more expensive to build than land-based ones, cost has been obstacle to development.

Dr. Dagher said that if all went well, his team could have two full scale turbines pumping electricity into the Maine grind by 2019, and larger commercial farms starting construction in the Gulf of Maine by the mid 2020s.

Read more:nThe Advantages of Floating Wind Farms » Manila Bulletin Newsbit

Alternative Energy: US data show wind energy works and is cost-effective -- by Robert H. Owen Jr.

Occasionally a misinformed reader asserts wind turbines produce insignificant electrical output. That's simply untrue.

MGE reports the energy produced by its wind turbines annually. According to reports, its Rosiere Wind Farm in Kewaunee County produced 19,513,000 kilowatt hours in 2011 and 20,279,000 in 2012, the former at an operating cost of 2.11 cents per kilowatt hour.

MGE reported that its Top-of-Iowa Wind Farm produced 80,592,300 kilowatt  hours in 2011 and 74,147,900 in 2012, the former at an operating cost of 1.48 cents per kilowatt  hour.

MGE also reports the energy it buys from two Iowa and one Wisconsin wind farms owned by others. It reported total wind energy purchases of 275,932,000 kilowatt hours in 2011 and 290,540,000 in 2012 at a net cost of about 6 cents per kilowatt hour.

By contrast, MGE's inefficient Blount Street Plant, which burns natural gas, produced only 47,689,100 kilowatt hours at an operating cost of about 14 cents per kilowatt hour in 2012.

Modern wind turbines are being widely adopted in other states in the Midwest because they are productive and cost-effective.

Read more: Data show wind energy works and is cost-effective -- Robert H. Owen Jr. : Ws