Green energy market poised for a boom in demand for smaller-scale wind turbines

(05/06/2009)

Wind Week 2009 from 13 to 21 June, organised by the British Wind Energy Association, is part of a world-wide campaign to raise awareness about wind energy as a free, sustainable and carbon-neutral source of electricity.

An industry expert has predicted that the green energy market is poised for a boom in demand for smaller-scale wind turbines. Rod Edwards, Technical Director at Perpetual Energy, claims that there has been a surge of interest among farmers, landowners and small businesses for 50 kilowatt turbines

The company is being inundated with new enquiries and Rod believes that this is a result of increasing fossil fuel prices, fears about climate change, government support for green power and new sustainable building regulations.

He said: "Small wind technology is taking off in a big way with businesses aiming to meet their on-site requirements for power and reduce energy costs, while farmers are setting their sights on generating extra income on their land. However, there is an obvious gap in the market to meet the demand for "sub-megawatt class" turbines, or those that generate between 50 and 250 kilowatts of power.”

Perpetual Energy Ltd supplies a range of these turbines including 50 and 100-kilowatt American and Canadian machines. And the company anticipates that such micro-generation technologies will see unprecedented growth.

Rod says that the next step forward would be to manufacture a ‘dream’ 50kW turbine in the UK or Europe to save on import costs.

The ideal piece of kit would include technical improvements such as: ‘plug and play’ easy installation, a permanent magnet alternator, an active yaw control for accelerating performance, a low-noise feature, easy access to nacelle with a tilting mechanism and GSM remote communications (a digital mobile telephony system to monitor the machinery).

Rod shared his ideas recently with colleagues and professionals at the European Wind Energy Conference in Marseille and at the British Wind Energy Association’s International Small Wind Conference in Watford.

He explained: “People's attitudes towards smaller wind turbines are changing. They are more aware of the savings and benefits of generating their own electricity. They realise that turbines don’t have to be giant, expensive pieces of equipment - there are also more affordable and practical smaller-scale options for businesses, community groups and farmers. The comparatively low capital costs of the 50kW machines are proving attractive. The outlay is £150,000 to £250,000 compared to the multi-million pound spend of large wind farms.”

Factors such as Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) will also have a significant impact on the success of small-scale renewable energy projects, helping them to prosper. Under these tariffs, energy companies are obligated to purchase electricity from renewable sources at above market cost. For instance, if the retail price of electricity is 15p/kwh, then the buying rate for green generated power may be charged at 40p/kwh.

Rod explained: “ The Government has listened to the industry – particularly concerning smaller business enterprises. Starting from April 2010, FiTs could be offered for projects up to 5MW in size. This means that small-scale wind developments will experience a helping hand when it comes to financing projects. We are already seeing substantial growth in the 50-kilowatt domain but this would really help the industry to gallop forward.

“When this is the case, it will be ridiculous not to have a British manufacturer. There are hardly any European wind turbines and we do not want to be completely reliant on importing 50Kw turbines from Canada and the US because import duties and freight costs make the turbines more expensive than they should be for the UK market.”

He added: “Now is the time to prepare for the ‘boom’ in demand for wind power. If we start planning early for the turbine revolution we can be sure to meet current and future demand for this technology and better ensure the commercial viability of investments. A British manufacturer would just be the icing on the cake.”

Perpetual Energy's solutions include Biomass, Wind Turbines, Solar PhotoVoltaics, Solar Thermal Hot-Water, Geothermal Energy, Hydro, Ground Source Heating and Cooling Systems.

Related categories:  Biofuels and biomass   Environmental technologies for offices and commercial   Environmental technologies for Residential and Green homes   Ground and air source heating   Solar power and photovoltaics   Wind power