Message-ID: <199701241619.IAA29301@cdp.igc.apc.org> Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 08:19:16 -0800 From: Tom Gray <mailto:tomgray@IGC.ORG> Subject: --Denmark Pushes Ahead with Wind To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
DENMARK MAY REACH 1,500 MW OF WIND CAPACITY BY 2005Wind energy development is continuing to move forward in Denmark, and may reach 1,500 MW of installed capacity, enough to provide 10% of the country's current electric power needs, by the year 2005, according to a paper by three Danish utility researchers.
The report's authors are from Denmark's ELSAM power pool, which serves the Jutland peninsula comprising most of the country's area, and from two ELSAM member utilities. Last year, they write, the 463 MW of wind turbines installed in its service territory amounted to 10% of the total generating capacity on the ELSAM grid and produced 4.5% (868 MWh) of its power.
The annual ELSAM reports are of particular interest because the power pool and its members have much higher levels of wind penetration than any American utilities. As wind capacity on the ELSAM system continues to grow, its experience is likely to be instructive for U.S. utilities that are considering wind projects. During 1995, for example, the wind turbines on the ELSAM grid provided up to 35% of the power generated during some periods of low demand, according to the paper's authors.
"A new agreement expanding . . . utility installed capacity [in Denmark] with another 200 MW by the end of 1999 has been concluded," the three write, "as wind energy has proved to be one of the most economical methods of obtaining reduction in [emissions of carbon dioxide]. The target is to install 1,500 MW by 2005, either by the utilities or private investors. The agreement leads to the expectation that the installed capacity in the ELSAM utility area will reach 1,200 MW by 2005." At that level, they add, wind would generate roughly 10% of ELSAM's power, and instantaneous penetration rates would range from 0% to 85% depending on wind conditions and total demand.
Wind energy costs are declining as new, larger wind turbines enter the commercial market, according to the report. A graph of generating costs against turbine size is presented that shows costs ranging from Dkr 0.5-0.8/kWh (US 8.8-14 cents/kWh) for turbines below 200 kW in size; from Dkr 0.37-0.58 (US 6.4-10.2 cents/kWh) for turbines below 400 kW in size; from Dkr 0.28-0.38 (US 4.9-6.7 cents/kWh) for 400-kW units; and from Dkr 0.25-0.33 (US 4.4-5.8 cents/kWh) for turbines above 400 kW in size.
"Although these generating costs have to be take with some reservation," the authors note, "as various individual factors are involved, the tendency for wind energy generating costs to decrease with increasing turbine capacity . . . remains clear. When looking at the price of energy from the latest installed wind turbines this is comparable to the price of conventionally generated electricity of Dkr 0.28/kWh [US 4.9 cents/kWh]."
With respect to cost issues, the paper concludes: "The medium-sized wind turbines installed lead to generating costs comparable to those of conventional electricity production. If the prices of wind farm installations continue to decrease, and future sites are as good as the old ones, wind energy production is going to be a realistic and even attractive adjunct to conventional electricity generation."
Other points of interest from the paper include:
o A national effort to locate potential sites for wind in Denmark, a country about half the size of the state of Maine, has turned up a "surprisingly large" number of locations. If all of the available sites were utilized and existing sites were repowered with larger units, the authors say, Denmark could accommodate 2,700 MW of wind generating capacity, or nearly as much as is installed today in the U.S. and Europe combined.
o The transmission system in the area of one of ELSAM's affiliates, the small utility An/S Han Herreds Elektricitetsforsyning (HHE) in northern Jutland, will require an upgrade due to increasing local generation by wind turbines and combined heat and power (CHP, or cogeneration) plants. The 12.7 MW of wind installed in the HHE service territory produced 16.7% of the utility's total power last year, and another 21.6 MW is scheduled for installation this year and next, while private investors have applied to install a further 15 MW. With privately- owned CHP plants also delivering power to the system, HHE is already receiving more power than it can use during occasional periods of low demand.
o ELSAM has been experimenting with power electronics as a means of stabilizing the grid in the service area of I/S Nordjyllandsvaerket (NV), HHE's neighbor utility in northern Jutland. While capacitors are normally used to compensate for the reactive power that is produced by wind turbines, the authors write, "[T]his method requires large passive components and causes undesired voltage fluctuations in the grid." ELSAM has developed a 100-kVAR electronic compensator, tested it successfully with a single turbine, and recently installed an 8-MVAR version that is now being tested in conjunction with a 24-MW wind plant at Rejsby Hede.
"Power Plant Operation Correlated with Wind Energy Production within the ELSAM Utility Area: Status 1995" is authored by Joern Saxow of I/S Nordjyllandsvaerket, Svend Skovgaard of An/S Han Herreds Elektricitetsforsyning, and Peggy Friis of Elsamprojekt A/S.
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