| Its energy will help Europe preserve the environment European countries are searching for environmentally friendly fuels in several directions - in addition to the already used natural gas, hydrogen, sun and wind are considered energy carriers of the future. If the technology for producing “energy” hydrogen is at the initial stage of development, and the sun does not yet provide the required efficiency, then the potential of wind is being realized now. Northern Europeans did especially well on the windy front.
According to Geir Fülsten, a specialist at the Norwegian state energy management agency Statkraft, electricity generated from wind can reach 10% of the country's energy balance. Thanks to the terrain, which is replete with steep cliffs and the constant wind blowing from the sea, the entire coastal strip from Stavagner in the south to Kirkenes, near the Russian border, in the north is favorable for the construction of wind turbines. Measurement work is now being completed at six sites in different parts of the country. One of them is located in the province of Mere and Romsdal, in central Norway. Here, on the island of Smela, an experimental wind power plant (WPP) is already operating. The local administration pins great hopes on the new energy source. After all, a complex of 20-50 wind turbines will not disturb the pristine idyll of the landscape, and there are plenty of suitable places to place it. This will make it possible to expand fish processing production. 20 small wind turbines with a total capacity of 40 megawatts can provide energy to up to 7 thousand homes. By the way, for residents of the numerous islands of western and northern Norway who do not want to move to the mainland, generating their own electricity is a condition for preserving traditional forms of life.
In neighboring Denmark, where the population density is much higher than in energy-rich Norway, the construction of wind power plants is proceeding at a faster pace. Although 20 years ago, when the first wind turbines appeared in the country, they were not taken seriously, today there are already more than 4 thousand of them. The main arguments in favor of wind farms are ecology and energy costs. The first is especially important for Denmark, whose energy sector is based on brown coal. The EU requirement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is forcing us to look for new ways to generate electricity. In addition, the fairly cheap current produced using wind based on high technology helps reduce the cost of the final product. Over the past 15 years, the cost of wind energy has decreased by almost 4 times.
In addition, the Danes quickly came to the conclusion that they could make money from wind by setting up the production of wind turbines for export. If in 1996 foreign customers purchased them for $600 million, then in 2000 the figure reached a billion. Every fourth wind farm in the world is Danish. The main Danish manufacturers - Nordtank, Vestas, Bonus, Mikon - supply 85% of their products abroad. Wind exports are among the five most profitable sectors of the Danish economy. The government also provides great support to manufacturers, supporting the initiative of the State Railways (DSR) to electrify rail transport using wind energy. It is expected to eventually replace the majority of diesel locomotives, which have low efficiency and a negative impact on the environment. We are talking about large wind turbines with a capacity of up to 1.5 megawatts, located along railways.
The World Wind Energy Conference held in Copenhagen in July highlighted that the energy sector has grown by 40% annually over the past seven years. Conference chairman Klaus Rawe, president of the European Wind Energy Association, said that with ever-increasing energy demand in 2010, 39% of capacity added in the EU will be based on this source. This optimistic forecast is confirmed by the energy program recently adopted in Germany. The German government's decision to close 20 nuclear power plants over the next two decades has sparked a wind boom in the country. To date, the authorities have received 18 applications for the construction of wind farm complexes on the high seas - both in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea. At the same time as the offshore plans, the government is considering 30 wind turbine projects in a 12-mile zone on land in the northern states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The estimated capacity of wind farms in this zone is 9 thousand megawatts, which is equal in capacity to four nuclear power plants. Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin claims that in 2030 the country will have about 4 thousand wind turbines operating on an area of 2,500 square meters. km. At the end of last year, the total capacity of German wind turbines was 6,114 megawatts. As a result of the implementation of the planned projects, it should increase to 25 thousand megawatts and will be able to satisfy about 16% of the current annual energy demand. Petr ROSICH, Copenhagen--Oslo |
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