06-11-2012, 06:11 PM
LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION OF WIND ENERGY IN THE EUROPEAN POWER SUPPLY
1LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION.pdf (Size: 6.72 MB / Downloads: 61)
Background
Europe stands out in a global context as an energy
intensive region heavily reliant on imports. Today, we are
importing 50% of our energy needs and that share is likely
to increase to 70% two decades from now unless Europe
changes direction. Most of our oil comes from the Middle
East and virtually all of our gas from just three countries:
Russia, Algeria and Norway. Our economy is relying on the
ready availability of hydrocarbons at affordable prices.
Europe is running out of indigenous energy resources in
the form of fossil fuels at a time when a paradigm shift
in energy prices is occurring. Most observers agree that
the era of cheap fuels is over and signs are emerging
that competition for ownership of oil and gas is becoming
fiercer and will intensify heavily in the coming years. The
era of energy uncertainty has come.
Wind power and European electricity
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the
European Union will invest €100 billion in transmission
networks and €340 billion in distribution networks
for reinforcement, asset replacements and new
connections over the three decades from 2001 to 2030.
Irrespective of whatever policy is chosen by the EU,
massive investments in generation plants and grids are
required. For policy-makers, the question is the priority
to be assigned to different fuels. The vision presented
here is that wind power meets all the requirements of
current EU energy policy and simultaneously offers a way
forward in an era of high fuel prices.
All power sources are fallible
Because the wind resource is variable, this is sometimes
used to argue that wind energy per se is not reliable. No
power station or supply type is totally reliable – all system
assets fail at some point. In fact, large power stations that
go off-line do so instantaneously, whether by accident, by
nature or by planned shutdowns, causing loss of power and
an immediate requirement. For thermal generating plants,
the loss due to unplanned outages represents on average
6% of their energy generation. When a fossil or nuclear
power plant trips off the system unexpectedly, it happens
instantly and with capacities of up to a thousand MW –
that is true intermittency. Power systems have always had
to deal with these sudden output variations of large power
plants as well as the variable demand. The procedures put
in place can be applied - and in some countries they are - to
deal with variations in wind power production as well.