When wind is not just hot air
Remember talk about siting a wind farm far, far away from shore, out of sight and sound? Remember how this would mean locating it in deep water?It all sounded implausible at the time. But a project in Scotland and another in Norway have proved that it...
Remember talk about siting a wind farm far, far away from shore, out of sight and sound? Remember how this would mean locating it in deep water?
It all sounded implausible at the time. But a project in Scotland and another in Norway have proved that it is not.
The DOWNViND Demonstrator project in Scotland was showcased at the La Baule World Investment Conference last week - and caught the eye of Malta Enterprise CEO Chris Falzon. The two sides are expected to discuss Malta's needs in the near future, project director Allan MacAskill said.
The first wind turbine was set up last August and the second is expected to be up and running by the beginning of next week.
What sets them apart from onshore wind farms is the fact that they have been installed 23 kilometres from shore and in 50m of water near the Beatrice oil field. In fact, the name of the programme is more or less an acronym for Distant Offshore Windfarms with No Visual Impact In Deepwater, and is Europe's largest renewable energy research and technology development programme. The EU has put up half the cost, with the balance coming equally from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Scottish Executive.
The Demonstrator prototype is meant to evaluate the commercial viability of a full-scale offshore wind farm, by testing the technology - although as an R&D project it is not economic itself. The estimated cost of a fully operational offshore wind farm is £1 billion - this cost around €45 million.
"We are on the cusp of commercial viability," Mr MacAskill said.
"This one cost around €6 million per megawatt installed but we think this could be cut to &euro:2.5 million. This compares well with onshore wind farms and with biofuel, especially when you consider that once you have forked out for the capital cost, there is no fuel cost involved." The five-megawatt turbines were built and assembled onshore. The first was taken out to their eventual site by barge - a trip that took 24 hours. It was then placed onto a jacket resting on the seabed. The second is this week following the same procedure. The scale of the turbines is awesome. The first one towers 88m above sea-level and its blades are 63m long. This means that they cover an area during each rotation equal to two football pitches.
Mr MacAskill is very excited about the prospects offered by Malta. One of the main drawbacks of the Beatrice field is the harsh and unpredictable weather, which can dramatically raise the price of installation, commissioning and maintenance. This would be far easier in Malta. The Scottish project also faced problem feeding the electricity it generates back to the main grid - which would be more direct in Malta.
"We have learned a lot from the first attempt and believe that the cost of the turbine could be brought down if many were being built. Mass fabrication results in commercialisation. The cost of the transport barges would also be brought down if they were used for multiple turbines in various places, and the cable laying could also be more efficient. We also need to look at a 'plug and play' system to reduce the amount of time hooking up and commissioning the turbine.
"I don't see why we should not have one-gigawatt wind farms. This would bring them up to the capacities of nuclear plants," he said.
Would it be a problem to rely on such a fluctuating resource? Mr MacAskill does not think so.
"We accept that demand fluctuates and that technology can cope with it. We just need to get used to having a variable supply."
The other project is a floating wind farm, expected to be up and running within two years. It is the result of a collaboration between Siemens and Norwegian energy group Norsk Hydro. The five-megawatt prototype is expected to cost £17 million and will use a concrete base as ballast for a 200-metre steel tube, half of which will poke out of the water, British newspaper The Independent reported. It would be anchored using cables, meaning that it could be used in waters up to 700 metres deep.
Scottish Development International representative Paul O'Brien said that the Maltese had also heard about this project and were interested in finding out more.
It all sounded implausible at the time. But a project in Scotland and another in Norway have proved that it is not.
The DOWNViND Demonstrator project in Scotland was showcased at the La Baule World Investment Conference last week - and caught the eye of Malta Enterprise CEO Chris Falzon. The two sides are expected to discuss Malta's needs in the near future, project director Allan MacAskill said.
The first wind turbine was set up last August and the second is expected to be up and running by the beginning of next week.
What sets them apart from onshore wind farms is the fact that they have been installed 23 kilometres from shore and in 50m of water near the Beatrice oil field. In fact, the name of the programme is more or less an acronym for Distant Offshore Windfarms with No Visual Impact In Deepwater, and is Europe's largest renewable energy research and technology development programme. The EU has put up half the cost, with the balance coming equally from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Scottish Executive.
The Demonstrator prototype is meant to evaluate the commercial viability of a full-scale offshore wind farm, by testing the technology - although as an R&D project it is not economic itself. The estimated cost of a fully operational offshore wind farm is £1 billion - this cost around €45 million.
"We are on the cusp of commercial viability," Mr MacAskill said.
"This one cost around €6 million per megawatt installed but we think this could be cut to &euro:2.5 million. This compares well with onshore wind farms and with biofuel, especially when you consider that once you have forked out for the capital cost, there is no fuel cost involved." The five-megawatt turbines were built and assembled onshore. The first was taken out to their eventual site by barge - a trip that took 24 hours. It was then placed onto a jacket resting on the seabed. The second is this week following the same procedure. The scale of the turbines is awesome. The first one towers 88m above sea-level and its blades are 63m long. This means that they cover an area during each rotation equal to two football pitches.
Mr MacAskill is very excited about the prospects offered by Malta. One of the main drawbacks of the Beatrice field is the harsh and unpredictable weather, which can dramatically raise the price of installation, commissioning and maintenance. This would be far easier in Malta. The Scottish project also faced problem feeding the electricity it generates back to the main grid - which would be more direct in Malta.
"We have learned a lot from the first attempt and believe that the cost of the turbine could be brought down if many were being built. Mass fabrication results in commercialisation. The cost of the transport barges would also be brought down if they were used for multiple turbines in various places, and the cable laying could also be more efficient. We also need to look at a 'plug and play' system to reduce the amount of time hooking up and commissioning the turbine.
"I don't see why we should not have one-gigawatt wind farms. This would bring them up to the capacities of nuclear plants," he said.
Would it be a problem to rely on such a fluctuating resource? Mr MacAskill does not think so.
"We accept that demand fluctuates and that technology can cope with it. We just need to get used to having a variable supply."
The other project is a floating wind farm, expected to be up and running within two years. It is the result of a collaboration between Siemens and Norwegian energy group Norsk Hydro. The five-megawatt prototype is expected to cost £17 million and will use a concrete base as ballast for a 200-metre steel tube, half of which will poke out of the water, British newspaper The Independent reported. It would be anchored using cables, meaning that it could be used in waters up to 700 metres deep.
Scottish Development International representative Paul O'Brien said that the Maltese had also heard about this project and were interested in finding out more.