Disadvantages of Wind Energy

[linda]

• The turbines may create a lot of noise
• Wind can never be predicted.
• Requires knowledge of the weather and wind conditions on long term basis.
• It may be a bit impractical.
• Many potential wind farms, places where wind energy can be produced on a large scale, are far away from places for which wind energy is best suited.
• Wind Energy is non-dispatchable.

[kymsolaris]

The result of some of those disadvantages is moving wind projects out to sea.

Check out this article:

Britain’s wind-power business is going through a revolution that is remaking the industry, as much in its lesser-known regions as in its high-profile centres.

The north-west of England has generally been overlooked in the excitement over the future of offshore wind power, which has tended to focus on the North Sea.

Yet the region still plays an important role, especially in technology and innovation. It is involved in all the biggest developments in the industry: the growth of offshore wind power generation; the importance of the full supply chain; the need for technological progress; and the role of wind as part of an energy mix.

Above all, it is the wind industry’s move offshore that is shaping its future. The north-west has shared in the first wave, with developments in Liverpool Bay and off north Wales.

The Crown Estates, which manages government property on behalf of the exchequer, recently granted extensions for the Burbo Bank wind farm in Liverpool Bay and the planned Walney wind farm off Cumbria, both of which are run by Dong Energy of Denmark, one of the world leaders for offshore wind.

The fresh wave of licences offered this year in the Crown Estates’ Round Three, which extends offshore wind power production into deeper water further from shore, includes one large area in the Irish Sea that was won by Centrica, owner of British Gas. Centrica knows the Irish Sea well; its Morecambe fields are its principal sources of gas production.

With a possible total capacity of 4,200MW, the potential of the north-west alone is six times larger than the largest offshore wind farm now under construction: the first phase of the London Array in the Thames Estuary.

However, offshore wind developments have run into local opposition. The proposed expansion of Burbo Bank from 25 turbines to 90 provoked grumbling among residents. Much worse, however, has been the opposition to onshore wind projects. The Scout Moor wind farm north of Manchester, England’s largest onshore development with just 26 turbines and a capacity of 65MW, faced fierce opposition before securing planning permission.

Another proposed 12-turbine site in nearby Oswaldtwistle has also sparked a protest campaign, even though Energie Kontor, the developer, has cut the project from the original 24 turbines.

Scout Moor shows that if they can be built, onshore wind farms can be lucrative. Peel Holdings, the developer, sold 50 per cent of Scout Moor to HgCapital, a London-based private equity firm that spe******es in renewable energy, for £61m, a price of about £2m per MW of capacity.

Investing in new onshore turbines might cost about half that, roughly £1m per megawatt. The difficulty of obtaining planning consent means that the supply of good sites is restricted and the ones that have been given the go-ahead are valuable.

As a result, Britain’s wind industry is being forced offshore into ever more demanding conditions and a whole new set of technologies and skills will have to be developed to keep up.

For the new generation of offshore wind turbine factories, the east coast of England and Scotland is a likely location.

The bulk of the planned £100bn investment in offshore farms will go to the North Sea, and turbine manufacturing plants that could be built by companies such as Siemens, GE and Mitsubishi are likely to be sited to take advantage of port facilities and existing skills and infrastructure for the offshore engineering industry.

But, Juergen Maier, managing director of Siemens’ UK industry division, based in Manchester, emphasises that there are many valuable segments of the industry apart from the turbine factories. “There is a big opportunity in wind turbines,” he says. “The factories may not be in the north-west but there is a whole supply chain. Our team in Manchester is designing the platforms and providing the grid connections.

Up to 80 per cent of the value in Siemens delivering wind farm projects and keeping them in operation for the next 20 to 30 years will be local value added.”

The north-west is also contributing to the emerging understanding of the challenges created by conditions offshore.

Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan universities are part of the Sustainable Power Generation and Supply (Supergen) research consortium, backed by the government and businesses, working on wind and other forms of renewable power. With its strength in other forms of low carbon generation, including nuclear, energy from waste, and tidal power, the north-west also shows how wind fits into an energy mix.

As it delivers power only when there is a breeze, wind will always need to be backed up by other forms of energy. Adrian Reed, a Manchester-based director of Altium, the investment bank, notes that “in the north-west, there are lots of energy combinations. It is not dependent on any one technology, such as a big coal-fired power station. It is about layering many things that work together.”

That, he adds, is a lesson that other regions could usefully learn. “For low carbon energy, it is not a silver bullet, but silver buckshot. To create the country’s future energy system, we need to educate people about how these technologies all fit together.”

[green algae]

At the present rate that the wind hardly moves in our area, I doubt if wind power can produce enough electricity to light a flashlight. They are more suited in places near the beaches, where the wind blows stronger and incessantly.

[Vegan]

Wind energy is not available in all places. I still believe that wind energy is a big help in reducing pollution for it lessens the output of diesel-powered electric plants. If wind is not available in our area then there are other green resources that we can use like the sun, geothermal, or hydro.

[someguy]

the only downside to wind energy is that in order to get the volume of energy.. you need so many wind towers and windy locations...

[Greenerly]

Wind energy is rather expensive if you are trying to invest in just few windmills for your home. Investing in a farm would a different story in the long run.

[Bobsthelast]

One way I could see it working in my area is if you combine it with other methods of sustainable energy. What if you had wind turbines, solar power, and a water mill that would all store energy for you. The wind wouldn't work all of the time, there may be cloudy days where the solar wouldn't collect much power and the water mill may be hampered by water levels dropping. But if all three were employed at the same time they could, theoretically, cover for each other to a certain extent.

[shannahana]

The downside to wind energy is the cost.... the original investment is massive and the time it takes to repay that is veryyy long

[Annie Jane]

There is no way we could use wind turbines or windmills. We don't have much wind either. The best bet for us would be solar or water. We have a large lake near us and they release water quite a bit from the spillway. It would be a great source of energy if they just tapped it.

[SarahC]

I grew up in the midwest and my local area is full of wind turbines now because the wind is strong there. I think wind energy is a natural supplement to other energy sources and should not be discounted. It may not work for all areas or all times, but it can still be useful and better for the environment.