The Kentish flats wind farm and future projects

Is wind power enough?

I have chosen this topic because wind power projects have recently been brought into the public eye due to growing concerns about climate change and the ever dwindling amount of non renewable fuel sources.
This project is of personal relevance to me as I live near Herne Bay and Whitstable so the Kentish flats project has a direct impact on my life at home, not only because I need electricity at home for food, communication etc. but because the project has a direct impact on the coastline near my home. As well as this recent approval for plans on the London array and Thames estuary project means this topic warrants further investigation as the proposed projects will see the construction of the largest wind farms in the world by 2011 and that will have a significant impact on not only the south east of England but the world and possibly the global communities position on adoption of this technology.

History

North Hoyle was the first large scale offshore wind farm in the UK, it was commissioned in December 2003, Scroby in December 2004, followed by the world's largest offshore wind farm, the 90-MW Kentish Flats in 2005.
Location
The Kentish flats wind farm is located 8.5 km north of Herne Bay and Whitstable on the North Kent coast. The site accessed from the local port at Whitstable, which is 30 minutes away by boat.

How does a wind turbine work?

The principle is simple; the wind turns the blades, which turn a shaft inside the nacelle (box at the top), this is connected to a gearbox that increases the rotational speed, this then engages the generator which is essentially a large solenoid like normal power stations. This process generates electricity.

Who’s responsible?

The project itself was developed by a Danish company GREP which is a subsidiary of Vestas however in November 2003 the project was sold to Elsam.

Plan of inquiry

In this module I plan to investigate the Kentish flats wind farm project and establish its total impact on the national grid with regards to how significant a reduction it makes green house gas emissions but more importantly its total output and impact on the national grid. I also plan to compare its predicted goals with its actual achievements. Most of the information I need can be acquired from these websites:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2006/dec/19/energy.greenpolitics
http://www.kentishflats.co.uk/page.dsp?area=1391
http://www.bwea.com/index.html
http://www.see-stats.org/
http://www.ukqaa.org.uk/PowerStation.html#statistics
http://www.eon-uk.com/generation/kingsnorth.aspx

I also intend to make a visit to the site to collect more information about the project.

The sustainable technology issue

As time progresses and our numbers grow demand on resources increases, it becomes more and more vital that our products and services are sustainable, be it the materials in a phone or the source of electricity, sustainability is now (and some may argue should always have been) an important constraint.
The relevance to electricity is fairly obvious, demand for electricity will only increase as time goes on, and as the majority of the world’s power is generated by non renewable sources (the UK’s being coal, gas and nuclear being the most dominant) means that demand on already dwindling resources (excepting nuclear) will increase.
Ideally a sustainable power technology would allow for a continuous, clean and efficient source of electricity.

The figures

Predictions

90MW Capacity
Output of 280,000, MWh/year
CO2 reduction 223,000 tonnes a year (national reduction)

Actual Statistics

90MW Capacity
Output of 280,000 MWh/year
120,400 tonnes CO2/year (displaced emissions)

The site provides electricity for the equivalent of 62,200 homes and the project cost 105 million pounds.

Analysis

As you can see the predictions and actual statistics are consistent, I was unable to find the actual total reduction so the greenhouse gas reduction comparison is not perfect but it still gives you an idea of how much the project helps reduce green house gas emission. The site met its goals but has it made enough of an impact?
When compared to a standard coal power plant (Kingsnorth 1974 MW capacity) or even a small one (Lynemouth 420MW capacity) the site is significantly less productive, if you also take into account that there is a minimum and maximum speed constraint for the turbine (4ms and 25ms respectively) and its out put fluctuates according to wind speed whereas a coal power plant can maintain a higher constant output, the turbine is found wanting.

Conclusion

When a standard comparison and analysis is made it is very easy to say that wind power is not enough, as it cannot outperform conventional power stations. Unfortunately or fortunately (depending upon your stance on the topic) productivity is not the only aspect to be considered, sustainability must be factored in. The green house gas reduction and renewable nature of wind power makes it far more valuable than conventional power plants. Though wind power (and renewable energy, tidal, solar etc) cannot hope to replace coal gas and nuclear power in terms of output, the benefits to the environment and long term effects are valuable. Though the Kentish flats project is only meant to run for 20 years, it has paved the way for other projects like the London array and Thames estuary which can use the Kentish flats as an example and build upon it.

Answering the question “is wind power enough?” in terms of output wind power is not nearly enough, it cannot single headedly replace conventional power sources but it can be used to bolster them. Wind farms can be used on a smaller scale to ease demand on large power stations, thus displacing CO2 emissions and our dependency on non renewable fuels. When analysed with sustainability in mind wind power meets the criteria in ways conventional power plants can’t, especially offshore farms. So “is wind power enough?” in terms of combating negative climate change and promoting sustainability, it is.
If the Kentish flats project is used as a stepping stone to be (possibly) scaled up in the future, and combined with other larger projects it could then have to potential to match other conventional power plants, then wind power may be enough.