29.09.2012 Views

Technology Status - NET Nowak Energie & Technologie AG

Technology Status - NET Nowak Energie & Technologie AG

Technology Status - NET Nowak Energie & Technologie AG

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Percentage of annual sales in numbers<br />

100%<br />

80%<br />

60%<br />

40%<br />

20%<br />

0%<br />

Figure 58<br />

Market Share of Seven Generations of Wind Turbine <strong>Technology</strong><br />

78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98<br />

Year<br />

22 to 30 kW 55 to 75 kW 90 to 100 kW 150 to 250 kW<br />

300 to 400 kW 450 to 750 kW > 1,000 kW<br />

Source: Danish Energy Agency.<br />

Wind turbines smaller than 500 kW are commonly used for off-grid<br />

applications. Especially, but not exclusively, in developing countries,<br />

applications for the smallest capacity turbines (typically < 50 kW) include not<br />

only power supply for off-grid users but also dedicated services such as<br />

mechanical water pumping (still the most common type of wind system<br />

application), desalinisation and battery charging.<br />

Offshore wind power generation is taking off in Europe. As the best on-land<br />

locations are becoming more difficult to develop, coastal countries are<br />

beginning to investigate and exploit near-shore and offshore resources.<br />

Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK have already amassed<br />

experience with near-shore wind farms. New offshore wind farms are<br />

expected to have turbines exceeding 1.5 MW. New capacities totalling several<br />

GW may be installed in Germany, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Canada,<br />

Belgium and other countries in coming years.<br />

● Environment<br />

For many years, wind energy was considered environmentally sound.<br />

But recently, major social objections (NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard) and landuse<br />

concerns related to operation and siting of turbines have been raised. Social<br />

acceptance is one of the limiting factors of wind’s potential growth.<br />

7<br />

WIND POWER<br />

157

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!