Page 17 - PT-Spring-2021

to produce more than half of the country’s energy needs,
by wind power alone in just one day! Interestingly, King
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Solomon once said, ‘the wind blows to the south and turns to
the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.’ 6

On – and offshore wind
Already, a fifth of the UK’s energy needs are met by power
from the wind. The increase of wind turbines has been
phenomenal – from an initial ten to more than 11,000 in
just 30 years. And although just 2,700 homes were powered
by the UK’s first wind farm in 1991, more than 18 million
homes can now be catered for using wind power.
But manufacturing and assembling wind turbines is very
costly, even though the wind blows free. Currently, onshore inevitably come up, and it is important that these are
wind turbines greatly outnumber the offshore ones. addressed and mitigated. He also spoke about an oil project
Offshore farms are more expensive, as concrete platforms in Germany – located where a specific whale species comes
need to be built in the shallow waters, and cables need to to mate every year. In order to go ahead with the project,
transfer the electricity back to land. it was agreed that the thudding piling activities would be
However, due to less noise and land concerns, offshore paused a few months each year.
wind farms can be built much larger than their onshore I was eager to know what happens when a wind turbine Photo Credit: istockphoto.com/nautilus_shell_studios
counterparts. Also the winds are faster and more reliable at completes its life span of 20-25 years. Mr Chinn told me
sea, so even more electricity can be produced. Even further that the turbines can be refurbished for continued use, and
out to sea, the UK plans to increase the fleet of ‘floating’ that they contain a lot of steel and technology, which can
wind farms, from two, to 24 by 2030 – the world’s largest is be recycled. Admittedly the project in Hull has not yet
already floating in the North Sea, off the Scottish coast. reached this stage.
Many of us are now accustomed to the three-bladed Then we discussed the increase of environmental
wind turbines appearing on our horizons, but there are awareness in recent years. The debate on renewable
still low-frequency noise concerns, for nearby residents. In energy, said Mr Chinn, has matured from a negative talk
fact, I remember the first time I walked past a wind turbine, about costs, to a positive one which includes the science
in a quiet Swedish countryside at night. A low and eerie and technology.
rumbling sound arose from nowhere, until I looked up and
discovered the source as the slow-rotating white blades. Looking to the future
But, easily overlooked is the huge amount of resources
Fast-growing industry needed to produce renewable energy – for example: steel
To discover more about wind turbines – and by extension, and plastic for wind turbines; silicon for solar panels;
renewable energy – I recently had the opportunity to speak precious metals for electric car batteries, and so on.
to Mr Matthew Chinn, who used to be the UK and NW However, Mr Chinn believes that mankind will find
Europe Managing Director, for Siemens Energy Sector. In the relevant solutions – as part of its development – and
fact, he was part of the team which developed the Alexander hopefully not cause too much damage in the meantime.
Dock in Hull, which now has the UK’s largest offshore So how about the 2050 target, I asked? Is it achievable?
wind turbine manufacturing facilities. Mr Chinn replied that ‘2050 is aggressive, but necessary’,
Opening in 2016, offshore wind turbines are because ‘you don’t go to the Olympics to win the bronze
manufactured and serviced here for some of the world’s medal’. And talking about the often-overstated speed
largest offshore wind farms, such as the Hornsea Project One. of transition to renewable energies, we both agreed it
The three main parts of a wind turbine are the tower, the will take time.
nacelle (which houses the generator), and the blades. And You see, permits to build wind farms take approximately
to keep costs down, the parts are assembled offshore once seven years. In fact, at the time of writing, news came in
most of the work is done on shore. about a massive offshore wind farm planned off England’s
At the beginning of the project in Hull, each turbine east coast – permission was rejected by a High Court judge,
was built to generate 6 Mega Watts (MW) of energy – even though development consent was granted last year.
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enough to power around 6,000 homes. Just five years later Affordability is also a factor that must be considered.
plans are being made for 11MW turbines, which shows Because many people won’t have the money to make the
how fast the industry is growing. And costs are coming change to electric cars or replace the gas boiler that most
down significantly too. While government subsidies UK homes have these days.
were expected to decrease 30% by 2020, they exceeded Finally, Mr Chinn strongly believes that the key to
expectations and came down by 50%. moving forward will be to use a blend of technologies
When I asked if the project encountered any public – because it’s not windy or sunny all of the time. Other
resistance, Mr Chinn commented that the project in Hull renewables include hydro, tidal, and nuclear. And
was very well supported. But as with any project, there are natural gas can be on standby when other sources fail,
always planning concerns – which is why it can take 5-7 something he believes will be available along with oil, for
years to get the relevant permits. Environmental concerns some time yet.
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