By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Tue, 2009-04-21 12:47
Potential production capacity far overrated
The Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) headquartered in Rotterdam and headed up by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, has developed a master plan for large-scale wind energy production in the North Sea. The operative adjective here is large-scale. The plan projects a potential annual production of 13,400 TWh by 2050.
The principal idea is to develop a huge ring of wind farms on offshore marine sites in the Exclusive Economic Zones of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and the UK and to connect them by a power cable super ring. Such a ring would enable fewer connections with the coast, avoiding the necessity of connecting every wind farm with the grid separately.
The plan sounds good and looks brilliant. The trouble is that it appallingly neglects some basic technical aspects of wind energy. A quick verification of the annual production figure leads one to suspect that OMA simply "forgot" to take a capacity factor into account...
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By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Tue, 2008-09-23 16:32
The EU-Asia Power Quality Initiative (APQI) was launched on September 19 in Beijing. As a project implemented by the International Copper Association (China) and co-funded by the European Commission's Asia-Invest program, APQI is geared to help China improve quality management for its electric power in order to facilitate energy saving, emission reduction, as well as companies' competitiveness. The project will also cover other Asian countries, including India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, as well as the Philippines.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Mon, 2008-05-12 09:27
No doubt it is good that the European Union is able to enroll as many as possible into the forces to make positive changes for the future. Now the “Covenant of mayors” is underway, and it is certainly good to secure commitments from high-level politicians and important cities all over Europe.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Fri, 2007-07-13 11:04
The Euro WhiteCert Project supports the conceptual and technical development of tradable white certificates systems covering energy savings and energy efficiency.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Mon, 2007-06-18 15:20
In several European countries, the liberalisation process has progressed at varying speeds. Despite the fact that no straightforward path to success has emerged, there is a general lesson to be learned: Electricity market liberalisation is not an event. It is a long process that requires strong and sustained political commitment, extensive and detailed preparation, and continuous development to allow for necessary improvements while sustaining ongoing investment.
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