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Enhancing Energy Supply Through Wind
Lagos, Jun 13, 2007 -- This Day/All Africa Global Media
The generation of electricity from wind is becoming one of the fastest and most acceptable Renewable Energy (RE) resource in the world. In this technology, a wind turbine converts kinetic energy into mechanical energy, and this is in turn, converted into usable electricity. The booming wind energy markets around the world exceeded expectations in 2006. On the day of the publication of the 4th Assessment Report on Climate Change by the IPCC, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) released its annual figures for 2006. These figures, which include wind energy developments in more than 70 countries around the world, show that the year saw the installation of 15,197 megawatts (MW) ,taking the total installed wind energy capacity to 74,223 MW. In terms of economic value, the wind energy sector has now become firmly installed as one of the important players in the energy markets, with the total value of new generating equipment installed in 2006 reaching $23 billion. Wind, of course, is a form of solar energy. As the sun heats surfaces in the earth at different periods, locations and rates, hot air rises and cooler air rushes in to fill the gap. This rushing process of cooler air is called wind. A wind turbine positioned in the appropriate area captures this wind. The first major component of the wind turbine is the blade and it represents about 15-20% of wind turbine's total production cost. There are three main types of wind turbines. They are:- small-scale units (under 3 kW), medium-sized units (up to 50 kW) and the large-scale units (1-3 MW). There are three major ways of determining wind speed at a proposed site. This is necessary before installing wind turbines at such locations like lands, deserts, forests/woods, semi-offshore and offshore. Wind speed could be measured by installing an anemometer at the proposed wind farm, using existing data-local airport or meteorological stations and visual observations like the effects of wind on vegetation at the site. But of all these methods, the use of anemometer is more reliable and efficient. The countries with the highest total installed wind capacity as at 2006, are Germany (20,621MW), Spain (11,615MW), USA (11,603MW), India (6,270MW), Denmark (3,136MW), and China (2,604MW), making China the sixth largest market world-wide. African and Middle East wind energy growth include countries such as Egypt (230MW), Morocco (64MW) and Iran (48MW). Wind energy boom can be experienced in Nigeria if there is a corresponding specific political leadership policy directives and incentives. Nigeria's policy makers need to come up with policies that support subsidies on wind projects development on lands, semi-offshore and offshore locations, to increase the country's electricity output. Studies on how wind energy can best be integrated into electricity networks have been carried out in several European countries. Each study concludes that wind energy does have a significant capacity credit. The capacity credit of a certain amount of wind energy can be thought of as the amount of conventional plant (GHG emitter) which could be replaced by wind power, without making the system less reliable. In Denmark, a capacity credit of 20-25% is used in comparative studies of the economy of different new energy technologies, and the country now gets around 20% of it's electricity from wind energy. Large scale offshore wind development in Nigeria's territorial waters could be achieved with the right policy decisions put in place. Since Nigeria is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol (KP), climate and environmental protection issues which were included in the Clean Development Mechanism she signed to participate in, should serve as driving factors for legally-binding and stable policy framework to encourage wind energy development, as well as economic advantages from decentralised energy. Government should critically assess the degree of negative externalities (GHG emissions, rising health costs, mitigation etc.) inherent in electricity generated from fossil fuels per kWh, and make active laws demanding that the energy operators pay Carbon Dioxide Taxes, for the promotion of wind development in Nigeria. One thing the government should do to beef up electricity supply in Nigeria, is to pass Bill in favour of wind energy and other sustainable resources, under the platform of a renewable energy authority. If Nigeria forms an independent renewable energy outfit called the Nigerian Renewable Energy Authority, it will be the first step in the right direction to achieve regular electricity supply. The solution to Nigeria's hydra-headed electricity problem does NOT lie in earmarking huge budgetary provisions to give it a face-lift or licencing a plethora of dexterous power operators in the carbon emission industries. Total reliance on conventional resources alone for constant electricity supply is a day-dream even if trillions of naira is expended. It is high-time Nigeria sought a lasting solution to our energy problems and not mere placebo. The solution is total de-centralisation, so that while Nigeria is generating energy from fossil fuel, nuclear fission and oil, she can also be generate from solar, wind, geo-thermal, hydro (small), biomass (modern), fuel cells, waves, tidal, refuse etc. simultaneously . This is the only way to guarantee a steady power supply in Nigeria. This is what obtains in most countries of the world today. For instance, Egypt's Zafarana Wind Power project sitting on a 31-mile distance along the coast of the Red Sea, has capacity of 120 MW to supply electricity to 72,000 homes and to displace 148,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Why is Nigeria unable to do what other countries of the world, even smaller and poorer ones, have done? Federal and State governments are advised to support communities and villages endowed with farm wastes like palm kernel shells, corncobs and bagasse (sugar cane waste) etc. to convert them into electricity through the installation of required plants closer to the waste banks. The relevance, functionality and suitability of the wind energy technology cannot be gain-said either on the score of moral or design. In reality, wind turbines are not installed in order that conventional power stations can close prematurely; building wind farms does help to avoid the need to build new thermal or nuclear power plants. The rallying cry for wind energy development is predicated on the irrefutable truism that it is a zero-emission technology, not like fossil fuel, nuclear fission and oil which cause GHG emissions and global warming. As human beings, it is clear that we are part of an ecology, and so we should by reason of conscience and safety, preserve and improve conditions for all species. Wind turbine development in Nigeria in particular and Africa as a whole, for constant electricity supply are undeniably vital for a sustainable lifestyle. - Okeh, Executive Director, Green Earth Preservation Charter, sent this in from Lagos News Provided By |
