Wind Power
The UK now has over 5 Gigawatts of installed wind capacity. This is sufficent to supply 3 million homes. The new Vattenfall's 300MW Thanet Offshore wind farm, which is also the world's biggest windfarm. The second development was the expansion of the Crystal Rig farm to a generating capacity of 200 MW.
Wind power can be converted into energy to perform useful work. For centuries wind energy has propelled sailing ships around the world. It has been used to pump water and to grind grain. These days a wind turbine will generate electricity. More and more businesses and private homes are generating electricity from a wind turbine on their property. There is also the opportunity to sell unused electricity back to the National grid although this facility is not yest available to everyone.
Approximately 2% of electricity generated worldwide is from wind energy. It is a renewable energy source that is proving to be important with the current focus on climate change and global warming. In this context wind energy is an important means of producing renewable electricity. Wind energy is of course derived from solar energy, the power of the sun heating our atmosphere and causing our global wind patterns.
But wind farms are now seen as an essential part of the UK 2020 energy plan. Wind farms now exist both offshore and on land. The offshore wind farms in particular will produce a significant amount of our electricity by 2020. In fact an area 20km x 30km offshore in an appropriate location could house sufficient wind turbines to generate all the electricity that the UK currently requires in a year!
UK Offshore Wind
In April 2001 the first group of licences for up to 30 turbines on 18 sites around the UK coast was announced. This was Round 1 of the UK Offshore Wind Development plan.
The Round 2 licencing process for fifteen projects which would generate up to 7.2GW of new wind capacity is underway now.
Click here for more on offshore wind farms.
In January 2010, the Crown Estate revealed the successful bidders for each of the nine Round 3 offshore wind zones within UK waters. The expectation is that these turbines will generate 25% of the UK’s total electricity needs by 2020.
UK Onshore Wind
There are many wind turbines in the UK, ranging from small turbines on house roofd to large wind turbines in remote areas.
Click here for more on onshore wind farms.