VTT Research Centre of Technology (VTT) has explored the potential and economic benefits of new wind power technology. The technology would greatly increase the benefits of wind energy and enable the competitive utilisation of wind power in Finland.

Heavy investments are being made in wind power, which highlights the importance of this new and competitive technology. Wind power accounts for around 4% of global electricity consumption, and for over 10% in Europe.

VTT has investigated Finland's wind power potential and compared various generations of the related technology. Ground-based wind turbines are often built in open locations, where there is sufficient wind. The problem is that low winds do not generate adequate power. However, new technology now enables higher towers and larger rotors, i.e. longer blades, than the previous wind turbine generation. The VTT research has revealed that new-generation wind turbines are also reasonably efficient in low winds. This will allow turbines to be located more freely in the future, for example in forested areas.

The new technology will enable an increase in competitive wind power. Although the investment costs of the new power plants are higher than before, there is a fivefold beneficial increase in the potential offered, compared to the older technology. Based on the same cost assumptions, the new technology could cover the whole of Finland's electricity consumption (86 TWh), whereas the old technology's potential was limited to around 16 TWh.

In addition, land use restrictions have no major impact on the evaluation of the new technology's potential, since it would enable economically viable production in more locations than before.

'Sufficient wind power is available in Finland. Technology and land use restrictions affect the available wind power potential, i.e. annual energy production. The key issue is to decide on the extent to which this potential is realised. In practice, wind power is intended to cover part of electricity consumption. Large-scale use of wind power will require new kinds of solutions throughout the electric power system,' says Research Scientist Erkka Rinne of VTT.

Wind power is a form of renewable energy and Finland's expertise in Arctic wind power gives it a particular competitive edge in this regard. VTT is developing state-of-the-art technology which takes account of environmental impacts and benefits from e.g. the tools and fine adjustments enabled by the virtual modelling of wind turbines.

VTT's study forms part of the EL-TRAN Research Project (2015-2021) funded by the Strategic Research Council. The Strategic Research Council operates at the Academy of Finland.

Research Report: "Effects of Turbine Technology and Land Use on Wind Power Resource Potential." Nature Energy, 2018. doi:10.1038/s41560-018-0137-9.

Related Links
VTT Research Centre of Technology
Wind Energy News at Wind Daily

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Cryptocurrency blowing in the wind as mine opens in Estonia
Tallinn (AFP) June 1, 2018
A state-owned Estonian wind farm launched a cryptocurrency mine on Friday, hoping to cash-in on Mother Nature's unlimited supplies of power on a windswept Baltic Sea island, a company official said. Mining virtual currencies, like bitcoin, ethereum or ripple, requires powerful computers that are voracious users of electricity, making it uneconomical to mine without a cheap source of energy like wind. "It is great that the decentralised money transfer blockchain technology has found its way to ou ... read more