PDF Publication Title:
Text from PDF Page: 026
Figure 4.1: Capacity Factors for Selected Technologies Studies have also shown that on average, wind turbines perform far below their capacity mainly due to the intermittent nature of wind. Typically, a wind turbine will produce electricity at its rated or maximum capacity in wind speeds between 30 and 55 miles per hour (mph). At lower wind speeds, the production falls drastically. Although industry projections estimate capacity factors16 of 30 to 40%, field experience has shown that it is not uncommon to have annual outputs of just 15 to 30% of the maximum turbine capacity17. Compared to capacity factors of other technologies in power generation such as coal (85%), natural gas (87%), and hydro (52%), the average capacity factor of wind energy (34%) further lowers its competitiveness Geothermal Advanced Nuclear Natural Gas-fired CCC Advanced Coal Conventional Coal Biomass Hydro Wind-Offshore Wind-Onshore Solar PV Solar Thermal 0% 20% CCC - Conventional Combined Cycle, Solar PV - Solar photovoltaic 40% 60% Capacity factor 80% 100% Source: United States Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2011 (Figure 4.1). But the conversation should not stop there. Science and innovation is moving the frontier of renewable energy technologies, including the field of hybrid and “smart” grids. In the African context, these cutting edge technology options are suited mostly for the Middle Income Countries that have reached their energy access goals. It has been shown that the negative effects of intermittency can be managed if many different and complementary energy sources are connected to a fairly large grid which is also robust and ‘smart’; i.e. has high self-adjustment capacity. Few examples exist of countries that have advanced their national grids to this level. Europe is leading the way, through its Smart Grid European Technology Platform. To our knowledge, no African country has yet seriously explored the option of smart grids. In South Africa, the conversation around adoption of smart mini grids has started, with the state utility Eskom announcing in March 2012 its plans to start deploying the hybrid smart grid model (EREC and Greenpeace, 2011). Power systems based on conventional grid can also adapt to increasing proportions of renewable energy in the energy mix. At the time of writing (May 2012), Kenya’s grid was undergoing fortification in preparation for the 300 MW input from the Lake Turkana wind farm. This process included among other things, strengthening the Nairobi ring (transmission infrastructure) as well as developing thermal power plants to act as back-up facilities. Associated investment costs figure into the value for money assessment of the wind option, and may reduce its attractiveness. Another innovation that has been tested in practice to tackle the intermittence of wind power and enhance its adequacy for base load capacity suggests interconnecting wind farms through transmission grids. When farms are interconnected in an array the probability that all sites experience the same wind 16 Capacity factor is the actual power output over a period of time, as a fraction of the theoretical output if the plant was operated at rated or maximum capacity. The capacity factor takes into account among other aspects, times when wind speeds are not adequate for electricity production, unavailability of the plant during maintenance and equipment failure. 17 According to the United States Energy Information Agency, the average capacity factor for European countries in 2007 was 13% while that of 137 wind projects in the US was 26.9% in 2003. 19 Plant typePDF Image | Development of Wind Energy in Africa
PDF Search Title:
Development of Wind Energy in AfricaOriginal File Name Searched:
Working_Paper_170___Development_of_Wind_Energy_in_Africa.pdfDIY PDF Search: Google It | Yahoo | Bing
NFT (Non Fungible Token): Buy our tech, design, development or system NFT and become part of our tech NFT network... More Info
IT XR Project Redstone NFT Available for Sale: NFT for high tech turbine design with one part 3D printed counter-rotating energy turbine. Be part of the future with this NFT. Can be bought and sold but only one design NFT exists. Royalties go to the developer (Infinity) to keep enhancing design and applications... More Info
Infinity Turbine IT XR Project Redstone Design: NFT for sale... NFT for high tech turbine design with one part 3D printed counter-rotating energy turbine. Includes all rights to this turbine design, including license for Fluid Handling Block I and II for the turbine assembly and housing. The NFT includes the blueprints (cad/cam), revenue streams, and all future development of the IT XR Project Redstone... More Info
Infinity Turbine ROT Radial Outflow Turbine 24 Design and Worldwide Rights: NFT for sale... NFT for the ROT 24 energy turbine. Be part of the future with this NFT. This design can be bought and sold but only one design NFT exists. You may manufacture the unit, or get the revenues from its sale from Infinity Turbine. Royalties go to the developer (Infinity) to keep enhancing design and applications... More Info
Infinity Supercritical CO2 10 Liter Extractor Design and Worldwide Rights: The Infinity Supercritical 10L CO2 extractor is for botanical oil extraction, which is rich in terpenes and can produce shelf ready full spectrum oil. With over 5 years of development, this industry leader mature extractor machine has been sold since 2015 and is part of many profitable businesses. The process can also be used for electrowinning, e-waste recycling, and lithium battery recycling, gold mining electronic wastes, precious metals. CO2 can also be used in a reverse fuel cell with nafion to make a gas-to-liquids fuel, such as methanol, ethanol and butanol or ethylene. Supercritical CO2 has also been used for treating nafion to make it more effective catalyst. This NFT is for the purchase of worldwide rights which includes the design. More Info
NFT (Non Fungible Token): Buy our tech, design, development or system NFT and become part of our tech NFT network... More Info
Infinity Turbine Products: Special for this month, any plans are $10,000 for complete Cad/Cam blueprints. License is for one build. Try before you buy a production license. May pay by Bitcoin or other Crypto. Products Page... More Info
| CONTACT TEL: 608-238-6001 Email: greg@infinityturbine.com | RSS | AMP |