2. Part 2.
Wind Energy
Caribbean Islands have substantial wind resources.
Wind turbines erected in areas that receive strong
winds, both along the coast and offshore, have the
potential to generate non-polluting electricity to
support most SIDS growing demand for energy.
Wind power does not contribute to global warming
and produces no air pollution wastes.
3. Wind Energy Basics
Wind is the natural movement of air across the land
or open water caused by the uneven heating of
cooling of the earth’s rotation.
Both land and water absorb and release energy
gained from the sun.
Also when warm air rises, cooler air rushes in to take
its place causing local winds.
The rotation of the earth changes the direction of the
flow of air producing prevailing winds including the
Caribbean’s trade winds.
Wind turbines capture the wind’s energy with two or
three propeller-like blades, which are mounted on a
rotor, and connected to a generator, to generate
electricity.
4. Wind Energy Basics
The turbine blades sit high atop towers
taking advantage of the stronger and less
turbulent wind at 100 feet or more
aboveground.
When the wind blows, a pocket of lowpressure air forms on the downward side of
the blade and pulls the blade toward it,
causing the rotor to turn.
Similar to an airplane wing, this is called lift.
The force of the lift is much stronger than
the wind force against the front side of the
blade (drag).
The combination of lift and drag cause the
rotor to spin like a propeller, and the turning
shaft spins a generator to make electricity.
5. Wind
Energy
Wind conditions over areas of water are considerably
better than over land:
1. The average wind speed is unobstructed. Wind speed
over water is typically 1m/s higher than over the land;
resulting in approximately 40% more wind energy.
2. The wind is less turbulent over water than over land.
This also contributes to increased wind turbine
performance.
6. Wind Energy Basics
The amount of energy produced by a
wind turbine is dependent on the wind
speed and the size of the blades.
When the wind speed doubles, the
power produced is increased eight
times.
In addition, the larger the blade, the
more wind is captured.
As the diameter of the circle formed by
the blades doubles, the power
generated increases four times.
7. Types of Wind Turbines
Vertical Axis turbine, Horizontal Axis turbine,
Double bladed, Multi-bladed water pump
8. Wind Energy
Every unit of electricity generated from a
wind turbine replaces one that would
otherwise be generated from fossil fuels,
and thus prevents the emission of several
greenhouse gasses including carbon
dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide.
The Renewable Obligation places a value
on the ‘greenness’ of electricity that is
higher than the price of power itself.
9. Wind Energy
Technological advances in turbine
and blade designs over the past
20 years have reduced the cost of
producing electricity with wind as
much as 80%.
The larger the turbine, the less are
required for a given size wind
farm.
By moving turbine size from
250kW size range to 1MW
machines, site construction costs
are reduced by up to 30%.
The price of wind turbines of about
45meters rotor diameter is
approximately US$770/kW.
10. Wind Energy
Operational costs also vary
according to turbine size and
average wind speed: while 250kW
machines cost US$25/kW annually,
it only costs US$14/kW per year for
a 750kW turbine.
Plant costs are about 10 cents/kW
hour for wind speeds at 5mph, with
much more efficient energy
production at 3.6cents /kW hour at
wind speeds of 10mph.
Spacing between wind turbines
normally ranges from 3 to 7 rotor
diameters, depending on turbine
size, number of units and their
spatial pattern.
Lattice vs. tubular steel.
11. Can we rely on the wind?
Wind turbines generate electricity for
70-85% of the time, but not always at
full output.
Most wind turbines start generating
power with wind speeds at 4m/s,
maximum power is at 15m/s and
units are shut down at 25m/s, to
prevent storm damage.
No power plant is operational 100%
of the time.
Plants are routinely shut down for
maintenance and for other reasons,
with other power sources picking up
the slack in a grid system.
12. What happens when the wind stops blowing?
Wind is not available all of the time and many critics of wind
power cite the intermittent nature of the wind as a detriment
of wind energy.
When the wind stops blowing, electricity continues to be
generated from other sources, such as gas or nuclear, all a
part of a large energy grid.
The system is used to dealing with fluctuations in demand,
and it is possible to have well over 15% of a country’s needs
met by intermittent energy sources without having to make
any changes to the way the system operates.
The output from a wind farm is smoother than the output
from a single machine, and the output from a dispersed wind
system, with wind farms scattered across a large area is
smoother still making large changes in output highly unlikely.
In addition, wind farms are typically operating at high output
when the demand is the highest, especially in the winter
months.
13. What is the cost of wind?
The price of wind turbines of about 45
meters rotor diameter is approximately
US $770/kW.
In addition, the larger the turbine, the
less it will cost to run /kWh.
By moving the turbine from the 250 kW
size range to 1MW size turbines, both
site construction and operational costs
are reduced by 30%.
Operational costs range from
US$25/kW/year for 250kW machines, to
about US$14/kW/year for 750kW
turbines.
14. What is the Cost of Wind?
Average energy prices are also
inversely proportional with wind
speed.
For example: prices from a 10MW
wind farm with 500kW turbines,
corresponds a plant cost of $900/kW
yielding a price of about 10
cents/kWh at 5 m/s wind speed,
whereas if the wind speed increases
to 10 m/s, the price of power
decreases to 3.6 cents/kWh.
Construction costs, electrical
equipment and transmission costs
account for about 25 to 40% of the
project cost.
15. Wind Resources in the Caribbean
The wind patterns in the
region are dominated by
the northeast trade winds.
They are controlled largely
by the pressure gradient
across the region, created
by the location and
intensity of the sub-tropical
region of high pressure
located between Bermuda
and the Azores Islands
located in the North
Atlantic.
The trade winds are a
persistent feature of the
region blowing throughout
the year
16. Wind Resources
in the Caribbean
Due to the trade winds,
exposed areas of the smaller
islands and costal regions of
the larger islands have a very
low incidence of
meteorologically calm
conditions.
The Caribbean islands are
ideally suited for wind power
deployment.
Wind speeds are greatest in
the eastern Caribbean and
lower in the western
Caribbean and the Bahamas.
18. Windmill History
Wind
power was abundant
about 175 years ago, when five
million water-pumping windmills
were at one time spread across
the American West.
At 1 KW per machine, they
represented 5000MW of
distributed power.
19. Windmill
History
Two
centuries ago, Americans
relied on the winds along the
shores of New England to power
salt farms and gristmills. By the
1830’s 1,260 “salt mills” along
with 39 wind-powered gristmills
had been emplaced along the
coast of Cape Cod providing
energy for industry.
The advent of steam power
caused the end of the windmills.
20. Global Wind Development
In the U.S. wind is expected to
provide at least 6% of the nation’s
electricity by 2030.
In Denmark, windmills are currently
generating 20% of electricity.
Scotland is projected to have 18% of
all electricity generated by
renewable sources by 2010, and will
increase to 40% by 2020.
Spain will have 15% of its electricity
from wind power by 2011.
Europe is the leader in wind power
with a total capacity of 35,000MW,
or the equivalent of 35 coal-fueled
power plants.
21. Caribbean Wind Development
Through the Latin American and Caribbean Initiative for Sustainable
Development, these countries have committed to alter their energy mix so
10% of their primary energy supply will come from renewable sources by
2010.
The thrust for renewable energy development in the Caribbean is being
led by the Caricom Secretariat through the Caribbean Renewable Energy
Development Project (CREDP) that seeks to increase the use of
renewable energy in the region and reduce implementation costs of these
projects that would reduce the region’s dependence on oil.
22. Caribbean Wind Development
Wind turbines for grid electricity
generation are presently
operational in Cuba, Curacao,
Guadeloupe, Jamaica and the
Dominican Republic.
The wind turbines on Monsterrat
have been put out of commission
due to volcanic activity on the
island.
The turbines on Antigua,
Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago
are currently non-operational.
Wind power is used for water
pumping on the islands of Aruba,
Bonaire, Curacao, Cuba,
Dominican Republic, Guyana and
Jamaica.
23. Caribbean Wind Development
Curacao has had beach wind generators for over twenty
years, located on the windy, non-commercial side of the
island
As with most Caribbean Islands, there is a windy side of
the island, where waves and rip tides are known to be
hazardous, whereas the leeward side of the island has
much calmer waters, and lends itself for tourist activities
such as swimming, diving, fishing and other water based
activities.
KODELA, the utility company of Curacao, installed the first
wind turbine in 1983, with an initial investment of
US$1million that also included infrastructure for a 25MW
expansion.
The 1983, a 3MW Tera Cora wind farm consisted of 12
Nedwind 250 kW turbines.
It has been an unqualified success, performing well above
expectations, and is the standard bearer for all other
Caribbean wind farm projects.
24. Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
Has the most experience with wind generation.
The 1983, a 3MW Tera Cora wind farm consists of 12
Nedwind 250 kW turbines. It has been an unqualified success,
performing well above expectations, and is the standard bearer
for all other Caribbean wind farm projects.
When oil prices dropped in 1986, the expansion project was
no longer viable, however from 1986 to 1991, wind turbine
manufactures made significant strides in improving efficiency
and lowering costs.
KODELA has since improved on the standard European
design, especially in terms of corrosion and high wind speed
resistance, and built what is still the largest wind farm in the
Caribbean.
25. Curacao Wind Farm
The 3 MW wind farm has been able to maintain a power
penetration factor of 94% with a 38% capacity factor.
Wind speeds measured at the wind farm site from 1995 –
2000 have averages 8.6 m/s (19.2 mph) and have very
little diurnal variation, enabling the wind farm to operate as
a base-load plant.
The 12 turbines sit atop simple reinforced concrete
foundations and are spaced 1225 meters apart in a line
following the contours of the land. The rotors have three
blades and have a diameter of 23.5 meters.
The 3 MW wind farm has been able to maintain a power
penetration factor of 94% with a 38% capacity factor.
KODELA arranged for the instillation of an additional wind
farm in 2000 with a 9 MW wind capacity, upgrading to 500
kW turbines from Nedwind.
26. Dominican Republic
The International Finance Corp., (IFC) a private sector group within the
World Bank, signed an agreement to provide $10 million and a guarantee of
$13 million to Consorcio Energentic Punta Cana-Macao (CEMP), a
privately owned utility in the Dominican Republic to support an 8.25MW
wind power plant.
This wind power plant is the first of its kind in the Dominican Republic,
replacing part of the utility’s diesel generation.
The plant will serve resort areas in Punta Cana and its surrounding
communities, which contribute about half of the country’s tourism arrivals.
This is the first time that the IFC has collaborated with DANIDA, the
Danish government’s development agency, through a program that provides
subsidies to economically sound wind power projects in developing
countries.
27. Jamaica Wind Development
The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica is constructing a wind farm at
Wigton with a capacity of 20.7 MW of power.
It is expected to supply the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) with
an average of at least 7MW.
This is a 20MW wind power plant with technology supplied by the Dutch
firm: Nedwind, the same company that has been so successful in Curacao.
The Wigton site is located on the Manchester Plateau, with an elevation
of between 900- 1000 meters above sea level.
The Wigdon Wind Farm project involves the instillation of 27 wind
turbines with a capacity of 750 kW each, for a total capacity of 20.2 MW.
This project, when completed, will represent 3.5% of Jamaica’s power
capacity.
The farm is expected to run at an average capacity of 35%.
The turbines have a projected design life of 20 years.
28. The
Jamaica – The Price of Oil
Jamaican Power sector is dominated
by oil-fired power generated by steam
turbines and reciprocating engines, which
emit significant quantities of nitrous oxide
and sulfur dioxide.
In addition to the pollutants, the cost of oil
imports is a significant expense for most
Caribbean nations.
In 1998 the oil import bill in Jamaica was
$440 million, however oil prices have
more than doubles since then, also with
increased consumption, the bill is
estimated at over $1billion annually.
The high cost of the oil imports drains
away the hard earned money made from
tourism in Jamaica.
29. Jamaica – The Price of Oil
The reliance on oil for the majority of power in the Caribbean
region is also the reason for unusually high electricity prices
of over 20 US cents per kWh, compared to 5 – 10 cents per
kWh in North America or Europe.
At these prices, many renewable energy applications are
competitive, particularly wind power, which can generate
electricity below 10 cents, depending on wind conditions and
the technology deployed.
The potential for wind power in Jamaica is 70MW by 2010.
Because the only source of energy for the power plant will
be wind power, the Wigton plant will be generally CO2-free
energy.
The entire output of the plant will generate potential
emission reduction credits for each kWh of output.
30. Implementation Problems
Problems restricting the implementation of wind power
projects in the Caribbean are both infrastructure and
logistics.
The large 400-ton cranes necessary to erect the
towers and assemble the turbines are not readily
available, and moving the cranes, which are 40-50
meters high, around on limited access roads is a
problem.
Also the frequency of hurricanes in the region creates
the very real possibility that some turbines could be
damaged by the strong winds beyond repair.
Another problem is the electric grids on many of the
islands are for primarily diesel and heavy fuel oil
generation and wind is perceived to be limited to a
penetration of only 10-12%.
Although this fact has been proven false, a
complicating factor is that the grids on some islands
are laid out in a complex, haphazard manner, and may
have frequent power cuts, unless the entire grid is
remade, a prohibitively expensive venture for most
SIDS.
31. LIOW Wind
Project
Long Island, N.Y., View
from Jones Beach
In New York, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), a public utility, has
granted FPL Energy, a subsidiary of General Electric energy a contract
for construction of a wind farm off the South shore of Long Island.
The facility will consist of 40 wind turbines in a cluster design, 3.6 miles
from the nearest shoreline, to minimize visibility.
32. Long Island Power Authority
The turbines will be sited SE of Jones Beach State Park and SW of Robert
Moses State Park and will also be visible from the shores of Cedar Beach.
The 8-square mile area wind park will be one of the largest renewable
offshore energy parks in the country.
The 40 turbines will produce 140MW of electricity for LIPA, enough to
power 44,000 homes.
Each turbine rotor has three blades approx. 182’ long and the tubular steel
towers are approx. 260’high.
The turbines can produce electricity at wind speeds as low as 8mph and
are at peak production from 26-36 mph.
The turbines shut down at wind speeds beyond 56 mph.
It has been found that in many cases where wind farms are located,
tourism and public education on wind energy also increases.
34. Wind Energy
Key points to final site
selection must include:
wind resource assessment
such as ambient
temperature, pressure,
humidity and precipitation,
lightning, hail, winter icing,
soil resistively and
groundwater level.
Wind turbine specs should
be tailored to site
conditions.
Ensure good grounding
and shielding.
35. Wind Energy
Public opposition to wind farms in nearshore waters is
based on worries that:
They will spoil the seascapes
Have detrimental effect on: birds, fisheries, marine
mammals
Increase sedimentation and habitat disturbance
Any specific wind project will have impacts, whether it is
coastal, offshore or land based.
