Wind Turbines for Power Generation - Research Paper Example

? Wind Turbines for Power Generation Wind Turbines for Power Generation Use of wind turbines for generation of power has raised interest due to level of energy associated with subsequent emission of CO2 in activities such as manufacturing and construction. Nevertheless, arguments against installation of wind farms have increased based on the notion that they lead to some limitation for entire life cycle. For instance, there are activities that can be applied in setting up these structures, which include manufacturing of materials and transportation of these components to the sites. Furthermore, CO2 omissions occur in the process of turbines construction and other supporting infrastructure, maintenances and decommissioning of the site (Kubiszewski, Clevelan & Endres, 2010, 286). However, this is one of disadvantages associated with wind turbine for power generation; thus, there will be other disadvantages discussed in this paper. Opponents of wind power generation whether onshore or offshore claim that there increased requirements of construction and operation, which does not put into consideration other types of power generation (Firestone & Kempton, 2007, 1584). Therefore, there is need to considered requirement of installation energy in order to assess the suitability of wind power generation based on its cost-effectiveness in the process of developing it as a source of energy. In this case, the cost incurred in the process of setting up the infrastructures need for site installations is not comparable to the anticipated energy generation during the lifespan of these structures. On other hand, the time consumed to install and generate energy is long; hence it results to increased costs in manufacturing and construction of these infrastructures due reduced payback period (Blanco, 2009, 1372). In addition, there have been significant increases of costs in generating wind power for the last three years due to increased demand and high prices of raw materials. Setting up an offshore wind power generation site requires increased amount of capital cost due to the operations and management costs involved; in fact, they are twice the costs incurred in setting onshore sites (Firestone & Kempton, 2007, 1585). In this case, offshore sites involve increased costs incurred in the process of laying foundation, setting submarine transmission cables and installation facilities. Moreover, there are difficulties experienced in dealing adverse sea condition in the process of setting up an offshore site for wind power generation (Green & Vasilakos, 2011, 496). Apparently, this high capital cost requires the government to incur significant const in the process of financing this developing industry. Besides, this requires additional capital to integrate the operations of the plant with technology, thereby decreasing the economies of scale. There is a degree of uncertainty involved in generation of power using wind; hence, this increases problems caused by wind unavailability. In fact, this has created significant challenges, which are faced by transmission operators compare to traditional way of generating power (Strbac, Shakoor, Black, Pudjianto & Bopp, 2007, 1214). Furthermore, there are not chances of predicting and integrating wind availability with the national grid. However, these challenges are deal by incurring financial costs, though there are other disadvantages associated with underestimation of resilience offered by distribution of wind; thus resulting to under applied resources. There are other limitations associated with use of wind turbines for power generation, whereby it involves resources that are not available without uninterrupted supply, hence, it is irregular. In this case, this limitation is considered a critical factor bearing in mind that dealing with power generation output should be balanced with demand; in fact, this is due the fact that electricity for major energy supply cannot be stored efficiently. For instance, output is decreased by lowering the loading capacity of fossil fuels, whereby this reduction or increase of in accordance with demand place on national grid. Another disadvantage of wind power generation is inefficiency due to the negative aspect of keeping reserve as backup for compensating the power; in fact, this result to increased CO2 emission per unit of electricity generated. In addition, the wind power plant that is supposed to be part loaded is considered inefficient and this may lead to emissions of CO2 for every unit of electricity generated (Kubiszewski, Clevelan & Endres, 2010, 286). On the other hand, wind power generations cannot be compared to conventional thermal plants, which are designed to be loaded with required degree for coping with dead and supply. Therefore, use of wind turbines for generation of power is not reliable; in fact, it involves significant level of physical stress, which is exerted on these units. There are increased costs due to wind capacity is not considered as a factor that should be taken into account. However, use of wind turbines for power generation leads to overestimation as a result of demand that require spinning reserve. Another disadvantage of using wind turbines for power generation is due to involvement of noisy mechanical operation in order to generate electricity. In this case, movement of these blades has creates noise; in fact, this results from proposals of enlarging the turbines, which leads to generation of unacceptable level of noise, which disturbs the residence near the power plant (Pasqualetti, 2001, 689). Therefore, given that devices that move parts create noise, this does fact does not exempt the wind turbines of any size. Nonetheless, research has been conducted in regard to the attributes of noise caused by wind turbines and its impact on disturbance (Wolsink, 2007, 1188). In fact, most of the findings indicate that this noise is annoying and it causes disturbance, which has leads to negative perception and a feeling of disconnection from decision of engaging into the project. In addition, the government is not likely to finance a project that is likely to render people unhappy or dissatisfied (Pasqualetti, 2001, 690). In this case, the negative perception has led to effects that hamper the decision that can support installation of wind power generation plant. Significant change has occurred due to installation of wind firms that has interrelationship with increased sensitivity to noise, which cause displeasure and this may be eliminated in the future. Nevertheless, this paper has focused on gathering and presenting relevant ideas against use of wind turbines for power generation. References Blanco, M, I., 2009, “The economics of wind energy”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13: 1372-1382 Firestone, J. & Kempton, W., 2007, “Public opinion about large offshore wind power: Underlying factors”, Energy Policy, 35: 1584–98. Green, R. & Vasilakos, N., 2011, “The economics of offshore wind”, Energy Policy, 39: 496-502 Kubiszewski, I., Clevelan, C.J., & Endres, P.K., 2010, “Meta-analysis of net energy return for wind power systems”, Renewable Energy, 35, pp.218-225 Pasqualetti, M.J., 2001, “Wind energy landscapes: Society and technology in the California desert”, Society Natural Resources, 14: 689–99. Strbac, G., Shakoor, A., Black, M., Pudjianto, D., Bopp, T., 2007, “Impact of wind generation on the operation and development of the UK electricity systems”, Electric Power Systems Research, 77: 1214–27. Wolsink, M., 2007, “Wind power implementation: The nature of public attitudes: equity and fairness instead of ‘backyard motives,” Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev, 11: 1188– 1207 Read More