A new multinational project to further develop wind power generation in the North Sea will be joined by the UK today, which looks like good news, despite concerns about the capacity of interconnectors & the Q. of whether connecting wind farms to more than one national energy system, may allow operators to play systems off against each other to maximise their return.
However, on the face of it more international cooperation in the green transition is welcome.
The latest auction of offshore and farm contracts has seen a number of successful bids (dominated by RWE from Germany) as opposed to the last round which saw no bids at the lower contract price offered.
In the long-run its good news at it (again) expends wind generation capacity, but will again refocus attention on interconnectivity & network capacity where the energy links land (primarily on the east coast).
"From 2010 to 2023, wind power delivered a benefit of £147.5 billion — £14.2 billion from lower electricity prices and £133.3 billion from reduced natural gas prices. If we offset the £43.2 billion in wind energy subsidies, UK consumers saved £104.3 billion compared with what their energy bills would have been without investment in wind generation.
UK wind energy production has transformed over the past 15 years. In 2010, more than 75% of electricity was generated from fossil fuels. By 2025, coal has ceased and wind is the largest source of power at 30% – more than natural gas at 26%." https://theconversation.com/wind-power-has-saved-uk-consumers-over-100-billion-since-2010-new-study-266702 #electricity#windPower#renewables
@pluralistic
Wind power is already the future, and now its clear that it has contributed to lessening UK energy bills... not only that wind (as part of the renewable energy sector) is generating (pun intended) jobs & underpinning new investment as part of the green transition... now we just need to get vendor fully behind it.
@ChrisMayLA6 The lack of any kind of rational explanation of the costs and value of different solar options and small premises solar/wind turbine options for house/small business owners does tend to make me think someone is foot-dragging.
Wild. Colorado is short on transmission lines to get the massive amount of #solar and #windpower generated in the southern part of the state up to the Denver metro area, so… they run freight trains full of giant batteries up and down the Front Range. These trains used to ship hundreds of tons of coal, but are shipping less now as the coal fired power plants are being decommissioned: too dirty and too expensive. https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/suntrain-experimental-train-car-solar-energy-union-pacific-rail-lines-colorado/
Birds vs. Wind Turbines: New Research Aims to Prevent Deaths
Window collisions and cats kill more birds than wind farms do, but ornithologists say turbine impacts must be taken seriously. Scientists are testing a range of technologies to reduce bird strikes — from painting stripes to using artificial intelligence — to keep birds safe.
Wind Turbines Are Not Killing Fields for Birds Annual estimated bird mortality from selected anthropogenic causes in the U.S. Median/Avg. Estimated Cats 2,400,000,000 Collision - Building Glass 599,000,000 Collision - Vehicles 214,500,000 Poison | 72,000,000
Collisions - Electrical Lines | 25,500,000
Electrocutions | 5,600,000
Collisions - Land-based
Wind Turbines 234012 @@®@ Asofo7 @statistacharts Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service statista¥