THE diameter of a wind turbine capable of generating five megawatts (MW) of electricity is, at 120 metres, roughly that of the London Eye. If it is to be installed in seas 40 metres deep, its pylon and foundations must measure 170 metres or so, half again as high as St Paul’s Cathedral. If it is to stand in the North Sea, it will confront waves that can rise more than ten metres high and winds that can reach over 100 kilometres an hour. And if it is to be part of plans to increase the proportion of electricity generated from renewable sources to something like 30% by 2020 (it is currently 5.5%), it will be one among thousands.
On January 8th the Crown Estate, which administers the seabed around Britain, revealed the preferred bidders for the nine areas seen as suitable for a third round of offshore wind power. These sites could house turbines with a combined capacity of over 30 gigawatts (GW, or 30,000MW), though average energy production would be at best only about a third of that.
See full Article.
Posts
