WIND ENERGY MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Wind Turbines have grown dramatically in size and power output.
A typical Danish wind turbine of 1980 vintage had a 26 kW generator and a rotor diameter of 10.5metres. A modern wind turbine has a rotor diameter of 43 meters and a 600 kW generator. It will produce between 1 and 2 million kilowatt hours in a year. This is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 300 to 500 European households. The latest generation of wind turbines has a 1,000-1,500 kW generator and a 50-64 meter rotor diameter.
Europe's largest wind park in Carno, Wales produces the equivalent of the electricity consumption of 20,000 homes. In Europe more than 3,000 megawatts of wind power is on-line as of 1997, covering the aver-age domestic electricity consumption of five million people.
WIND ENERGY IS INEXPENSIVE
Wind energy has become the least expensive renewable energy technology in existence.
Today, according to the Danish electrical power companies, the energy cost per kilowatthour of electricity from wind is the same as for new goal fired power stations fitted with smoke scrubbing equipment, i. e. around 0.05 USD per kWh for an average European site.
WIND ENERGY IS SAFE
Wind energy leaves no harmful emissions or residue in the environment. Wind Energy has a proven safety record. Fatal accidents in the wind industry have been related to construction and maintenance work only.
WIND PROJECTS MINIMIZE ECOLOGICAL IMPACT
Manufacturers and wind farm developers have by now substantial experience in minimizing the ecological impact of construction work in sensitive areas such as moors, or when building wind farms in offshore locations. Restoring the surrounding landscape to its original state after construction has become a routine task for developers. After the useful life of a wind farm has elapsed, foundations can be reused or removed completely. The scrap value of a wind turbine can normally cover the costs of restoring its site to its initial state. of the year.
WIND TURBINES WHISPER QUIETLY, NOW
Noise is no longer a major problem with advanced wind turbine technology.
