(Or,
“What I learned on my winter vacation.”)When you venture into the land of Don Quixote, it’s hard not
to attach special significance to windmills. For Cervantes’ hero, these lonely
sentinels dotting the landscape represented dragons to be vanquished and dangers
to be overcome.
But of course, to the modern observer, Spain’s picturesque
wind farms (also known as known as
parques eólicos) are not medieval monsters but modern machines
designed to provide the country with an efficient – and renewable – energy
source.
In fact, almost 10% of all electricity in Spain comes from
the nation’s wind farms, which – as of January 2008 – have an installed capacity
of 15,515MW.[1] In fact, when the winds start whipping
across those famous plains of Spain, the power generated outstrips all other
energy sources, including nuclear.[2] And the Spanish government appears ready
to continue to sustain its ranking as the third largest wind power user in the
world, with a commitment to increase
wind generation capacity to 20.1 GW of wind power by 2010.
I recently
returned from Spain, and can attest the ubiquitousness of those windmills. From planes, trains, and automobiles, I
witnessed large installations, with turbines sometimes whirring with conviction
and other times standing still, patiently waiting for the next gusts to blow on
through.
But what struck
me the most, was that these are wind installations on a massive scale – meant to
mimic the traditional energy grid.
But what about wind as a source for onsite power? In the past, it’s been difficult to make
the case that wind power is a viable distributed energy alternative. After all, single turbines required a
lot of space, and, even if you can fit one into your site, you might find it
difficult to find a stand-alone unit.
All that is about
to change with a new generation of wind turbines specifically designed for
onsite power systems. With exciting
designs and creative solutions, this new generation of wind turbines promises to
revolutionize the industry. If
you’re hungry for more on the future of wind power, keep your eyes peeled for
our next issue of Distributed Energy: In its pages you’ll find
“Wind on the Edge” by Lyn Corum, which highlights a group of startup
companies creating unique urban wind systems.