Wind power
Overview Wind power plants have been used for many centuries, but fell into oblivion for most of the 20th century. In the last 40 years, however, they experienced a renaissance, partly due to the two oil crises in the seventies. Today, they are primarily used for the generation of electricity. Using wind power basically means slowing down the wind and thereby extracting the inherent kinetic energy. Wind turbines are easily distinguishable by their design. Today, concepts with horizontal axes are widely regarded as standard; however, vertical axis turbines are becoming more and more frequent. Site distribution varies from onshore to offshore locations. In addition, a further distinction regarding performance classes needs to be made as well, spanning from applications in the range of several kWel up to the megawatt range. Currently, most of the wind turbines operated in Switzerland have an installed capacity below 300 kWel. Potential for wind power installations in Switzerland The most evident and probably greatest impediment for a further expansion of wind energy in Switzerland can be found in the low social acceptance, for example due to concerns about landscape preservation. In addition, the development potential in Switzerland is significantly smaller in comparison to coastal areas, due to lower wind velocities. Difficult identification of potential sites and a complicated approval procedure may deter potential investors as well. Considering this obstruction, the expansion potential until 2035 or 2050, respectively, is 1.5 or 3.0 TWh / year [1]. This corresponds to between 2.5 and 5.1 % of the Swiss electricity consumption in the year 2012 [2]. An overview of possible locations in Switzerland under consideration of exclusion criteria has been visualized by Suisse Eole, the national association for the promotion of wind power in Switzerland. (www.wind-data.ch).
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Key facts on wind power generated electricity in Switzerland
Social Perspectives From a perceptual perspective, wind energy is very different from fossil fuel technologies. Important differences are: small infrastructure requiring many siting decisions, lower energy density and higher visibility, resource extraction above ground and high visibility [5]. Although wind energy is perceived as a green, renewable energy, its infrastructure can be contested due to several reasons. Therefore a participatory, fair, and transparent decision process can be crucial in the site selection process [6]. A recent study in Switzerland showed that support of people living near wind power plants is quite large (86% were in favour of wind energy). In the remaining group, however, the protest potential against wind energy seems quite extensive [7]. Acceptance and social conflict potential • Conflict potential due to perceived risks and benefits associated with technology - Perceived risks: landscape impairments, negative effects on ecosystems, noise, shadow effects, accidents, negative effects on energy supply security - Perceived benefits: renewable energy, green energy, local energy source, almost no CO2 emissions •
Conflict potential due to contextual embedding of technology - Largely depends on the context. Wind energy might present a risk for tourist areas; however, wind energy can also become an image factor (production of local, green energy).
Impact potential of political decision processes • Societal decision process in the siting process is crucial. Since there are environmental constraints (not every spot is suitable for wind energy), fairness of the decision process itself becomes even more important [8]. Potential value conflicts • Personal values might be at stake, e.g. fairness. If not taken seriously, this could result in protest potential, value conflict between green environmentally friendly technology and NIMBYism. Change of behaviour • Depends on combination with other technologies and magnitude of implementation. In combination with e.g., smart grid measures of load management could be an interesting option (e.g., starting electric appliances when there is a lot of wind energy available), because of high fluctuations in wind energy production.
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SWOT Strength • Local resource (wind regime) contributing both to supply security and regionally added value • Independent from fluctuations of fossil resource prices • Depending on its commercialization, wind power generated electricity can be sold for higher prices (eco-bonus) • Contribution to higher energy production especially during winter times with stronger winds Weakness • Very capital intensive, therefore a high demand of investment security and interest rate sensitivity • Fluctuating electricity feed-in. Therefore the wind power plants require flexible grids with sufficient power storage or balancing power that can react quickly to demand changes. Further, they cannot specifically produce during demand peaks (highest electricity prices). • Limited regions in Switzerland with an optimal wind regime • Represents a threat to certain bird and bat species Opportunities • The current increase of fossil energy prices and the electricity market liberalisation show a tendency for higher energy costs, which may improve economic efficiency for existing and planned wind power plants. • Demands for 100% CO2 compensations on fossil energy sources • Investments for efficiency increase (repowering) in already existing power plants are considered cost-effective and have a minor additional environmental impact • Proportion of renewable energy is to be increased in the course of the new federal energy policy by increasing the financial resources • Development of the technology, e.g. manufacturing of larger blades • Financial support mechanisms (KEV) are in place Threats • Higher investment costs and general uncertainties due to complicated and sometimes long approval procedure • Complicated approval procedure due to the fact that different interests from many different stakeholders must be taken into consideration and balanced out carefully • Limited locations available which comply with the environmental and spatial planning concepts and considerations • Dependent on rare earth elements (neodymium Nd). In order to realize the global wind power potential, the annual world Nd production would have to increase by a factor of at least five. Possible future alternatives: generators without rare earth elements. Suitability for the future Swiss electricity supply system to close the coming electricity gap • Wind power is a technology which depends on system power storage or balancing power. Therefore, it fits well with technologies such as hydro power, gas-fired power plants or aggregated block heating works. Due to the small fraction of wind power (see “Potential for wind power installation in Switzerland”), the dependency on system storage capacities can currently be defined as small. However, this might change with increasing wind energy proportion. • Wind tends to inversely correlate with the daily load curve and to correlate with the seasonal demand curve. Therefore, it matches well with photovoltaic power production, which behaves contrariwise. • Wind power belongs to the renewable energy technologies (not dependent on foreign countries), still has a high technological potential (generation prices will fall) and increases the diversity of the Swiss electricity supply system. Therefore, it fits well into the future electricity supply system. • However, the expansion potential of 1.5 TWh/a by 2035 (approx. 2.5% of the current electricity consumption) is relatively small. Zürcher Fachhochschule
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Evaluation of indicators on Security / Economic viability / Environment -> A detailed description of the indicators is shown in the document “Indikatoren_Auswahl”.
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Literature [1] Verband Schweizerischer Elektrizitätsunternehmen VSE (2012): Vorschau 2012, Basiswissen-Dokument „Windkraft“. [2] Bundesamt für Energie BFE (2013): Überblick über den Energieverbrauch der Schweiz im Jahr 2012. Auszug aus der Schweizerischen Gesamtenergiestatistik 2012. [3] Suisse Eole, Windenergie in der Schweiz – Ausbau aktuell, (Stand 07.05.2013) http://www.suisseeole.ch/de/infothek/dokumentation/l-eolien-suisse-en-chiffres.html (Stand 16.01.2014) [4] Moomaw, W., P. Burgherr, G. Heath, M. Lenzen, J. Nyboer, A. Verbruggen (2011): Annex II: Methodology. In IPCC: Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (page 982, Tab. A.II.4, row 50th percentile). [5] Wüstenhagen, R., Wolsink, M., & Buerer, M. J. (2007): Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation - An introduction to the concept. Energy Policy, 35 (5), pp. 2683-2691. [6] Gross, C. (2007). Community perspectives of wind energy in Australia - The application of a justice and community fairness framework to increase social acceptance. Energy Policy, 35 (5), pp. 27272736. [7] Hübner, G., Löffler, E., Hampl, N., & Wüstenhagen, R. (2013): Wirkungen von Windkraftanlagen auf Anwohner in der Schweiz: Einflussfaktoren und Empfehlungen (Abschlussbericht). Bundesamt für Energie. [8] Krütli, P., Stauffacher, M., Pedolin, D., Moser, C., & Scholz, R. W. (2012): The process matters Fairness in repository siting for nuclear waste. Social Justice Research, 25 (1), pp. 79-101. [9] Fraunhofer Institut für Windenergie und Energiesystemtechnik (Stand 31.01.2014): http://www.iwes. fraunhofer.de/de/projekte/suche/laufende/regelenergie-durch-windkraftanlagen.html [10] Lenz, M. (2010): Current State of Development of Electricity-Generating Technologies: A Literature Review. Energies 3, pp. 462 – 591. [11] Bundesamt für Energie BFE (2013): Schweizerische Elektrizitätsstatistik 2012. [12] Swiss-eole (Vereinigung zur Förderung der Windenergie in der Schweiz) (Stand 04.02.2014): http:// www.suisse-eole.ch/de/alles-ueber-windenergie/schweiz.html. [13] Swiss Centre of Life Cycle Inventories (2014): Ecoinvent Database (Version 3) Used method: ReCiPe (H) V1.06. [14] Krewit, W., Schloemann, B. (2006): Externe Kosten der Stromerzeugung aus erneuerbaren Energie im Vergleich zur Stromerzeugung aus fossilen Energieträgern. Fraunhofer Institut für System und Innovationsforschung (ISI). [15] Ziegler, M., Bättig, R. (2010): Wettbewerbsfaktor Energie – Chancen für die Schweizer Wirtschaft. McKinsey & Company.
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[16] Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE (Stand 31.01.2014): http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/ en/publications/veroeffentlichungen-pdf-dateien-en/studien-und-konzeptpapiere/study-levelizedcost-of-electricity-renewable-energies.pdf [17] Jägemann, C., Hagspiel, S., Lindenberger, D. (2013): The economic inefficiency of grid parity: The case of German photovoltaics. http://www.ewi.uni-koeln.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Publikationen/ Working_Paper/EWI_WP_13-19_The_economic_inefficiency_of_grid_parity.pdf (Stand 03.02.2014) [18] Hoefnagels, M., R., Junginger, Panzer, C., Resch, G., Liebmann, L., Held, A. (2011); (Stand 16.01.2014): http://www.reshaping-res-policy.eu/downloads/Long-term potentials and cost of RES – part I (Re-Shaping report, 2011).pdf [19] Tremeac, B., Meunier, F. (2009). Life cycle analysis of 4.5 MW and 250 W wind turbines. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13, pp. 2104-2110. [20] Jacobson, M.Z.; Delucchi, M.A. (2011): Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part I: Technologies, energy resources, quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials. Energy Policy 39, pp. 1154-1169. [21] European Wind Energy Association (EWEA): Wind Energy and the Environment, (Stand 31.01.2014): http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/press_releases/factsheet_environment2.pdf [22] Burgherr, P.; Hirschberg, S.; Cazzoli, E. (2008): Final report on quantification of risk indicators for sustainability assessment of future electricity supply option. New Energy Externalities Developments for Sustainability NEEDS (Deliverable n° D7.1 – RS 2b). [23] Windkraftwerk Juventus: Tab. Produktion in der Jahresverteilung, (Stand 14.02.2014): http://www. juvent.ch/windkraftwerk.html [24] National Wind Watch (Stand 14.02.2014): http://www.wind-watch.org/ [25] Caithness Windfarm Information Forum (2013): Summary of Wind Turbine Accident data to 31 December 2013, (Stand 14.02.2014): http://www.caithnesswindfarms.co.uk/
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