WIND POWER FOR THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY OF HOUSES Maarten Wolsink

1. Introduction The oil crisis of 1973 speeded the development of durable sources of energy. For the middle-long term wind energy is a most important form for Holland. However, next to the technical development, necessary for the application of wind turbines, a number of social problems must be solved during their introduction. The most important f i t t i n g - i n problems occur at the physical planning of placing locations and fitting in of the wind capacity in the conventional e l e c t r i c i t y production. For both problems, the way in which wind turbines are placed, centrally or decentrally, is of interest. To gain experience with decentralized forms of wind power some experimental projects have been set up in The Netherlands (Curvers et al., 1985). One of these projects, in Camperduin (province of North-Holland, figure 1), was set up to gain experience with decentralized generation of e l e c t r i c i t y for homes. As such the physical planning was not a subject of investigation. The research dealt with the results of planning in which wind turbines are incorporated in the living environs. A frequent a r g u m e n t for d e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n is that incorporation of an energy-production unit in the surroundings of the user, results in strong user involvement. A more conscious use of energy could result, with positive effects for surroundings and e n v i r o n m e n t . G r e a t involvement may appear from the way in which this incorporation develops, the experience of the new element in the living environs and the use made of it. All three aspects were under discussion in Camperduin. The social-scientific questions were: is incorporation of wind turbines in the living environs accepted? does decentralized wind energy for homes spur greater involvement with the e l e c t r i c i t y supply2 does this involvement give opportunities for a more e f f i c i e n t use of wind energy? The difference between centralized and decentralized generation of electricity is not always clearly defined. The dividing-line is drawn on the basis of various considerations: the size of the turbines, the number of local users, the geographical relation between the place of generation and the place of use, or the number of turbines to the location. These four aspects often coincide in practice, but not always. In this article decentralized applications of wind power are assumed to have following c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s (Verkuijlen et al., 1987: 360): there is a match of generating capacity to the local energy demand;

Neth. 3. of Housing and Environmental Res., Vok 2 (1987) No. 3. 195

FIGURE 1. Location of Camperduin and the wind power project.

CamperdU~~s

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E s

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n,l~ OTHER PROdECT HOUSES HOUSES ANDBUILDIN"",///,~. GS"",///~ -

the wind structure According to decentralized

energy converting system is sited within the same physical as the energy consumers. these principles the wind power system in Camperduin was a application.

2. Camperduin Project(l ) 2.1 System and research design For the e x p e r i m e n t a l project 'Camperduin' two medium=sized wind turbines were placed near a small d i s t r i c t of 28 newly b u i l t houses (figure I). This wind power system supplied e l e c t r i c i t y d i r e c t l y to the houses and as well as being connected to the grid. When there was not enough wind, shortages were supplied by the grid; when more power was produced than used, the residue was supplied to the grid. The system was coupled with a d i f f e r e n c e in e l e c t r i c i t y rates, so as to influence the use of e l e c t r i c i t y . When the lower price was in operation, this was made visible by means of a small i n d i c a t o r l a m p in the hall of every house. The low t a r i f f was i 2 cents (at t h a t m o m e n t about $ 0.04), the high t a r i f f was 28 cents per kWh ($ 0.093). The relevant features of the project are outlined in figure 2. Continuous measurements were made collecting data on the following aspects: meteorological circumstances (wind directions and velocity); functioning of the wind turbines (revolutions per minute etc.); supplied power by the two turbines and the invertor; the actual tariff of the moment (high or low); the load of every house. Ten minute-averages of these data were computed and stored by means of a micro-computer. Besides the measurements of electricity consumption, data were collected about the residents by means of interviews. Three intyerview-sessions 196

HGURE

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2. Diagram of t h e p r o j e c t (simplified).

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were held. The d a t a r e f e r to 26 households, dwelling in the d i s t r i c t during the e n t i r e period of the project, and t h r e e households which lived in the d i s t r i c t p a r t of the t i m e . The d a t a were c o l l e c t e d to assess t h e a t t i t u d e s of the residents and to explain individual u t i l i z a t i o n of the low wind t a r i f f . At the same t i m e an e x p e r i m e n t was conducted, reporting consumption d a t a to the residents ('feedback'). In table 1 the schedule of the interviews and f e e d b a c k e x p e r i m e n t is r e p o r t e d . The nature of t h e p r o j e c t was r a t h e r unique. In some places investigations are m a d e placing medium-sized wind turbines in the surroundings of the users, but a s o c i a l - s c i e n t i f i c approach if often lacking in t h e s e investigations, or it is aimed at stock taking of hindrances in the r e a l i z a t i o n of the project (Altevogt, 1986). In many places investigations a r e also made of the possibility to a d a p t the expenditure of e l e c t r i c i t y to t h e s u p p l y - p a t t e r n s of local power generating units (Isaksen et al., 1981). However, in t h e case of households, adaptation to large c e n t r a l units under control of public utilities is the issue at stake. For d e c e n t r a l i z e d units the investigations were r e s t r i c t e d to t e c h n i c a l load m a n a g e m e n t in companies, quite a d i f f e r e n t problem. The changes in residential e l e c t r i c i t y consumption p a t t e r n s a r e usually provoked by r a t e incentives at fixed times. The results of these so-called T i m e - o f - D a y e x p e r i m e n t s are usually analysed only m i c r o - e c o n o m i c a l l y (Aigner, 1984). An investigation in Wisconsin (USA) t r i e d to explain the results in a social s c i e n t i f i c framework, 1983; Heberlein, Linz & Ortiz, 1982 Haberlein & Warriner, 1983). The essential f a c t o r of linking expenditure to a d e c e n t r a l i z e d unit with an irregular production (see paragraph 3.2) was absent in these investigations. 197

TABLE 1. Schedule of i n t e r v i e w s and feedback. time May/June 1982 Februari 1983 16 March 1983 August 198g D e c e m b e r 1984 Februari 1985 June 1985 30 Sept. 1985 N o v . / Dec. 1985

details survey I survey II start project Ieedback I end feedback I feedback II end feedback II end p r o je c t survey III

structured structured/unstructured s ta rt m e a s u r e m e n t program random hall of the district other half of t h e district end m e a s u r e m e n t program structured/unstructured

2.2 Social f e a t u r e s o f t h e district A number of f e a t u r e s of th e district have been reported compared to national data in table 2. For e l e c t r i c i t y consumption especially the size of t h e house and household are important. Tenant age also d e t e r m i n e s the development of consumption. The a v e r a g e was low in comparison to the national one. The majority of the households was young, and at stage in which the children are either young, or still being born. In the table the changes which occurred during the p r o j e c t are also perceptible. It appears that the a v e r a g e size of the households increased. This was the result of the f a c t that some people moved house, but especially of a number of births of children. There was not much variation in houses. All 28 of them were equally old and the size varied from 3 to 7 rooms. On an av er ag e houses were bigger than nationally, while the a v e r a g e number of persons in the households was not higher. S o c i o - e c o n o m i c status is important in determining the life style of t h e residents. It influences possession and t r e a t m e n t of equipment and t h e r e f o r e is also of i m p o r t a n c e for the energy-consumption. Compared to the Dutch population, the socio-economic status in Camperduin was relatively high. P r a c t i c a l l y all residents were home-owners and the incomes were r e l a t i v e l y high (table 2). Both income and educational level were above the national average. Not only was the a v e r a g e age low and the a v e r a g e status high, but t h e variance on a number of indicators was less than nationally. Because the participating households were situated t o g e t h e r in one district, the composition of the investigated group was relatively homogeneous. Generally the residents can be c h a r a c t e r i z e d as middle class, young and well educated. 3. Wind turbines in t h e built environment 3.1 A c c e p t a t i o n by th e residents Application of d e c e n t r a l i z e d wind energy implicates placing turbines in the living environs, when the g e n e r a te d e l e c t r i c i t y is m ean t for household use. The wind turbines are part of the same physical st r u ct u r e as the houses of the users. The question then arises to which degree it is possible to find an a c c e p t a b l e location for one or more turbines in the surroundings of the houses. This a c c e p t a b i l i t y is dependent on some physical circumstances, such as the supply of wind, other destinations of the ground and avoidance of being a hindrance. F u r t h e r m o r e the a c c e p t a b i l i t y is dependent on the users themselves, their a t t i t u d e and behaviour with a view to placing wind turbines in their own surroundings. In special because in d e c e n t r a l i z e d placing of wind 198

TABLE 2. Composition of households. 1983+) 1985++) national av. n u m b e r of p e r s o n s av. n u m b e r of c h i l d r e n y o u n g e r t h a n 12 yrs. % m a i n t e n a n t s y o u n g e r t h a n 35 yrs. % n e t a n n u a l i n c o m e b e l o w Dfl. 27.000

2.33

2.6/~

2.58

0.ql 56 22

0.68 46 21

29 57

% house owners av. number rooms (including bathroom)

94 5.3

I00 5.3

42 4.3

+) ++)

n = 27, one house not occupied temporarily. sources:VDEN, 1982; Wolsink, 1987b; CBS, 1986.

turbines the argument is made that there is a connection between use and production of energy, acceptance by the users of the physical presence of the production unit in their own surroundings is of great importance. As far as the physical conditions are concerned, the choice of a location for a wind turbine w i l l be dependent on the procedures of physical planning and environmental legislation (Arkesteijn, 1985). Besides, the rules and standards for wind turbines are still under development in The Netherlands. This paper w i l l be restricted to their acceptability from the viewpoint of the owners and users. The idea of decentralized supply of energy is especially supported by a philosophy which emphasizes the involvement of production and use of energy (McDaniel, 1983). Especially the environmental movement is an advocate of decentralized, mostly small-scale forms of supplying energy. The Dutch energy scenario of the environmental movement gives them ample attention (De Vries & Dijk, 1985). Given the close relation between production and consumption, the users may deal with their energy more consciously. This connection is not supported sociologically, the idea originated from alternative views on the supply of energy (Lovins, 1977). The implicit hypothesis behind the philosophy of decentralization is that because of absorption of the energy-production unit in the living environs, a strong involvement of the residents exists. This may appear from the way in which absorption comes about and from the experience of the new element in the living environs. Both aspects were under discussion in Camperduin. In sociological sense a link is made between living behaviour and a communal factor in the living situation of a group of households. In fact the group is defined by means of a collective aspect in the living situation: being connected to a wind energy system. This system is part of a collective 'habitat' (Gr0nfeld, 1970). With the help of this concept, it is possible to indicate the connection between living situation, household situation and living behaviour. A collective 'habitat' is the total amount of space, regularly and relatively frequently used collectively, by a group of people for its activities and communications. By looking upon the wind turbines as part of the collective 'habitat' of the district, it follows that there could not be any question of a simple relation between the presence of a private wind turbine and more energy-conscious behaviour. Living behaviour is determined by the living situation, which consists of both the collective and individual habitat. Ener199

gy-conscious behaviour has to be developed in a situation~ which has more collective features than the windpower system alone and also has a great number of individual, differentiated, and different features. An optimal relation will come into existence, if the production unit, in this case the wind turbine, is in the possession or under control of the collective users. With most decentral wind turbines, this is indeed the case~ although mostly private companies are concerned. In the household sector it is more difficult to realize, because for a medium-sized wind turbine at least I0 to 15 households are soon required to be able to use the generated electricity. A number of variants are possible. One can buy one or more turbines collectively and control it or them collectively. In that case a small community comes into existence, which as a whole is connected to a wind turbine system. In The Netherlands this form exists in Huizen, where a project of energy-efficient houses with two wind turbines for the supply of heating was set up, with the residents functioning as managers (Altevogt, 1986). Another form is the windmill co-operation. A number of private individuals may unite and collectively take control of a turbine which, however, does not directly supply e l e c t r i c i t y to the participants, but by means of the utility grid. The co-operation settles the delivery balance with the public utility. The advantage of this v a r i a n t is that the participants do not necessarily have to live in one and the same district, but can also live at a greater distance from the turbine. In that case the bond of the residents with the turbine is different, there is still a question of there being a turbine in the 'habitat', but not necessarily in the immediate living environs. The bond is economic and legal rather than sociological. In The Netherlands a number of co-operations of this type are being started and negotiating with electricity companies about favourable terms of delivery. A third v a r i a n t is placing wind turbines in the surroundings of the users for immediate supply of e l e c t r i c i t y by the public utility. In that case there is no question of ownership or control of the users, but a power generating unit m e a n t for the supply of a group of users. An economic or legal bond is then absent, but a sociological bond exists. This v a r i a n t is particularly interesting for relatively remote or isolated communities where the supply of e l e c t r i c i t y by the grid creates problems, such as in thinly populated areas or on islands. In Holland this situations does not occur very often. 3.2 Direct utilization of wind energy The second integration problem for wind energy relates to the fact that the supply does not at all times correspond with the demand. The regulation of the conventional production Of e l e c t r i c i t y is almost completely dependent on the demand. The variations in the amount of supplied power follows the variating demand. In case of integrating wind power the problem of the autonomous varying production component is added here. Therefore wind power is often considered to be 'unreliable', which is to say that one can save on fuel, but not on the generation capacity in the form of power stations, which is an important component in the price of e l e c t r i c i t y . Theoretically (Haslett & Diesendorf, 1981) and by means of simulation (Van Wijk et al.~ 1983) it has been demonstrated that set-up wind turbines may be partially included in the reckoning as reliable power. The e x t e n t of this 'capacity credit' is dependent on a number of factors, the most import a n t of which being the consumption p a t t e r n of e l e c t r i c i t y . If the demand could be brought into greater agreement with the supply of electricity, the productiveness of wind turbines would be considerably increased. 200

FIGURE 3.

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Self-supply and delivery of a decentralized, grid-connected wind power installation.

DEGREE OF SELF-SUPPLY DELIVERY FACTOR

100

80 ~6C

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J

w

,=. SCALE-FACTOR

O. 5

1.0

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In the decentralized v a r i a n t of wind energy this problem has been reduced to a local optimization problem. Also when the turbines are owned by the users, it is very i m p o r t a n t economically, to use as much of the generated electrici= ty as possible. In figure 3 two curves have been indicated, one for the 'degree of selfsupply' and the other for the 'delivery factor'. Both are dependent on the scale factor of the wind turbine, the ratio of the total output of the turbine and the total consumption of the users. By attuning the expenditure to the supply of wind, the position of the curves could be raised. In Camperduin a situation of local perfection was simulated by the introduction of a wind t a r i f f for electricity. In that case there was only question of a 'voluntary load management' (Isaksen et al., 1951). The starting point in the analysis of the expenditure of the wind t a r i f f s by households is that the use of e l e c t r i c i t y in the house is a result of living behaviour. This is the behavlour of households in their living situation. The living situation is the collection of characteristics specific for the physical situation in which the household finds itself (Burie, 1972). The living situation fixes a number of possibilities and impossibilities for the living behaviour. Part of the living situation is the household situation, which is part i a l l y the result of previous living behaviour. Changes made in the household situation yield new marginal conditions for living behaviour. In concrete terms this means that the possibilities for u t i l i z a t i o n of wind energy are restricted by the living situation, but the households themselves help shape them. Household electric equipment, for instance, to a large extent determine the possibilities for u t i l i z a t i o n of the low t a r i f f , but most of the equipment is bought by the households themselves. However, the living situation covers most aspects, such as form and size of the house, the provisions attached to the house and the other characteristics of the 'habitat'. We shall see that aspects of the 'habitat' outside the house also play a part in the u t i l i z a t i o n of wind energy in the house. The basic model may be seen in figure $. The most t r i v i a l restriction of u t i l i z a t i o n lies in the fact that within the household situation one must be able to distinguish between the electric i t y tariffs. That is why a small indicator-lamp was fixed in every house, enabling people to recognize the low t a r i f f . 201

FIGURE

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model.

HABITAT .

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IPERCEPTION --~ OF WIND- I | TURBINES .

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f VALNUTEA~X ~ t |LIVING ' CHANGED l O|ORIE - )-IB'(LIFESTYLEJ-DIoru~.Tr~,,,~ ', ELECTRICITYI TIONS_~ " i ~....... u,-, ,, USE I Behaviour is often explained in relation to a t t i t u d e s and social standards. This could also be r e l e v a n t for living behaviour. By means of value orientations (attitudes) freedom of action within t h e living situation could be explained by s o c i a l - s t r u c t u r a l and demographic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the households in question. This approach is chosen in p r a c t i c a l l y e v e r y investigation of residential energy use (Van Raaij & Verhallen, 19g3). However, it is obvious t h a t also ' l i f e - s t y l e ' should be involved in the explanation of living behaviour (Gr(inreid, 1970; Stoppelenburg, 1982). This notion ('significant ways of believing and behaving, which a r e distinctive of an identifiable plural of population') is frequently r e l a t e d to consumption patterns. T h e r e f o r e in investigations of the consumption of energy too the notion of ' l i f e - s t y l e ' is often used. To make this concept operational, the possession of c e r t a i n durable consumer goods and regular use of c e r t a i n goods and services a r e usually considered (Cf. Dillman et al., 1983). For this investigation it would not be an app r o p r i a t e approach, because the possession of e l e c t r i c equipment and the use of e l e c t r i c i t y have been a l r e a d y involved in the analysis in a d i f f e r e n t way. Hoogervorst e t al. (1979) distinguish between l i f e - s t y l e s on the basis of a general a t t i t u d e towards consumption, living environs and social p a r t i c i pation. The first two have been included in the c o n c e p t - m o d e l . Social p a r t i cipation is a form of living behaviour, which takes place outside the household situation, but is r e l a t e d to the other forms of living behaviour. Theref o r e social p a r t i c i p a t i o n is involved in the analysis as an essential part of life-style. 4. Results ~.1 Social involvement with t h e wind turbines As said, the i n i t i a t i v e for placing the wind turbines was taken by the future residents of the district. Conform the philosophy of d e c e n t r a l i z e d supply of energy the residents got t h e idea to buy their own wind turbine for their f u t u r e neighbourhood. This idea was voiced in one of the regular meetings, which the future residents held, to help shape their own living environs. The p r a c t i c a l a t t a i n a b i l i t y of independently buying and managing a wind turbine soon appeared to be slight. Technical and p a r t i c u l a r l y economical problems 202

frightened off most of the residents. Other opportunities for placing a wind turbine were investigated. Contacts were made with the local e l e c t r i c i t y company and the Energy Research C e n t r e of The Netherlands (ECN), which u l t i m a t e l y resulted in the framework of the project described in paragraph 2.1. From a social viewpoint the following aspects are important: A: the residents took the initiative themselves; B: all the future residents of the project agreed to the realization; C: there was no question of formal legal involvement of the residents in exploitation and m a n a g e m e n t of the turbines; D: an economic bond was introduced by linking an electricity tariff to the wind power system. The involvement of the residents with the wind turbines was expressed in the way in which the project came about and the experiences a f t e r introduction of the turbines in the living environs.

tt.2 Realization of the project The fact t h a t the initiative for setting up the wind turbines was taken by the residents, supports the hypothesis of involvement. The interview at the beginning of the project checked the e x t e n t the residents really felt involved. It appeared that the plan had occurred to the originators because of a desire to take communal action in building the district. The idea was that a communal project, specifically connected to the new district, would b e n e f i t the public spirit. That a wind-energy project was chosen, appeared to be a choice dictated by two facts: the location was very suitable for wind turbines (near the coast) because of the supply of wind and a positive a t t i t u d e towards wind energy was supposed to exist. Thus the first step did not spring from a conviction that people should be involved in their own energy production, but from the desire to cultivate a social bond between the residents by means of a communally realized project in their own living environs. And as such it was understood by the other residents. From the interviews it appeared that in many cases the i n i t i a t i v e was especially appreciated because it was an effort to help shape one's own living environs. That wind turbines were involved in this effort was rather passively accepted than actively supported. This a c c e p t a n c e was only possible for the majority of residents when a variant was found in which the residents themselves would not carry any controlling responsibilities. For most of the residents their a t t i t u d e towards the initiative was positive under the condition that it would not involve extra risks or burdening. The following objections were mentioned more than once: a: financial risks involved in private management; b: possible problems in selling the house, if this was linked to forced participation in the m a n a g e m e n t of the turbine; c: the fact that the relation between the residents would hold a business component; d. a rejection in principle of the generation of energy by private individuals. Considerations a) and b) are not directly contradictory to the hypothesis of involvement. These are considerations which d e m o n s t r a t e at the most that financial aspects were thought to be of greater importance than a social bond. The other two considerations however, are contradictory to the hypothesis of involvement: c) constitutes a rejection of collective m a n a g e m e n t and d) of any form of decentralized m a n a g e m e n t . Only after adaption of the 203

plan in which the local public utility took the turbines into possession and under control, did objections disappear and the residents accept the turbines. #.3

Continuation

of the exploitation

after

the test

period

At the end of the project the residents were questioned about the desirability of continuation of the exploitation of the turbines. At that time four control variants were suggested, including an e s t i m a t e of the financial consequences (Boone e t al., 1987). The four variants were: I. purchase by the residents; If. a co-operation with participants from outside the district; Ill. continuation as an e x p e r i m e n t a l project; IV. full control by the public utility. Apart from the c o n c r e t e filling in of the structure of control, 22 out of 28 households wished that the turbines would go on turning. In three cases they only wished to consider this in combination with the decision about the responsibilities of the exploitation. Table 3 shows that the solutions in which the residents themselves play a part in the m a n a g e m e n t were not judged in a positive way. Again it appeared that a positive a t t i t u d e existed towards the turbines in the surroundings, but t h a t people were not prepared to be involved in risks resulting from the exploitation. Experience with conducting the business of the turbines during the project did not play a part, although the a r g u m e n t a t i o n was not much different from t h a t before the project had been started. The most i m p o r t a n t arguments (mentioned by more than half of the residents) were: the financial risks (strengthened by experience); the i n v e s t m e n t s which should be made. Next to these more than once were mentioned: generation of e l e c t r i c i t y should not be a private affair, but should be taken care of by a public utility; too little available expertise among the p o t e n t i a l participants; the burden of conducting the business would have to be shouldered by too few people; extra problems which could arise around the sale of onets own house; the undesirability of business relations b e t w e e n people living in the same neighbourhood. The waiving of personal responsibility was a c o n f i r m a t i o n of the a t t i t u d e assumed from the moment that the i n i t i a t i v e had been taken. Experience with the technical problems of the project strengthened most people in their views of rejecting a personal part in controling the exploitation. t).t) P e r c e p t i o n s

The fact t h a t all of the residents accepted placing of the wind turbines is an indication of a basically positive attitude. The fact that little opposition against wind turbines was found, corresponded to the existence of a generally positive attitude, which had been established in other investigations (Carlman, I982; Midden et al., 1953). In these studies the attitudes were measured of people, who had not yet been confronted with wind turbines in their surroundings. But where this had been the case, a generally positive a t t i t u d e was established too (Bosma et al., 198#; Wolsink, 1957b). At the end of the project in Camperduin the a t t i t u d e towards wind t u r bines was re-evaluated to establish whether the two-and-a-half years of experience with turbines in the living environs had resulted in deviations from patterns, set by people who had not yet been confronted with wind turbines. 204

TABLE 3. Attitudes towards continued exploitation (percentages). positive purchase by the residents a wind turbine co-operation continuation as an experimental project full control by the public utility TABLE $.

depending on circumstances

0 4

11 29

89

7

86

7

89 68

7

3udgments on the chances of results of wind power application(I), comparison of mean scores Camperduin with samples ~rom windy areas and the whole nation. Camperduin

i n t e r f e r e n c e s in e l e c t r i c i t y supply sometimes no e l e c t r i c i t y noise hindrance accidents light and shadow hindrance i n t e r f e r e n c e s of radio and tv spoiled village- or town views spoiled landscape many turbines near built environment many turbines in the landscape less influence s t a t e and production utilities more generation in small installations more influence of communities and privates (l) (2) +

negative

2.6 2.3 2.0 1.6 2.7 2.1 3.2 3.~ 3.0 4.3 2.0 3.2 2.9

nation/ windy areas(2) + +

+ +

2.2 2.0 2.6 1.8 2.6 2.2 3.5 3.4 3.1 4.1 2.7 3.6 3.0

five-point scales: (1) very slight chance (5) very great chance Wolsink, 1987a, n = 621 significant difference, p .05, two-tailed test

For this comparison the attitude in Camperduin was measured with the help of a questionnaire, which was identical to that of an investigation among 621 respondents, spread over a national random test and six windy locations (Wolsink, 1987a). For table tt those items which are concerned with the applicability of turbines in the built environment, were selected from a number of twentyfive possible results of the application of wind energy. Furthermore by means of some ten questions concerning attitudes, the general attitude with respect to the liberal application of wind energy was measured. From the measurement i t appeared that after the project the inhabitants ol Camperduin had a slightly more positive view about wind energy than elsewhere. They were somewhat less inclined to demand strict rules, so as to prevent any hindrance caused by wind turbines. I t appeared that the experience of the inhabitants of Camperduin has had a positive influence on the expectations of nuisance. Particularly the low estimation of the chance ol the appearance of noise hindrance is striking. A t the same time i t is clear that the experience with the supply of e l e c t r i c i t y 205

has not been positive. In the interviews it was established that during the project period two thirds of the households had complaints about e l e c t r i c i t y interferences. Most of these complaints did have demonstrably technical causes, for which technical solutions were found (Boone et al., 1987). In Camperduin people were more often sceptical about the e f f e c t s of wind power on the decentralization in the e l e c t r i c i t y production. This fact does not support the decentralization philosophy. Apart from that, in other research it has been determined t h a t thoughts about decentralization are not significant for the choice b e t w e e n large- and small-scale application of wind power (Midden e t al., 1983; Wolsink, 1987a and 1987b). The opinions in Camperduin about the appearance of many turbines in the landscape, near buildings and on the i n t e r f e r e n c e of the landscape and town- or village-views, did not deviate from those elsewhere. From the interviews it b e c a m e clear that the residents who were not positive about the esthetic aspects at the s t a r t of the project, in most cases later reported a c e r t a i n habituation. Sometimes can resulting in a positive judgment a f t e r wards. The general conclusion is that no problem does arise from the residents perceptions of the wind turbines. One has to keep in mind that in Camperduin the chosen location did not cause any e f f e c t i v e interferences. The location certainly was an i m p o r t a n t condition for the favourable image establishedin this project. 5. I U t i l i z a t i o n o f t h e l o w t a r i f f

At first the principle of the regulation of tariffs was simple. At transgression of a threshold value in the production, the low tariff became effective. In figure 5 two curves represent production by wind turbines and consumption by the residents. There is a question of the low tariff from point of time T2 to T#. Later on this system was improved by also taking consumption into consideration. The low tariff then applied, if the turbine production was above district consumption (from Tl to T3). Figure 6 indicates the degree residents adapted their use, taking the time of day into account. It is obvious that when the low tariff applied consumption was higher than when the high tariff applied. This adaptation of use was dependent on the time of day, corresponding to results of other economic analyses of experiments with Time-Of-Day tariffs (Gallant & Koenker, 198#). Regulation of tariff did work, the users adapted their use of electricity. But in all, the expenditure when the low tariff applied was relatively 8% higher than when the high tariff applied. This means that only I.#% net of the total expenditure was shifted from the high to the low tariff, which is not a major contribution to the improvement of utilization of the wind turbines. In addition the following two questions might be asked: who does utilize the wind power and who does not? w h a tis the reason that this utilization remains so limited? In the following analysis, attention is only given to the social factors which play a part in the utilization of the wind tariff. The variance in this was for the largest part the result of the varying supply of wind. More wind meant more low tariff and consequently more electricity consumption during low tariff-time. The influence of the varying wind supply as well as minor seasonal influences, were controlled for in the analysis. What remained was the variance in utilization between households and within them because of changes during the term of the experiment. Both kinds of variance were simultaneously involved in the analysis for research-technical reasons(2). 206

5. Patterns of load (average curve) and wind power supply (random one-day sample) with tariff-switches on indicated moments.

FIGURE

LOAD PATTERN

~ WINDPOWERSUPPLY

v

v

~0

DESIREDSTIMULATIONOFLOAD

I l O kkVV

0 TIME OF DAY

6

12

--

24

FIGURE 6. Electricity consumption patterns in one-hour averages ~or the

total project (28 houses, May 1983-August 1995).

ii

9

AVERAGECONSUMPTION n TOTAL LOWTARIFF 9 HIGHTARIFF

o

TIME OF DAY

207

5.2 Household situation: equipment and house The expenditure of e l e c t r i c i t y is directly dependent on the equipment present. In table 5 the presence of the most i m p o r t a n t equipment has been represented. Electric boilers are often used to balance power stations load more equitably. In the Camperduin project as well, boilers could have contributed to b e t t e r utilization of wind energy. However, there were no boilers in the e n t i r e district. On the contrary all homes had c e n t r a l heating-pumps, a piece of equipment totally unsuitable for load m a n a g e m e n t . A large part of e l e c t r i c i t y is used for lighting. Lights are spread all over the house, but in the analysis the number of lights in the living-room was taken as a simple indication of quantity. Besides no national r e f e r e n c e number was known for this indicator. In the analysis a distinction has been made between equipment, which permits adaptable use and equipment which does not permit this. The following equipment belongs to the category 'adaptable', in order of decreasing adaptability: washing machine, dryer, dish-washer, spin-dryer, grill/oven(3), vacuum cleaner and iron. It was striking that people thought they could use the oven more easily at another point of time than the iron. Besides ironing did not happen with the same intensity in all the households by a long way, which was especially dependent on age. For the model an index was made, in which the presence of this equipment has been multiplied with a factor, dependent on the power and average amount of time for every time that the equipment was used. All the other equipment was 'non-adaptable'. The most i m p o r t a n t pieces of equipment in this category were: refrigerator, freezer, e l e c t r i c heater, e l e c t r i c stove, television, coffee-maker and e l e c t r i c blankets. These pieces of equipment were also judged for power and the amount of time that they were used. More adaptable equipment led to b e t t e r utilization, but more non-adaptable equipment led to worse. It was striking that particularly TABLE 5.

Most i m p o r t a n t e l e c t r i c a l equipment (%).

c e n t r a l heating pump e l e c t r i c a l cooking oven/grill vacuum cleaner

I door refrigerator 2 door refrigerator freezer dishwasher boiler washing machine dryer e l e c t r i c heater(2) (l) N = 27 (2) Additional heating only (3) VDEN, 1982 208

start(l) (1993)

end (1985)

100 22

100 21 50

#9 15 37

4# 96

national(3) (1982)

96

99

4#

39

56

64

30 4 0 g9 g 11

32 # 0 89 lg 1#

76 2g 29 I0 23 90 13 20

in households w i t h a lower social-economic status (referred to income and education) more equipment of both kinds was present. However, p a r t i c u l a r l y in this case it must be realized t h a t the d i s t r i c t was barely representative (par. 2.2). Another i m p o r t a n t point was t h a t larger households were more l i k e l y to have adaptable equipment. Thus all the households w i t h o u t a washing-machine consisted of only one person. F u r t h e r m o r e there was one drier at the beginning of the project, at the end there were five. Four of them were bought w i t h i n a few months a f t e r a child had been born. Not only possession of this kind of equipment, but also frequency of use were determined by household size. The number of rooms also influenced the u t i l i z a t i o n of e l e c t r i c i t y . A larger house meant more lighting and e x t r a use of e l e c t r i c supplementary heating. This was d e t r i m e n t a l to e x t r a u t i l i z a t i o n of the low t a r i f f , because such a case r e f l e c t s non-adaptable use.

5.3 Further living behaviour Figure 7 shows that even when equipment with possibilities for adaptation were in high use, a small degree of utilization was realized. Households who had planned to make as much use of wind energy as possible, but were unable to achieve their goal, almost unanimously gave as the principle reason for failure that the pressing household work did not permit postponement of especially washing. People who had initialy been rather optimistic about the possibilities found that actual taking into account the low tariff, which occurred at highly irregular intervals, completely upset the household routine. The disadvantages (behavioural costs), which were mentioned were: too much laundry would remain unwashed for too much time; the follow-up action after washing (drying and ironing) could no longer be performed on the same day; much work had to be done in the evenings, which was f e l t to be undesirable for various reasons (too much noise for the children, lack of spare time); FIGURE 7. P a r t of the causal model with LISREL-estimates for the relations. For the complete model, see Boone et al., (1987).

I _ ,,_JFREOOENC,

-.12

v \OF LOWWIND/~ TARIFF /

209

other household tasks, which also are often tied to certain hours~ would suffer (cooking, child-care, shopping, etc.); Thus with pressing households activities, i f often developed that the i r regular wind t a r i f f could not be borne in mind. Figure 7 also demonstrates how family size had a negative influence on utilization, via the number of rooms and the frequency equipment use. Not only pressing household activities were important. The absence of the adult persons at home, which was related to social participation (work, clubs, etc.), had a great influence on utilization. That someone would alter his life style in order to p r o f i t from a slightly lower e l e c t r i c i t y rate, was out of the question. In this case too the behavioural costs would have been too high. I t draws attention here that absence especially corresponded with the number of young children. In households with children, people were at home more often and thus had more opportunities to u t i l i z e wind energy. On the other hand this meant larger and busier households, which in fact turned out to obstruct proper u t i l i z a t i o n . 5./~ Attitudes and intentions P a r t i c u l a r l y striking is the apparent lack of a direct connection b e t w e e n previously intended and actually realized utilization of the wind tariff. The utilization realized depended on the circumstances. The attitudes of the residents provided no additional explanation of their behaviour. Further the influence of the a t t i t u d e s towards wind energy and the previously measured conscious use of e l e c t r i c i t y was very slight. The only influence of attitudes on utilization, expressed itself in the decrease of low tariff u t i l i z a t i o n over time. Apart from the influence of the other factors, which changed in the course of time, there appeared to be a direct connection b e t w e e n time and utilization. In a great number of cases the users declared that their motivation had subsided a f t e r some time. The most frequently mentioned reason for this was t h a t people were not very enthusiastic about the m a n a g e m e n t of the wind turbines by the e l e c t r i c i t y company. The turbines were often out of function. To often users were particularly annoyed by the delays in repairs. The only psychological factor which had a positive e f f e c t was the feedback, regularly sent i n f o r m a t i o n concerning r e c e n t results of the utilization of the wind tariff. The users declared that although this information had given them l i t t l e e x t r a in-insight into their own behaviour, it did have a motivating e f f e c t . The e f f e c t could be traced in the utilization data, but was s t a t i s t i c a l l y insignificant (Boone et al., 1987). 3.5 Generalization As said, the population of Camperduin was not particularly r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of The Netherlands and only a small group of households was involved. That is why it was checked to which e x t e n t the factors, which restricted utilization of the wind tariff, might also apply elsewhere. The four most i m p o r t a n t factors were presented to 621 respondents, in six random tests a t locations which are considered for wind energy and in a national r e p r e s e n t a t i v e random sample (Wolsink, 1987a). The question was, whether or not the difficulties laid before them applied to changing the times of washing on behalf of the utilization of wind energy. All five reasons appeared to be problematic for a large part of the sample (table 6). Eventually less than half of the people interviewed mentioned as no reason at all. On closer inspection, just like in Camperduin, 210

TABLE 6.

P e r c e n t a g e households naming reasons for not shifting t i m e - o f use of washing machines (n = 621).

no washing machine no residents at home cannot wait, too much laundry too busy with housekeeping does not want to shift

4.4% 22.2% 17.8% 16.7% 32.3%

none of these reasons mentioned

t~2.t~%

these cases were mainly households with few children and therefore a low level of e l e c t r i c i t y consumption. So the potential for adapting use to the supply of wind does not seem to be great and this corresponds to the results in Camperduin. 6. Conclusions The basic thought behind decentralized supply of e l e c t r i c i t y is that by placing small production units in the surroundings of the user a c e r t a i n involvement of the users comes about, which should result in a different way of using energy. In the experimental project of Camperduin it has appreared that as far as the wind energy for the supply of e l e c t r i c i t y to houses is concerned, under c e r t a i n conditions people have no objections against turbines in their living environs. However, this acceptance remains rather passive, people are sympathetic, but active involvement can be expected only from a few very highly motivated people. As far as energy-conscious behaviour is concerned, which perhaps might contribute to economic attainability, it appears that people are rather sympathetic too. However, realization of f a c t u a l adjustment of behaviour remains very limited. A positive a t t i t u d e in principle does not yield any perspective for a r e l e v a n t improvement of the 'delivery factor' of a decentralized wind turbine. It appears t h a t in practically every household it is a question of there being either a household situation which limits changes in the use of e l e c t r i c i t y , or of a life style which offers no opportunities to do so. So the possibilities for 'voluntary load management', in combination with a wind power unit, seem to be very limited. However, the marginal note must be made t h a t with other equipment, in particular boilers, probably more would have been possible. These conclusions do not support the philosophy of decentralized generation of electricity. That is to say, the greater degree of involvement of the user in generating electricity, does not necessarily result in more efficient supply of energy. This does not mean that decentralized wind energy is an undesirable or u n a t t a i n a b l e option. However, this supposedly positive e f f e c t must be taken with a pinch of salt. A t the same t i m e it was established that people accept wind turbines in the living environs, not only the participants in the project, but also their neighbours. In fact there have been no objections against decentralized placing of windturbines. Therefore, decentralized setting up of wind turbines, also for the supply of energy of houses, remains a realistic option. This is definitely the case for establishment under the public utilities m a n a g e m e n t or by home associations, for example. Decentralized p l a c e m e n t 211

under user control will probably remain a marginal phenomenon, because only highly motivated people want such a personal involvement. Foot-notes~

(1) Research within the scope of the National Wind Energy Development Program (NOW II), financed by the Project Management-Office of Energy Research (Projectbeheerbureau Energie Onderzoek, PEO).

(2) After neutralization of the effects of the varying wind supply and season, correlations between low-tariff-utilization and 19 explaining Variables were computed over 2g cases (houses) with 6 measurements each (5 months-periods). The matrix contained input-data for a LISREL analysis (3breskog en S/~rbom, 1978). Significance-tests were used for improvement of the causal model. The combination of over time-variance and intersubject-variance dit not allow any statistical interpretation of the significance level.

(3) In The Netherlands almost any house has natural gas equipment. The low number of penetration for stoves and ovens only holds for electric equipment.

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