European wind technology is a success story, contrary to the argument outlined by renewable energy consultant James Kenny in his recent article headlined `Turn Aside the Winds of Change'. In the space of 15 years, it has evolved from an industry making small, simple machines into a technology which can compete with well-established forms of power generation and is already serving the domestic electricity needs of several million people in Europe.
Although the pace of achievement in recent years has accelerated, the contribution made by wind energy to the European Union's current energy balance is still modest.
Wind energy is clean, renewable and a sustainable means of electricity generation. It is one of the most effective energy options for reducing global warming. And its use has already meant a reduction in toxic emissions. For us in Ireland, wind energy is indigenous, secure and freely available. About 99 per cent of the land area within a typical wind farm is available for agriculture or other use.
In three to four months a modern wind turbine on an average site will generate as much electricity as that used to manufacture it. Wind farms can be de-commissioned and sites fully restored very easily. There are no 200 ft wind turbines made of concrete in 50-turbine clusters, which Mr Kenny referred to, in Ireland - or anywhere else, in the writers' knowledge.
Four European countries - Germany, Denmark, Spain and the UK - are among the world's leading nations in the field of wind energy. During the past five years the growth rate of installed capacity in individual countries has been between 15 and 75 per cent each year. Germany installed more than 500 MWe in one year and the total new installations in Europe in 1997 is estimated at 1,265 MWe. The European manufacturers are world leaders covering some 80 per cent of the world market in 1997.
The Government's policy here is to stimulate the development and use of alternative sources of energy whenever they have the prospects of being economically attractive and environmentally acceptable. This is in order to contribute to:
(a) a diverse, secure and sustainable energy supply
(b) the reduction and abatement of emissions of pollutants
(c) the encouragement of local participation and return in competitive, alternative energy industries and systems.
AT present, few alternative energy technologies can compete fully commercially in the electricity market where the lowest cost of generation is concerned. But the outcome of the recent Alternative Energy Programme III competition demonstrates once and for all that on a direct kilowatt-hour comparison, wind energy can compete with the best conventional technologies. While wind energy technology has to develop in the context of the security of supply from it, this is the next crucial "nut to crack" in the development of the sector.
The Government, in common with other EU governments, is seeking to make alternative energy technologies more commercially viable in the long-term through a limited protected market in the form of alternative energy requirement competitions. It is not intended to provide open-ended support to alternative energy projects. However, the Government wishes to ensure these technologies are given a full opportunity to prove their potential - profiting from experience gained elsewhere to ensure the investments made are sensible. The Government is keenly aware of the consequential benefits to the environment and indeed the emerging opportunities if these technologies can be sustainably developed to a greater degree than in the past.
Government initiatives in recent years have covered all the main renewable and alternative energy technologies, including solar energy. While there has been a bias in favour of the more commercial technologies, developing technologies have not been ignored. The cost of electricity generated from solar technologies in Irish conditions is out of bounds for the foreseeable future, according to the recent study by consultants ESB International. The cost of electricity generated by solar power in Irish conditions is estimated at 20 to 25 pence a unit. This compares to approximately four pence a unit for wind-generated electricity. Passive and active solar energy systems are used on a small scale in Ireland.
Wind energy is a clean source of energy. Unlike fossil fuel combustion, wind power can be harnessed without the release of chemical emissions. In fact, every unit of electricity produced from wind rather than traditional fossil fuel generation prevents significant emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide gases which contribute to global warming, acid rain and air pollution. Although wind turbines do create noise, advances in technology mean that today the mechanical noise associated with older designs is eliminated, leaving only an aero-dynamic, swishing noise.
In a survey associated with a recent open-day at a windfarm in Donegal, 76 per cent of those surveyed felt the noise level was acceptable, 10 per cent felt it was not acceptable and 14 per cent were unsure. On the question of whether wind turbines spoiled the scenery: 77 per cent of those surveyed said no; 9 per cent said yes and 14 per cent were unsure.
Again, of those surveyed after visiting a wind farm, 61 per cent strongly approved, 32 per cent approved, 4 per cent neither approved nor disapproved, 2 per cent disapproved, and 1 per cent strongly disapproved.
Mr Joe Jacob is Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise
