Wind Power Alone Could Provide 3 Times The Energy Europe Needs By 2020
Written by Neal Babcock
A recent report from the European environment agency says that the potential of wind generated power in 2020 is three times greater than what Europe’s expected electrical demand will be.
In other words, it is feasible for Europe to generate three times as much power as it needs by the year 2020.
The study confirmed that wind energy, if so desired, can play a major role in achieving the European energy targets and that there are extensive wind energy resources in Europe. The report, called ”Europe’s Onshore And Offshore Wind Energy Potential”, shows that wind energy potential is massive, and really capable of creating almost 20 times the energy demand in 2020.
Potential inland wind energy locations are concentrated in agricultural and industrial areas in northwestern Europe. In addition, the largest offshore potential can be found in areas in the North Sea, the Baltic seas and the Atlantic Ocean, with even some opportunities in areas of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea’s.
Europeans could put wind generators further offshore, but due to the significantly greater costs it is unlikely that they will go too far offshore. The deep offshore potential is unlikely to contribute in any significant way to the energy mix within the time frame of the study.
Areas of high wind speeds that will best accommodate wind turbines will require major changes to the grid system to accommodate the distribution of all of this newly generated power. Congestion and overloading would otherwise be a problem.
The conclusions were welcomed by the European Wind Energy Association. They said, “The EEA clearly recognizes that wind power will be key to Europe’s energy future. Now that oil prices are again on the rise, the EEA report sends a reminder to Europe’s policy makers that wind power is a clean and proven energy technology and Europe is the world leader.”
Things look promising.
