A group of researchers from various institutions such as Princeton University, published their findings in Nature Climate Change on Monday, November 18, forecasting that wind farms will produce significantly more energy than anticipated.
This will come as a result of the world is getting windier while developers are installing more turbines to generate electricity from breezes. In fact, it is highlighted that average wind speeds have risen almost 7% since 2010 in northern mid-latitude regions, reversing a trend of slowing winds in the decades before. Bloomberg further reports that small changes in the amount of wind recorded over a year can make a big difference for the probability of installing turbines.
Adrian Chappell a co-author of the report from Cardiff University’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences remarks that
This rapid increase in global wind speeds is certainly good news for the power industry.
What is more, according to data analyzed in the study, wind had been slowing down since the late 1970s; wind speeds started to increase in 2010 and if the trend remains, wind power generation could potentially rise to 37%.
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The study for Nature stated the previous slowdown in wind speeds can be explained by physical disruptions to wind from cities and vegetation. The research concluded that the phenomena were due to shifts in circulation patterns of the oceans and atmosphere; such shifts may take up to decades to happen and so the resulting increased wind speeds should continue for at least another decade.
As part of its commitment to sustainability and clean energy, Google announced in September the biggest corporate purchase of renewable energy in history, made up of a 1,600-megawatt (MW) package of agreements and 18 new energy deals.
Together, these deals are expected to increase Google’s worldwide portfolio of wind and solar agreements by more than 40%, to 5,500 MW—equivalent to the capacity of a million solar rooftops, CEO Sundar Pichai explained.
In June, Wartsila launched a white paper focusing on accelerating the transition towards a 100% renewable energy future. The market trends reflect that the shipping industry is currently leaning towards more flexible systems, with a rapidly increasing share of renewable energy, declining inflexible baseload generation and wider applications of storage technology.
Wartsila highlights that Wind and solar cumulative installed capacity is expected to increase from 14% in 2017 to 48% in 2040, enabled by engines and storage. Moreover, by 2040, on a levelized cost of energy basis, solar will become another 60% cheaper and wind will become another 40% cheaper.
