Getting Ready for the Future
Within a few years there are not likely to be many places in the world with traditional mega or micro electricity grids. As use of renewables such as wind and especially photovoltaics increases, sometimes to more than 100%, and the energy supplies are linked to grids worldwide, there will be a need to add storage and smart control systems to enable switches between renewable energies and other fuels such as diesel. However, most traditionally manufactured small and medium wind turbines cannot cope with smart grids.
By Frits Ogg, Renewable Energy Consultant, The Netherlands
As most commercial developers in wind tend to sell and use wind turbines of a megawatt or more (MW wind turbines) because these turbines give the fastest and/or largest return on investment, there is a lack of development of small and medium sized wind turbines. MW wind turbines only serve the highly populated areas in the world that have a strong grid. Over 90% of the world is rural and has a weak or island grid. For technical reasons and because of grid capacity there is usually a maximum of 300kW for feeding in electricity from wind turbines on these grids.
