Mixed Greens: Storing wind power to beat intermittency? It’s a gas

Engineering giant Siemens has announced plans to introduce technology in 2015 that will convert wind-turbine generated electricity into gas, giving wind farms an alternative revenue stream when the grid is fully charged. According to Michael Weinhold, CTO of Siemens’ energy businesses, the soccer-field sized electrolyser plant, which converts power into storable hydrogen – which is fed into the gas grid – is in the testing phase.

Bloomberg reports that the Siemens’ technology aims to overcome the challenge of harnessing wind farms’ fluctuating electricity output, especially at night, when wind is often blowing the most, while power demand is at its lowest. The project is part of Siemens’ effort to devise new energy technology – and in particular, to boost revenue from energy equipment by more than 40 per cent – to which it allots €1 billion annually.

“The main problem today is the mismatch of renewable power generation and demand,” Weinhold said in an interview. “If we can offer solutions to solve that, we have a business case. …We believe storage will make economic sense if more and more renewable power comes on-line and depresses power prices during peak supply times, a trend we will already witness this year,” he said. “We are currently testing the technology with customers, and it’s at the brink of being commercially viable.”

New wind power record

Meanwhile, Spanish wind power manufacturer Gamesa has set a new record for turbine generation after its G10X-4.5MW yielded a massive 104.6MWh in a single day. ReNews Europe reports that the turbine, sited in Navarra, in northern Spain, produced power for 23.24 hours, 98.26 per cent of the day, breaking the same machine’s previous record of 98.5MWh, set on 22 January. The turbine is the second G10X-4.5MW prototype Gamesa has erected in Spain with the aim of achieving the highest possible levels of availability and energy efficiency, says ReNews.

Going solo on solar

Tamil Nadu is set to become the latest Indian state to break from the central government’s National Solar Mission (NSM) and introduce its own solar energy policy. Recharge News reports that Tamil Nadu’s electricity minister, Natham Viswanathan, has said the state will unveil a solar support scheme aimed at spurring 3GW of new capacity by 2015/16.

India’s state governments have grown increasingly disenchanted with the NSM, which has been dogged by delayed projects and allegations of a lack of oversight. Viswanathan says Tamil Nadu – which, despite boasting more than 40 per cent of India’s installed wind capacity, suffers from power shortages – has only seen 22MW of solar capacity allocated thus far under the NSM, out of the 1GW that has been handed down (India added 180MW of PV capacity in 2011).

Recharge reports that the state of Karnataka is set to reveal the winners of its first solar tender by next week, with the intention of awarding 50MW of PV and 30MW of solar-thermal capacity. Bids were submitted in December, but the process was delayed when allegations surfaced that Karnataka’s government broke the rules requiring public bodies to award contracts via an online-procurement system.

Minnesota’s 100% renewable vision

A new report released on Tuesday by America’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Research has found that it would be “technically and economically feasible” for the mid-western state of Minnesota to meet 100 per cent of its power needs with in-state wind and solar power, combined with storage technology and energy efficiency improvements. The report says that a 100 per cent renewable energy-based electricity system for Minnesota would increase power rates by 1-2 cents per kilowatt hour, provided “sufficient reasonable and economical investments are made in energy efficiency.”

RenewableEnergyWorld.com reports that the clean energy mix would include around 13,000MW of wind power and 4,600MW of distributed solar PV. The report estimates that the spend for the new renewable system and energy efficiency would inject more than $90 billion into the state’s economy and create 50,000 jobs. The report also notes that the conventional notion of a ‘peak load’ would need to be replaced  with that of “relational system peak,” which would “require comprehensive consideration of investments throughout the system – generation, demand, and storage (though not necessarily by utilities in all cases).”