Visit the self-styled “solar city” Freiburg in Germany and you realise it is possible for community and establishment to coexist in harmony. What began as a protest movement some 30 years ago has become a journey to the heart of sustainable living; and today, pockets of the local population have a unique influence into how their communities look and feel. David Hopwood sees the city for himself.
No doubt about it, at the moment the PV industry seems to revolve around Germany, with its feed-in tariff, strong demand, and increasing supplier base. Demand in Germany for PV products has moved the entire PV industry into an accelerated growth mode, and created like minded programs across Europe. PV expert Paula Mints examines the effect this has had on the market as a whole.
India represents huge opportunities for windpower and other renewables, but not the same opportunities as found in the West. Respect it as a parallel market, argues Laura Dietz of EcoSpace.
It has been 12 years since Vestas installed its first offshore wind farm, consisting of 10 500 kW turbines. Since then Vestas has installed nearly 300 turbines offshore and has an additional 120 under contract for installation in 2007 and 2008, making the companies one of the most experienced suppliers of offshore wind power. But why go offshore in the first place, and what are the challenges that need to be overcome in the next few years? Vestas' Bo Moerup, vice president of Sales, reports.
Present concerns over inflationary pressures on turbine acquisition and installation costs, compounded by grid connection issues and uncertainty over the costs of operating and maintaining wind farms well away from land, have injected an element of caution into the prospects for offshore wind. George Marsh reports on the O&M issue (below), and on page 28, we hear the experiences of Vestas – a pioneer of the offshore wind farm industry.
Continuing his column on offshore wind, Adam Westwood from energy analysts Douglas-Westwood Ltd, provides an overview of industry activity in the North American market.
Wind in the US continues to rank as one of the largest sources of new power generation, and could fast become a mainstream option to meet growing electricity demand. As the Windpower 2007 show in Los Angeles approaches, reFOCUS sets the scene by looking at a flourishing industry, and asks a few of those attending how further, optimistic, wind targets can be achieved.
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