Wind power in Austria
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
is a landlocked country with a distinguished hilly topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
, meteorological preconditions permit the utilization
Utilization
Utilization is a statistical concept as well as a primary business measure for the rental industry.-Queueing theory:In queueing theory, utilization is the proportion of the system's resources which is used by the traffic which arrives at it. It should be strictly less than one for the system to...
of wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
. First calculations on the basis of wind measuring data assessed at the meteorological stations in the early 1980s rendered the surprising result of annually approx. 6,600 to 10,000 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of technically exploitable wind energy potential in Austria.
Austria ranked as the world’s seventeenth largest producer of wind power with an installed nameplate capacity of 995 megawatt (MW) in 2008, behind Ireland and ahead of Greece
Wind power in Greece
Wind power in Greece is about to expand by 352% by 2010 to meet the European target of 20% coverage of energy needs from renewable sources. Currently there are 1,028 wind turbines installed throughout Greece and the number is set to reach 2,587 wind turbines before the end of 2010.According to the...
.
History
Back in the 1980s, there were huge private wind measurements and experiments with smaller plants. In 1994, initiated by Councilor Waltner, 110 kilowatt (kW) wind turbineWind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
was set up in St. Pölten. Another wind turbine was put into operation six months later in Zistersdorf
Zistersdorf
Zistersdorf is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria.-References:...
. In 1995, the first wind turbine was built with civic participation in Michelbach
Michelbach, Lower Austria
Michelbach is a town in the district of Sankt Pölten-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria....
.
In January 1996, the first turbine of the type E-40 with 500 kW was placed in Eberschwang
Eberschwang
Eberschwang is a municipality in the district of Ried im Innkreis in Upper Austria, Austria.-References:...
. Not only the absolute largest wind turbines were placed there, but with two plants the first „wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
“ was established. In the course of 1996, no signs of new funding arrangements had emerged. It led by the end of the year in a panic reaction from the first „boom“ for wind power.
36 wind turbines with 12 MW and an annual total of 18 million kW of work hours had been set up between New Year's Day and New Year's Eve. After 1996, there were, only in exceptional cases, economic conditions for individual projects, including the wind park in Zurndorf
Zurndorf
Zurndorf is a town in the district of Neusiedl am See in Burgenland in Austria.- People :* Andreas Grailich* Hans Niessl, born here* Ignaz Aurelius Fessler, born here* Fritz Spiegl, born here...
with six plants.
The pressure of individual countries and the idea that desired objectives could be reached nationwide cheaper than by any nation-state alone resulted into negotiations between federal and state governments to a new nationwide Green Electricity Act 2002 (Ökostromgesetz 2002) in spring 2002.
Wind turbines with a capacity of a total of 276 MW were built in 2003. The plant output tripled from 139 MW (end 2002) to 415 MW (end 2003) within a year.
Life span of wind turbines
According to manufacturers, the life span of wind turbines amounts to 25 years. Important influences on the life span are site specific (wind speed, storms, icing conditions) and the quality of the maintenance of the turbines.External costs
External costs are not a part of the investment and operation costs, and are paid by the taxTax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
payer and therefore by the public. Examples of external costs for fossil fuel and nuclear electricity production are political and military securing of the access to these energy sources, costs of green house gase emissions, cleaning up of spilled oil, police operations during the transporting of nuclear wastes and other similar activities. There are no external costs for the production of electricity from wind. Wind power is a product with no hidden costs and economically the most inexpensive form of energy production.
Property for wind turbines
Most of the property owners are farmers. They have an additional source of income by leasingLeasing
Leasing is a process by which a firm can obtain the use of a certain fixed assets for which it must pay a series of contractual, periodic, tax deductible payments....
their land to the wind park operator. The prices paid for property leases for wind turbines are many times more than would normally be earned by farming the property.
A wind turbine needs an area of up to 500 square metres (5,382 square feet) and the rest of the property can still be farmed without any problem. A wind turbine can also be easily and quickly dismantled.
Costs of electricity production
According to the costs for infrastructureInfrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
, a kW of installed capacity costs between 880 € and 1,385 €. (At the Tauernwindpark a kW costs 1,240 €).
Installed capacity growth
The table shows an annual increase in installed wind power capacity.| Year | Nameplate capacity (MW) |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 77 |
| 2001 | 94 |
| 2002 | 139 |
| 2003 | 415 |
| 2004 | 606 |
| 2005 | 819 |
| 2006 | 965 |
| 2007 | 982 |
| 2008 | 995 |
Advantages
The use of wind power reduces the necessity for importing electricity from abroad and strengthens the regional economy. Just like water and wood, it is a natural resource that is used in rural areas. Wind energy is a more permanent type of energy. The wind will exist until the time the sun exists. Theoretically, if all the wind power available to humankind is harnessed, there can be ten times of energy we use readily available. Production of wind power does not release any pollutants. A wind park with 6 MW installed capacity will reduce approximately the following emissions yearly:| Carbon dioxide | 13,600,000 kg |
| Sulphur dioxide | 20,720 kg |
| Nitrogen oxide | 10,220 kg |
| Carbon monoxide | 8,550 kg |
| Dust | 560 kg |
| Nuclear wastes | 72 kg |
Compared to oil and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
, wind power does not pose a threat to people or the environment. No war has to be fought to secure its accessibility and there is no danger concerning the transportation from one place to another.
See also
- Energy in AustriaEnergy in AustriaEnergy in Austria describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Austria.Austria is one of the foremost producers of hydroelectric power in Europe...
- European Wind Energy AssociationEuropean Wind Energy AssociationThe European Wind Energy Association is an association based in Brussels, promoting the use of wind power in Europe. It has over 600 members from nearly 60 countries including manufacturers with a 90% share of the world wind power market, component suppliers, research institutes, national wind and...
- Global Wind Energy CouncilGlobal Wind Energy CouncilThe Global Wind Energy Council was established in 2005 to provide a credible and representative forum for the entire wind energy sector at an international level...
- Wind power in the European UnionWind power in the European UnionAccording to the European Wind Energy Association report of February 2011, there are over 12,000 wind turbines in Europe with a total capacity of 84 GW. The European Union accounts for over 98% of that total. In 2010, €12.7 billion was invested in EU wind farms and 9.3 GW of new power capacity was...
External links
- Interessengemeinschaft Windkraft - Austrian Wind Energy Association