It’s B-a-a-a-a-a-c-k !
After a horrendous 2010, primarily due to very weak US order flows, and China’s shift to predominately domestic supply, the ex-Chinese industry seems to be recovering. Orders do not yet cover annual budgets, and prices are roughly 25% below the 2008 peak, but demand, and innovation, are back. New wind-based markets include Eastern Europe, the FSU, and offshore Everywhere, as leading vendors rush to announce larger, newer tech, products to meet much more difficult operating conditions. Vestas, Gamesa, Goldwind, and several (mostly) Chinese nuclear-based engineering firms are accelerating their on and offshore order book. New direct drive designs, embraced by several Chinese developers, offer much lower maintenance requirements for offshore systems.
Integrated Renewable Power Concepts
Backup Battery Storage – More economic than Electric Vehicles.
It’s early, and perhaps not the first choice, but several pilot projects are using large scale batteries to store intermittent wind/solar power for later use. Grid-scale storage has several advantages over electric vehicle applications — reduced space concerns, higher value of electric power, reduced infrastructure challenges. This is probably not the best scheme — why not time shift 3 am coal/power for peak market sale – but, for islands and other isolated markets, where conventional power can run $0.40/kwh, solar or wind with battery backup can be economic. A123, ENER 1, and many system integrators are starting to play here. The natural integrated concept, including renewables, is solar or wind with natural gas backup. There is plenty of excess natural gas capacity to support current/planned intermittent loads, but it is not always available at the same time that solar or wind IS intermittent (but there’s plenty of nat gas capacity at 3 am!). The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for an INTEGRATED solar (or wind) and natural gas system, in the US Southwest, is roughly $0.25/kwh — higher than either, but lower than peak pricing in the region.