OSLO - Wind energy will increase to make up between five and 22 percent of world power generated by 2030 and countries must do more to expand electricity grids to cope, a study by pro-wind groups showed on Tuesday.

The report, by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and environmental group Greenpeace, also said nations in Latin America and Africa were shifting to wind alongside established markets in Europe, North America, China and India.

It said wind turbines accounted for about 2.3 percent of world electricity demand in 2010. Growth in China had outpaced previous projections by GWEC and Greenpeace but the United States had lagged, partly because of the economic downturn.

“We are still very optimistic, but grid issues are becoming more and more important for the wind industry,” Sven Teske, senior energy expert at Greenpeace, told Reuters. Grid capacity was lacking in many nations.

The study said wind would rise to 5 percent of world electricity demand by 2030, or 1,400 terawatt hours (TWh), assuming 2009 reference scenarios by the International Energy Agency, which foresee a slowdown in wind growth in coming years.

In the most positive investment scenario, GWEC and Greenpeace said wind could generate up to 22 percent of global power by 2030, or 5,400 TWh, if the world took strong action to promote renewables.

GWEC’s corporate members include Vestas (VWS.CO), Siemens (SIEGn.DE), GE (GE.N) Energy, Gamesa (GAM.MC) and Sinovel.

The report said there were major uncertainties about the future of stalled U.N. talks on a new treaty to slow global warming that would promote investments in renewables in a shift from fossil fuels.

TURBINE EVERY 30 MINUTES

Teske said the wind industry was putting up one new wind turbine every 30 minutes, with one in three in China. He said Greenpeace and GWEC wanted a new turbine every 7 minutes to reach the highest goal.

He said Germany was likely to be among the first nations to face problems of grid capacity with new offshore wind turbines coming on stream. He said the country lacked power transmission lines to take electricty south from the coast.

“It’s not a limiting factor now but it could be within the next five years or so,” he said. The report also said that China was among nations that needed to do more.

“In China…the grid infrastructure is proving to be a serious issue, especially in areas with high wind speeds, such as the Northwest, the North and the Northeast,” it said.

Teske said that wind was getting more investments in some developing nations. “We see that there is movement both in Latin America and in Africa, in some every unexpected places like Kenya, Egypt or Eritrea,” he said.

Reuters

Along Eritrea’s coastline, in the desert strip between Massawa and Assab, most people live from fishing. This is because the region is not suitable for green agriculture as it belongs to the dry and hot Danakil desert. Since it is difficult to obtain fuel to power boats, local fishermen face problems in going out far to the Red Sea to find rich fishing grounds. Because the heat of the water surface close to the coast reaches high temperatures, fish swarms leave the coastal waters. In addition to this, lack of fuel leads to a shortage of ice, because refrigerators depend on fuel powered electricity from power plants.

Ice is required as there is a need to keep the fish fresh while transporting, storing and trading the catch around markets in the region. Fishermen rather sell the fish freshly caught while on sea to Yemen. This shows that the limitation of resources keeps the local fishing industry below its potential.

However, there is a “wind of change” coming in the name of the Wind Energy Application Pilot Project financed by the UNDP and the Global Environment Facility. Under the project it is planned to provide electricity for seven villages in the area in 2009.

The prospects that the venture will be successful are promising. According to the local officials and the responsible implementation team of Turkish engineers, wind speeds of over seven knots are required to produce sufficient electricity. Along the Red Sea cost of Eritrea, winds can reach up to 10 knots or more. The planned wind park installations in Assab and the region will reduce fuel dependency and reduce expenditure of fuel imports. Read more: IRIN.