About Wind Power

Watch a movie clip about wind power

Wind turbines capture the kinetic energy of the wind and convert it to electricity. Wind is a renewable energy source, which is driven by the temperature and pressure differences caused by the energy from solar radiation. Wind power produces clean energy without emissions, and it does not require the environmentally damaging transport of fuel.

The swish of the turbine blades can be disturbing, and, in some situations, the turbine blades can give rise to flickering light and shade. Under the restrictive rules of the Environmental Code, however, turbines are sited sufficiently far from houses to minimise the problems.

Development

The development of wind turbines has been very rapid - since the mid-1980s, turbines have doubled in size every four years. The largest turbines in service in Sweden at present have a tower 80 metres high, swept rotor blade diameter of 90 metres, nameplate capacity of 3 MW, and generate about 8,000 MWh of electricity per year.

Wind turbines generate electricity at a wind speed of 4-25 metres per second. The usual estimate is that there is enough wind to allow a wind turbine to generate electricity during approximately 6,000 of the 8,760 hours in a year, which is about 80 percent of the time. In a good wind location onshore, a modern wind turbine with a nameplate capacity of 1 MW generates just over 2,800 MWh per year, which is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of around 140 electrically-heated houses. At the end of 2008, there were 1,156 wind turbines in Sweden, producing around 2 TWh.

Wind power in Europe

Sweden makes little use of wind power in comparison with the major wind power countries. In Germany, there are over 20,000 turbines, generating some 30 TWh, and Denmark obtains around 20% of all its electricity from wind power. This is not due to Sweden having less favourable conditions for wind power. On the contrary, the country has a long coastline and windswept mountains. The actual problem has been the political and regulatory/financial climate for wind power in Sweden. By one estimate, in

Sweden could obtain up to 30 TWh of its electricity from the wind.

The government's target is to increase the production of renewable energy in Sweden by 10 TWh by 2010. In our judgment, the present system of financial support though electricity certificates, which is intended to generate 17 TWh by 2016, allows for approximately 7 TWh of wind power.

Wind power projects in Sweden

Wind power in brief

The Danish trade association for wind power has an excellent Guided tour, with a great deal of information on how wind power works.

Windpower, building and connecting large wind turbines.

Click here for information from Energimyndigheten (5.2MB)