New Daily Release of Wind Energy Data Takes Europe by Storm
The winds of change are blowing through the European Union, and thanks to a new initiative you can now follow the situation more closely than ever.
Did you know that wind energy covered more than 10 per cent of the electricity demand in the EU last year? It occasionally even covered more than 100 per cent of the power demand in some countries according to WindEurope, an industry association.
While the United States only recently finished the construction of its first-ever offshore wind plant off the coast of Rhode Island, the EU is already a global leader in wind energy.
Just a few weeks ago, it was announced the prototype of a new European wind turbine smashed a world record near Østerild, Denmark, by generating 216,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in just one day.
WindEurope launches new #DailyWind tool. Take a look how much #windenergy your country produced yesterday. https://t.co/Fo2atOw3sQ pic.twitter.com/92GCaS9EnY
— WindEurope (@WindEurope) February 6, 2017
Power Mix
To help draw more attention to the increasing share of wind energy in Europe’s power mix, a new digital platform launched this week (6 February) visualises data supplied by transmission system operators, power exchanges, Eurostat and Europe’s wind industry on a daily basis.
The Daily Wind website, hosted by WindEurope, reveals the share of wind in the previous day’s power mix. You can also subscribe to a daily email with the latest numbers and a link to yesterday’s data.
By clicking on individual countries on the map, you can see how much electricity they generated with wind turbines. You can also see how many households or how much industrial activity that could power.
The site shows the top countries in generating wind energy on the day before, and also reveals key statistics about the rest of Europe’s energy sources such as solar, gas and coal.
VP @MarosSefcovic meets Aloys Nghiem, the @WindEurope analyst behind the new #DailyWind data tool launched today https://t.co/Fo2atOw3sQ pic.twitter.com/WZ7V4KRd0X
— WindEurope (@WindEurope) February 6, 2017
Small-Scale Wind
While WindEurope’s tool puts the spotlight on the success of massive wind farms, it’s not just size that matters. Thanks to new advancements in turbine technology, Europeans are starting to rediscover small-scale wind turbines as a way to power buildings.
Start-up companies are developing visually attractive and quiet turbines that are easy to install on rooftops. Inergys, a French start-up supported by EU climate innovation initiative Climate-KIC, is one of the companies exploring the possibilities of turbines with a vertical axis.
You don’t need to be an engineer to run the kind of wind turbine built by Inergys, they are self-starting and instantly adapt to changes in wind direction. The company recently signed deals to power the offices of SCLE – a subsidiary of energy giant Engie – and international telecommunications operator Orange.
Although wind varies, “it is always blowing somewhere in Europe,” says WindEurope.
Find out how Climate-KIC could help your start-up power businesses and homes around Europe.