Korea’s wind power efforts seen coming up short

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Korea’s wind power efforts seen coming up short

One alternative source of energy is the wind. But Korea is still at the beginning stage of development of wind power, while other industrialized countries such as Denmark and Germany are moving to an advanced level. According to the Korea Energy Management Corp., the nation could potentially produce 660 terawatt-hours of electricity annually through wind power. A terawatt-hour is equivalent to 1 million megawatt-hours. The figure is 2.3 times the total amount of power generation in 2001, which was 285 terawatt-hours. That means Korea could supply all of its electricity demands through wind power if developed properly. But there are only 65 wind power plants in Korea, including Haengwon on Jeju Island, Saemangeum in North Jeolla province and Daegwallyeong in Gangwon province. The gross capacity of the plants is 23 megawatts, making up only 0.1 percent of the nation’s total electric power generation. In addition, Korea is only expecting to develop a 750-kilowatt wind power plant soon, while other industrialized nations are developing 4 to 5 megawatt wind power generators. “Korea’s wind power plants are less durable than those in foreign countries, which can operate for decades, and are behind in material technology,” said Kyong Nam-ho, the head of the Wind Power and Fluid Machinery Research Center at the Korea Institute of Energy Research. Most of the domestic wind power generators are imported. The average installation cost was $1,600 per kilowatt-hour as of 2001, which is 1.6 times that of other developed countries. Experts pointed out that it is urgent to lower the cost of power generation by reducing the installation charges. “It would be better to establish wind power plants on the west and south coasts [rather than inland], considering the economic efficiency,” said Mr. Kyong. In contrast to the situation in Korea, Denmark’s Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Farm on the ocean near the Copenhagen airport is the largest wind power generation complex in the world. Twenty wind power generators started operating in 2000 and each can produce 2 megawatts of electricity, which can supply 700 households. The electricity produced at the Middelgrunden farm makes up 3 percent of Copenhagen’s electricity needs. “About 5,400 wind power generators are established around Denmark, and the power produced here accounts for 16 to 20 percent of the total electricity production of the nation,” said Niels Lund, a manager of the farm. He expected the rate to rise to 50 percent by 2030 as the government and the people fully support wind power. Electricity production through wind power has increased four-fold worldwide since 1997, while in Europe the number of wind power generators is four times higher than in 2002. Denmark-based BTM Consult, which analyzes the wind power market, forecast that wind power would account for more than 10 percent of total worldwide electricity demands by 2020, compared to 0.5 percent last year. According to BTM Consult, Germany generated the most electricity through wind last year at 14,612 megawatts. “Green” energy policies are supported by the governing Social Democratic Party and the Green Party. Behind the European wind power “renaissance” lies the technology that has lowered the cost of power generation. Denmark has put effort into technology development since the 1980s, and the nation accounts for half of the worldwide wind power generation market. Due to the high-end wind power generation system, the average cost of electricity generation has plunged to 4 cents per kilowatt-hour from 52 cents in 1980. Installation charges dropped to $750 to $950 per kilowatt-hour from $3,000 in the 1980s. It costs about 30 percent more if the generator is located on the ocean, compared to inland. Both governments’ full support helped propel wind power. The German government provides support of 4 cents per kilowatt-hour of wind power. It also introduced a system that requires electric power companies to purchase alternative electricity sources, including wind power, for fixed prices over a 20-year period. “Electricity prices from wind power generators still cost three times those from cheap energy sources, such as coal,” said Guenter Brandes, director general of energy at Germany’s Ministry of Economics and Labor. “Through the price fixing system, the government allows companies to recover the installation charges and to earn stable profits when operating the generators,” he added. Germany supplies 6 percent of its total electricity demands through 15,000 wind power generators. by Special Reporting Team
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