Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Wind power is one of the sources of renewable energy which has to be developed further in order to lessen our dependence on non renewable sources of energy. It's mainly oil and coal which have to be replaced by green energy. Wind power is already established in many countries, for example Germany, The United States of America and Denmark but it has to be continually developed and expanded to meet the needs of the growing energy consumption in the world. During the last few years many types of small wind turbines have appeared on the market. These small wind turbines are an alternative to the big wind turbines or power generators which demand huge sums of investment money.

A new target group can now buy the small wind turbines in order to cover their own usage of electricity. It could be farmers which want to produce their own energy in order to cover their high energy consumption. It could also be land owners who would like to make use of their land and produce enough power to cover their energy consumption. There are many types of wind turbines fit to meet many different needs.

The purpose of this essay is to look into the reasons behind a decision to buy a small wind turbine. The problems facing owners of wind turbines and the obstacles hindering the development and establishing of new wind power stations are also discussed. In order to demonstrate this, a case study has been completed. The empirical material has been collected through six qualitative interviews with owners of wind turbines.

The conclusion is that it's only worth it to venture on a wind turbine project if the winds in the area are suitable and strong enough. Another important factor is the place of the wind power station in relation to neighbours and other buildings in the area. The electricity price also plays an important role. If the price of electricity increases it's more profitable to produce electricity oneself.

There are also some aspects on why it's not worth while to have your own small wind turbine. It's especially the wind force and the electricity price that are important for the profitability of wind power. If the electricity price decreases the profitability of the wind power decreases with it. If the wind force isn't strong enough the turbines cannot produce enough, if any, electricity. If the wind power station is in such a place that it might disturb neighbours it should not be built.

Something which all interviewees thought was important was an increase in the possibilities to sell off the electricity that exceeds the needs of the producer. Solving that problem would add to the profitability of wind turbines and also interest more people in investing in small wind power stations.