the research consultancy for energy technologies

Wind

  • Small-scale wind turbines: leading companies?

    Small-scale wind turbines: leading companies?

    This screen compares the offerings of a dozen small-scale wind turbine providers, with power ratings below 30kW, for residential energy generation. Costs range from $1,000-6,000/kW. The three key challenges are performance, relaibility and cost.

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  • Carbon fiber: the miracle material?

    Carbon fiber: the miracle material?

    Energy transition will catapult carbon fiber demand upwards from today’s 120kTpa baseline, across wind turbine blades, more efficient vehicles and hydrogen tanks. Hence this 16-page note explores opportunities, economics, CO2 intensity and leading companies. 

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  • Carbon fiber: energy economics?

    Carbon fiber: energy economics?

    Carbon fiber production costs are estimated at $25/kg in this data-file, in order to generate a 10% IRR at a new world-scale carbon fiber plant. Energy economics are broken down across the value chain. The production process will likely emit 30 tons of CO2 per ton of carbon fiber if powered by a mixture of…

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  • Offshore wind: will costs follow Moore’s Law?

    Offshore wind: will costs follow Moore’s Law?

    Some commentators expect the levelized costs of offshore wind to fall another two-thirds by 2050. The justification is some eolian equivalent of Moore’s Law. Our 16-page report draws five contrasts. Wind costs are most likely to move sideways, even as the industry builds larger turbines. Implications for developers are explored.

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  • Siemens Gamesa: giant wind turbine breakthroughs?

    Siemens Gamesa: giant wind turbine breakthroughs?

    Siemens Gamesa is a leader in offshore wind, pushing the boundaries towards a 14MW turbine with an incredible 222m rotor diameter. Our main debate from reviewing its patents is whether the engineering challenges of large turbines is consistent with deflation expectations.

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  • Moore’s law: causes and new energies conclusions?

    Moore’s law: causes and new energies conclusions?

    Moore’s law entails that computing performance doubles every 18-months. Which has held true since 1965. This exponential progress has been driven by three positive feedback loops. Can these same feedback loops unlock a similar trajectory for new energies costs? We find mixed evidence.

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  • Inter-correlations between offshore wind farms?

    Inter-correlations between offshore wind farms?

    This data-file examines the correlations between different wind farms’ generation rates. The output from individual wind farms is 67% correlated on average, at any given point in time, and as high as 90% with a 100km x 100km area. Auto-correlation was also high, as windy/non-windy periods can last 2-10 days.

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  • Prevailing wind: new opportunities in grid volatility?

    Prevailing wind: new opportunities in grid volatility?

    UK wind power has almost trebled since 2016. But its output is volatile, now varying between 0-50% of the total grid. Hence this 14-page note assesses the volatility, using granular, hour-by-hour data from 2020, to outline which backup opportunities are best-placed.

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  • Floating offshore wind: what challenges?

    Floating offshore wind: what challenges?

    A dozen challenges for floating offshore wind projects are ranked in this 4-page note, by reviewing 50 recent patents across the industry. We model these challenges are likely to double capex and levelized costs, compared with traditional offshore wind. The potential for floating offshore wind is also location dependent.

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  • Floating offshore wind: what challenges?

    Floating offshore wind: what challenges?

    This data-file ranks the greatest challenges for the floating offshore wind industry, by reviewing 50 recent patents, filed by leading companies. The challenges are relatively immutable. They likely double capex and levelized costs, compared with traditional offshore wind.

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