The total worldwide annual primary energy consumption in 2008 was 435 quadrillion
BTUs and over 110 quadrillion BTUs in the United States of America. Approximately 40 percent of the total primary energy is used in generating electricity. Of that, nearly 70 percent of the energy used in private homes and offices is in the form of electricity. 850 GW of electrical generating capacity is now installed in the U.S.A. to meet this demand. For most of this century, America’s electric demand has increased with the gross national product (GNP). At this rate, the U.S. will need to install additional 200 GW capacities by the year 2020.

electricity-consumption-chartIn many parts of the world, the decision for new capacity installation decisions today are becoming more and more complicated because of difficulties in finding sites for new
generation and transmission facilities of any kind.

Alternatives to nuclear and fossil fuel power are renewable energy
technologies (ocean, solar, wind, hydrhydro, geothermal and biomass). It has become increasingly difficult to carry through large scale hydroelectric projects because of competing use of land and water. Existing hydro plant’s re-licensing requirements may even lead to removal of some dams to protect or restore wildlife habitats. Among other renewable power sources, wind and solar has recently experienced a rapid growth around the world. Having wide geographical spread, they can be generated near the load centres, thus simultaneously eliminating the need of high voltage transmission lines running through rural and urban landscapes.

Globally, many countries offer incentives and guaranteed price for the
renewable power. Under such incentives, the growth rate of the wind power
in Germany and India has been phenomenal.

Utility Perspective

Until the early 1990’s, the interest in the renewable energy was confined primarily
among private investors. However, as the considerations of fuel diversity,
environmental concerns and market uncertainties are becoming important
factors into today’s electric utility resource planning, renewable energy technologies
found their place in the utility resource portfolio.

Wind and solar power, in particular, have the following advantages to the
electric utilities:

• Wind and Solar power is highly modular as their capacity can be increased
incrementally to match with gradual load growth.
• Construction lead time is significantly shorter than those of the
conventional plants, thus reducing the financial and regulatory risks.
• They bring diverse fuel sources that are free of cost and free of
pollution.

Because of these benefits, many utilities and regulatory bodies are increasingly
interested in acquiring hands on experience with renewable energy
technologies in order to plan effectively for the future.

Modularity

The electricity demand in the U.S.A. grew at 6 to 7 percent until the late
1970s, tapering to just 1.5 percent in 2005.

The 7 percent growth rate of the 1970s meant doubling the electrical energy
demand and the installed capacity every 10 years. The decline in the growth
rate since then has come partly from the improved efficiency in electricity
utilization through programs funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The
small growth rate of the 1990s is expected to continue well into the next century.

electricity-growth-chart

The economic size of conventional power plants has been 500 MW to
1,000 MW capacity. These sizes could be justified in the past, as the entire
power plant of that size, once built, would be fully loaded in just a few years.
At a 2 percent growth rate, however, it could take decades before a 500 MW
plant could be fully loaded after it is commissioned in service. Utilities are
unwilling to take such long-term risks in making investment decisions. This
has created a strong need of modularity in today’s power generation industry.
Both the wind and the solar photovoltaic power are highly modular. They
allow installations in stages as needed without losing the economy of size
in the first installation. The photovoltaic (pv) is even more modular than the
wind. It can be sized to any capacity, as the solar arrays are priced directly
by the peak generating capacity in watts, and indirectly by square foot. The
wind power is modular within the granularity of the turbine size. Standard
wind turbines come in different sizes ranging from tens of kW to hundreds
of kW. Prototypes of a few MW wind turbines had been successfully tested and are widespread commercially available in Europe. For utility scale installations, standard
wind turbines in the recent past have been around 500-1000 kW, but are now
in the 1000-1,500 kW range. A large plant consists of the required number
and size of wind turbines for the initially needed capacity. More towers are
added as needed in the future with no loss of economy.

In developing countries such as China or India, the demand has been
rising at a 10 percent growth rate or more. This growth rate, when viewed
with the large population base, makes these two countries rapidly growing
electrical power markets for all sources of electrical energy, including
renewables.

Emission-Free

In 2008, the U.S.A. produced over 3 trillion kWh of electricity, 70 percent of it
(2 trillion kWh) from fossil fuels, a majority of that came from coal. The
resulting emission is estimated to be 2 billion tons of CO2, 15 million tons of
SO2 and 6 million tons of NOx. The health effects of these emissions are of
significant concern to the U.S. public. The electromagnetic field emission
around the high voltage transmission lines is another concern that has also
recently become an environmental issue.

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