The power's in the wind

18 November 2006

Wind energy is next on the global agenda, but our feathered friends don't quite like it, discovers Shubha Khandekar

Bridgetown in Barbados, on the eastern Caribbean Coast, came to a grinding halt on November 1 due to a sudden power failure across the island when, according to some reports, a monkey climbed a high voltage pole as the backup systems failed.

While the Barbados Light and Power Company (BL&P), until recently the sole seller of electricity in the country, struggled with explanations, national industry has resolved to generate its own power. BL&P, in the meanwhile plans to expand its generating capacity with the help of a wind farm in the north of the island.

In the global search for alternatives to fossil fuels, wind farms are being seen as having a huge potential of power generation. Wind energy strengthens energy security, protects the environment, and creates good jobs. The Global Wind Energy Outlook 2006 report, by the Global Wind Energy Council and Greenpeace International, estimate that wind power could supply 34 per cent of the world's electricity by 2050.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has declared in its Third Quarter Market Report that wind power generation will hit a record 2,750 megawatts (MW) through 2006. In Texas, FPL Energy's 735-MW Horse Hollow Wind Energy Centre completed a project this quarter that has shattered all previous records for the country's and the world's largest wind farm.