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Wind for energyTuesday, March 03, 2009 The conversion of wind energy to various other useful forms, like electricity, is known as wind power. Wind energy is converted into these forms using wind turbines. Wind energy can be converted into electrical energy by the use of an electrical generator. The first use of wind energy was through windmills. Windmills had engines which used to produce energy using wind. This energy was usually used in rural and agricultural areas for grinding, pumping, hammering and various farm needs. Even today, wind energy is used in large scale wind farms to provide electricity to rural areas and other far reaching locations. Wind energy is one of the largest forms of Green Energy used in the world today. it is highly practical in places where the wind speed is 10 mph. Advantages One of the greatest advantages of wind energy is that it is ample. Secondly, it is renewable. Some other advantages of Wind Energy are that it is widely distributed, cheap, and also reducing toxic gas emissions. Wind Energy is also advantageous over traditional methods of creating energy, in the sense that it is getting cheaper and cheaper to produce wind energy. Wind Energy may soon be the cheapest way to produce energy on a large scale. The cost of producing wind energy has come down by at least eighty percent since the eighties. Along with economy, wind energy is also said to diminish the greenhouse effect. Also, wind energy generates no pollution. Wind Energy is also a more permanent type of energy. The wind will exist till the time the sun exists, which is roughly another four billion years. Theoretically, if all the wind power available to humankind is harnessed, there can be ten times of energy we use, readily available. One other advantage of wind energy is that it is readily available around the globe. Wind energy may be the answer to the globe's question of energy in the face of the rising petroleum and gas prices. The Batakunku windmill project The Batakunku project comprises a 150 kVA generator using wind energy. The Batakunku windmill is a philanthropic project for the villagers of Batakunku which will provide electricity for the villagers when there is wind, and any excess will be pumped into the transmission network and power obtained from NAWEC in case there is no wind. The Wind Energy Project agreed to a Power Purchase agreement with NAWEC in 2008 and subsequently submitted an application for a licence to PURA. PURA then evaluated the application by gathering all the necessary information in accordance with the Electricity Act of 2005. The application was then forwarded to the department of state for Energy by PURA with a recommendation to grant a licence. A new containerised transformer of 200kVA is already stationed on a piece of land next to the Kombo Coastal Road. The land was provided by the Village Development Committee and the Alkalo. About eighty (80) compounds have been connected to an underground distribution low voltage network. The main sponsor is a resident German called Peter Weissfeldt. This project acts as a pilot to demonstrate that The Gambia can commercially exploit utility scale wind energy project and offers a viable option to produce an electric energy from the wind. Author: By Kojo |
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