From: howard.smith@spacebbs.com (Howard Smith) 
Newsgroups: sci.energy
Subject: Wind Energy Weekly #5 2/2
Date: 10 Jan 93 14:08:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: SPACE BBS - Menlo Park, CA - 10 Lines + 4gB - 415-323-4193
Reply-To: howard.smith@spacebbs.com (Howard Smith) 

>>> Continued from previous message
     WEG is also completing a 24-turbine project at Cold Northcott
in Cornwall, and another four turbines at Chelker Reservoir in
Yorkshire.  The manufacturer also plans to install 16 machines at
Llangwyryfon in Wales during 1993.  Previously, WEG installed 21
turbines in California in a joint venture with U.S. Windpower.

     In an effort to counter growing foreign presence in the U.K.
market, WEG has stretched its MS-3 turbine from 33 meters to 35.4
meters in diameter (see "Britain's WEG Rolls Out New 35-Meter
Turbine," Wind Energy Weekly #517, October 5, 1992, p. 2).
According to the company, the new "value-engineered" turbine is 25
percent more cost effective than the 33-meter model.  The recent 10
percent devaluation of the British pound should also make its
turbines more attractive, WEG said.


WIND TURBINES SAIL THROUGH
HEAVY WEATHER IN WEST U.K.

     Wind power plants in Wales and Cornwall have withstood their
first major test: a hurricane force storm in mid-November.
     Ian Mays of the British firm Renewable Energy Systems reports
that the company's 15 Vestas-DWT turbines at Carland Cross in south
Cornwall performed as expected and sustained no damage.  Although
Wales experienced the brunt of the storm, and reports of severe
flooding made the news not only in the UK but also in the U.S.,
none of the recently installed turbines were damaged.

     David Leivesley of British turbine manufacturer Wind Energy
Group and Ron Fawcett of U.S. wind developer SeaWest Power Systems
said they haven't heard of any problems with their turbines now
operating in Wales.  According to new reports, peak wind speeds in
the gale reached 80 mph.


EC CONTINUES ATTACK
ON ENERGY MONOPOLIES

     Despite recent setbacks, Sir Leon Brittan, the European
Community's commissioner on competition, has said that he will use
all the power at the EC's disposal to break monopolies in power
generation.

     Brittan, an outspoken proponent of open competition among
European industries, is specifically targeting gas and electricity
companies, according to an article from the French news service
Enerpresse.

     Two years ago, the EC had directed France to divest itself of
its holdings in Electricite de France and Gaz de France, two
state-owned utilities, and to open the market to new suppliers.
France's National Assembly responded with a bill to legalize
independent power generation and to authorize new gas distribution
companies. However, a backlash from organized labor scuttled the
French plan. Brittan's recent statements indicate the EC will soon
try again to liberalize the market.

     In a related development, Claude Desama, president of the
European Parliament's Commission on Energy, recently held a seminar
on opening access to Europe's transmission network.  Desama made
the proposal as part of opening the electricity distribution system
to competition.

     Wind development is proceeding most swiftly in Europe in
countries where the electricity distribution and generation system
is characterized by several independent entities, such as England
and Germany.  In contrast, countries with powerful state-owned
enterprises such as France are lagging behind.


WIND GENERATORS LIGHT
ZIMBABWE HEALTH CLINICS

     Small British wind turbines with a rotor diameter of one meter
are providing lighting to rural health clinics in the African
nation of Zimbabwe for emergency operations at night and to extend
visiting hours, according to the journal New Scientist.

     Before the advent of the mini-turbines, the article said,
doctors were forced to operate by the light of candles or paraffin
lamps, since over 75 percent of Zimbabwe is not served by an
electric power distribution grid.

     Eastern Zimbabwe is a hilly region with some exposed sites
suitable for wind.  Wind speed measurements are taken before
installation to ensure that the turbines will produce the desired
level of electricity, the article said.

     Wind power, it added, is a relatively recent addition to
Zimbabwe's energy plans, which has previously thought only in terms
of solar power when considering renewable energy technologies.

     The British machines are described by Nick Murgatroyd, a
consultant with the United Kingdom's Overseas Development
Administration, as easy to install and maintain.

---
 . SLMR 2.1a . My wife and I got along fine for 20 yrs, then we met.
                                                  
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