Storage Of Wind Energy At Sea

Renewable Energy World had an interesting article today reporting on a Belgian project to store wind energy at sea. The country will totally abandon nuclear power by 2025, and this is one of their projects to become more independent.

Hawaii has two reasons to show interest with this program. First, our best wind regimes are at sea between our islands. Second, the concept, perhaps, can also be applied to other pathways, such as ocean thermal energy conversion. In the design of floating platforms, it might be of advantage to include this option.

Essentially, the storage involves a pumped-hydro system to store excess wind energy generated during off-peak hours. The island will be almost two miles in diameter located perhaps three miles offshore. This will not be a floating structure. Pacific atolls might be ideal for this purpose.

Also in this issue of REW is a clip on their solar energy outlook for 2013. Finally, they reported:

Obama Gives "Sustainable Energy" Top Billing in Inaugural Address

While perhaps a slight exaggeration, the President did give the development of sustainable energy equal billing with his half dozen priorities, including global warming. He linked these two subjects to provide a future solution. This article actually was included with permission from Power Engineering.

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