Wind Power: History, State, and Prospects

Abstract

Many countries around the world began to actively develop renewable energy after the energy crisis of the mid 1970s, when commercial technologies for its use emerged, and nowadays, progress in this field develops much more rapidly than it was expected a decade ago. Modern technologies of using renewable energy sources (RES) are attractive owing to their advantages: they are widely available and inexhaustible; they feature smaller pollution of the environment; their use helps save traditional nonrenewable fossil energy resources; they involve the use of modern high technologies; in addition, they help create new skilled jobs. Russia, despite its large reserves of oil, gas, and coal, is also interested in using RES as an important means of diversifying the country's fuel and energy balance, energy saving, and improving energy security and efficiency with centralized and decentralized supply of power to all regions of the country. This is especially important for regions that face big problems with ensuring reliable and high-quality supply of power. One of the most important areas of renewable energy is wind energy; according to different estimates, it can provide up to 50% or more of the future energy consumption. An attempt is made to estimate the history, state, and prospects for development of the world and domestic wind power industry. The development stages and the role of domestic and industry science, and also the possibilities of the domestic production facilities and ways of improving it are shown. In the course of restructuring and reorganizing the domestic economy, research and development structures, the domestic industry constructing power machinery and equipment, radio electronics, instrument making, and other industries that form the basis for RES and, in particular, wind power, were destroyed to a significant extent. The potential of wind energy, as well as that of other RES that are "not traditional" for the Russian energy sector, has not been fully employed as yet, although in principle, they can solve many energy problems. This is also due to the fact that the current price level in the wholesale electricity market is lower than the net cost of electricity generated by means of RES. This is especially important in solving matters concerned with arrangement of decentralized power supply in Russia, with its vast territory, poorly developed infrastructure, and the world's harshest climate, in which, according to various estimates, from 50 to 70% of the territory is not covered by reliable guaranteed power supply. The problems of successful and efficient development of RES, including wind energy, should become the most important issues already in the near future, and it should be noted that positive steps in this direction have been taken in recent years. At the same time, it should be understood that RES are not an alternative to the "traditional large-scale" power industry, but rather complement it, occupying its own very specific niche.