News Reading University to build a wind farm

[kev67]

Yes, you get a ROC for every MWh of renewable energy you produce. If the ROCs are worth more than gold, that is because the fine payable for not producing your quota of renewable energy has been set too high. I suppose that's up to Ofgen or BERR or whoever sets the fine.

[kev67]

It was an unusually windy day yesterday and I noticed the wind turbine next to Madjeski Stadium really spinning around, so I went to have a look. For anyone who's interested, I noted what the electronic display said:

CO2 saved 773 tonnes
Energy 2663 MWh
Power 0.635 MW
Powering 1115 homes

Other stats mentioned on the board next to it:

Capacity 2MW
Generation 3.5 million kWh
Equivalent homes 1,063
Hub height 85m
Rotor diameter 70m
CO2 savings 1018 tonnes
SO2 savings 25 tonnes
NOx savings 11 tonnes

It would have been nice to know what the wind speed up there was. I doubt the power generated ever gets up to 2MW very often, although it's proportional to the cube of wind speed, so if it increased again by half it would get there. I'm not sure what the 3.5MWh and 1018 tonnes relates to. It looks like it's two thirds there already and it's only been up a couple of years.

[kepler]

Are those kind of displays available on all wind turbines? That would be quite cool if they were

[kev67]

I don't think so. I can't remember seeing any at the wind farm I cycled past in Devon or Cornwall, or any of the hill sides in Ireland. I think the one near the Madjeski is partly a PR project. It's on a relatively new business estate called Green Park and there was a bit of a blurb near the turbine stating the estate hadn't damaged any conservation areas:

"Development at Green Park has enhanced the environment without damage to any potential landscapes or designated conservation areas..."

I'm not sure how much I believe it. The park was built just before the dot com bubble burst, and it's always seemed to be a bit of a ghost town to me. I don't really think it should have been built. I'm sure it looked really great in the plans, but it's always seemed a bit depressing. It was the bit we always used to hate running around most in the Reading half-marathon (although the wind, lack of support and having to loop away from the finish were probably factors as well).

[emz]

Will the one on the Reading campus have a reading on it? Might help to make students a bit greener if they openly display how much energy it's creating.

[kev67]

I don't know. They won't actually be on the main campus. Reading University own quite a bit of land south of the M4 for their agricultural research. Not many students actually get down there and it's a bit inaccessible, so I don't know whether they'll bother with displays.

[kev67]

Reading University is embarking in quite a large building programme over the next few years. All these building will have to be energy efficient, as is the newly opened student services building which provides its space heating by ground source heat pumps, so hopefully students will be getting the hint. One of my lecturers is keen to get a wind turbine built on the main campus, although whether it will happen, I don't know.