Wind energy come to Russia’s Kamchatka

The wind farm is similar to wind turbines used around the world.

Russia’s Kamchatka far eastern peninsula has had wind turbines installed which are to begin operation in September.

Russia’s Mobile Power Engineering company is currently assembling a wind diesel system in the village of Nikolski, on the Bering Island, to the east of Kamchatka.

The system has passed all safety tests. It is to generate 45% of energy in the region to reduce air pollution.

Russia has a long history of small-scale wind energy use but has never developed large-scale commercial wind energy production.

Most of its current wind production is located in agricultural areas with low population densities where connection to the main energy grid is difficult.

Russia is estimated to have a total potential of 80,000 TWh/yr for wind energy, 6,218 TWh/yr of which is economically feasible.

Most of this potential is found in the southern steppes and the seacoasts of Russia, although in many of these areas the population density is less than 1 person per square km. This low population density means that there is little existing electricity infrastructure currently in place, which hinders development of these resources.

In 2006, Russia had a total installed wind capacity of 15 MW.

Current Russian wind energy projects have a combined capacity of over 1,700 MW. The Russian Wind Energy Association predicts that if Russia achieves its goal of having 4.5% of its energy come from renewable sources by 2020, the country will have a total wind capacity of 7 GW.

In 2010, plans for the construction of a wind power plant in Yeisk, on the Sea of Azov, were announced. It is expected to initially have a capacity of 50 MW, which will become 100 MW a year later.

German engineering company Siemens announced in July 2010, following a visit to Russia by Chancellor Angela Merkel, that it would build wind power plants in Russia. By 2015, the company hopes to install 1,250 MW of capacity in Russia.

Source: Interfax

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