The presence of strong gusts and flat, wide-open spaces would appear
tailor-made for the production of electricity from wind energy, yet the
reality of harvesting renewable energy is never that straightforward. As
Scientific American reported last week, Latin America is
beginning to tap into the wind as a source of clean (or at least not
fossil fuel-derived) energy. But further investigation into the
situation in Colombia reveals the difficulties inherent in building out a
wind-energy infrastructure.
Despite the successful 15-turbine Jepírachi Wind Project (pdf)
in the country's northern La Guajira Desert,
Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), one of the country's largest
utilities, says it has no plans to expand Jepírachi at this time.
Whereas the project has been delivering electricity to Colombia's
national grid since 2004, EPM is finding that wind power is more
expensive to deliver than the hydropower that provides 70 percent of the
country's energy needs, EPM spokesman Luis Fernando Rodriguez said in
an e-mail to Scientific American translated from Spanish.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Observations: Deflated expectations: It takes more than a gust to harness wind energy
Author: Larry Greenemeier
