Decentralization of energy is growing: WADE
The World Alliance for Decentralized Energy (WADE), based in Edinburgh, released its “World Survey of Decentralized Energy 2006.” It found that decentralized energy systems accounted for 24 per cent of new power generation in 2005. That’s up from just 12 per cent in 2002, according to an alliance press release. Their goal is to see 20 per cent of the overall capacity reach 20 per cent by 2025, up from the current level of 8-9 per cent. The alliance said most of this decentralized or distributed energy is coming from high-efficiency cogeneration systems. Growth in PV and onsite wind is growing strongly, but from a small base. “Countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland, where DE share of generation is around 40 to 50 per cent, provide clear evidence that such a goal is not only achievable, but is consistent with the provision of efficient and reliable generation,” according to the alliance.
Decentralized planning, by bringing power generation closer to the source of consumption, reduces the need for costly transmission, lowers associated line losses, and increases the efficiency of the overall grid. This, combined with the fact that renewable energy and co-generation play a key role in decentralized generation, makes it a cleaner alternative to building massive, centralized power plants based on nuclear and coal.
Tyler Hamilton is senior energy reporter and columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the cleantech market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper. Tyler can be reached at tyler@cleanbreak.ca