If there was a 2020 film in the field of energy, it would be called "Rise of the Wind". Drawing attention to the wind blowing strongly in 2020 in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic stagnation and low production from traditional energy sources, Ülke Enerji General Manager Ali Aydın shares the new road map of wind while conveying that there will be radical changes in the wind energy sector in 2021 and beyond.
The wind energy sector, where all countries are turning for a cleaner environment and sustainable energy, is growing day by day. Despite the many difficulties experienced in 2020, the wind energy sector, which has not stopped growing, looks even more promising in the coming years. According to Ali Aydin, General Manager of Ülke Enerji, which provides services to nature-friendly wind power plants, wind energy will be seen as the main energy source on the basis of society and countries in 2021 and beyond. Underlining that the key to the growth of wind power plants will be the fully equipped maintenance services to be carried out for wind turbines and the battery technologies to be used to store wind energy, Aydın lists the predictions that await wind energy in 2021 and beyond:
1. Wind energy will be at the top of energy policies. Economic factors, environmental factors and the desire to look at the future more cleanly were important points in the development of wind energy. It now appears that more of them are turning to wind energy. Despite the fact that fossil fuels are running out and energy production cannot meet the needs in epidemics and crises affecting the world, wind energy will produce energy at record levels even in the worst days, which will lead to wind taking the first place in energy policies in 2021 and beyond.
2. Battery technologies for storing wind energy will be developed. One of the keys to growth in wind energy is seen as storage resources. With the development of large battery technologies and their participation in economic life, energy storage will provide significant gains, while when investment and production processes are taken into consideration, wind energy, which is the cheapest method, will pave the way for an even more economical energy source.
3. Planned maintenance will be handled more strictly so that the turbines do not stop. Just as the unmaintained car will let you down, turbines that are not controlled and maintained cannot be expected to produce energy. In addition, while the solution to the problem in cars is carried out quickly, it can take days or weeks to fix the fault in the gearbox, which is the heart of a wind turbine. The fact that the level of awareness of investors on this issue has increased significantly in the last 5 years and that they see the value of the gain gained by not arising from many problems prevented by planned maintenance shows that planned maintenance services will increase even more.
4. Technology and wind will be an inseparable whole. From the production of the components of the turbines, to the operation in the power plants and in the operations carried out at every stage of their planned / unplanned maintenance, technology is present as an assistant to the wind. Especially during maintenance and repair services, the fact that drone technology is a rising star and machine learning is being used more actively in the field of processing wind energy data will cause a concept called wind technology to be encountered in 2021 and beyond.
5. In addition to the onshore winds, the rise of the open sea wind will also be witnessed. Although onshore wind turbines come to mind more when it comes to wind energy, offshore winds are also an important source in many countries, especially in European and Scandinavian countries. Although studies in this field have not yet taken place in Turkey, it seems that there will be an area where eyes will be turned in the coming years in order to become a wind country. The fastest and biggest step in increasing the rate of meeting the consumed electrical energy from renewable and domestic sources will be taken with the offshore winds, the potential of which has not yet been evaluated in our country.
