Faroe Islands, Denmark

Keywords: renewable energy region, 100% renewable energy self sufficiency region, Faroe Islands, renewable energy in Faroe Islands.


The Faroe Islands are an island group situated (655 kilometres or 407 mile from the coast of Northern Europe) between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean,[1] almost midway between Norway, Iceland, and Scotland (Figure 1). The islands are part of Kingdom of Denmark. There are 18 main islands separated by narrow sounds and fiords, and a few small, uninhabited island.[2] Administratively the islands are divided into 34 municipalities within which there are 120 settlements.[1]

Figure 1. Faroe Islands[1][2]

The area is 1,399 km2 (540 mile2) and has no major lakes or rivers. There are 1,117 km (694 mile) of coastline. The only major uninhabited island is Lítla Dímun.[1]


Energy Sector
Household heating and the fishing fleet consume the major share of gas and diesel oil, while most of the fuel oil is used to produce electricity. The dominant form of heating is traditional oil stoves. Electric heating is very rare used, due to the relatively high power prices. Surplus heat from the thermal plants is not utilized, with the exception of heating at the power stations themselves. District heating is available in Thorshavn to only a limited area. The area is supplied with surplus heat from the local waste incineration system. This heat supplies approximately 250 houses.[2]

There have been discussions on expanding the district heating system to a far larger part of Thorshavn during recent years. But as this is not financially viable under the current circumstances, it would not be possible for the district heating company to carry out this project alone at present.[2]

Electricity consumption is fluctuated due to the economic decline and fall in population up to 1995. After 1995 the consumption has risen in the reason of the growth of the economic and the population. Less than 90% of the inhabitants are supplied by an integrated electricity net. Suderoe Island (the inhabitant is under 5,000 people) and five small islands (totally population is approximately 150 people) have their own power stations.[2] The electricity grid is locked. It means to install much more renewable energy, the grid should be deestablished.[5] Installed capacity in 2000 and electricity production in 1999 can be viewed in Table 1 and 2.

Table 1. Installed Capacity of Electricity in 2000[2]

Table 2. Electricity Production in 1999[2]

Minimum load on the power net is approximately 14 MW in the main area, and approximately 1.5 MW on Suderoe Island.[2]


Hydropower
The power company SEV expands with hydroelectric power. When the expansion phase at Eysturoy Island was completed in the spring of 2000, the hydroelectric share will be around 50%. SEV had specific plans to continue the expansion at Eysturoy Island with will correspond to around 19 GWh annually. It was expected that the electricity would be expanded during the coming years.[2]


Wind Power
Since 1993, SEV has had a trial to operate wind turbine. The turbine has been reinforced to enable operate in stand with high wind speeds. The extreme wind conditions mean that suitable turbines are more expensive than standard models, but they are also able to produce more electricity per unit in comparison to wind turbines in, e.g., Denmark. The operational experience was good. In 1998, it was decided to purchase an additional wind turbine.[2]


Hydrogen
In October 2009, a new Pure-hydrogen project has been opened. This hydrogen is aimed to store the excess energy and distribute it to help unlocking the grid. The concept of this project can be viewed in Figure 2.[5]

Figure 2. Concept of Pure-Hydrogen Project[5]

Each part of unit in the hydrogen project specific purpose:
  • wind energy: generates the primary electrical power (Figure 3.a)
  • solar energy: generates primary heating power for a building 7 months a year (Figure 3.b)
  • electrolyser: produces hydrogen during excess wind energy (Figure 3.c)
  • fuel cell: generates back up power to the KREC building (Figure 3.d)
  • storage system and hypod: to store the energy (Figure 3.e)
This project has been designed and delivered in less than 7 months (Figure 3.f).

Figure 3. a). Wind energy, b). solar energy, c). electrolyser, d). fuel cell, e). storage system and hypod, f). Pure-Hydrogen Project (under extreme weather condition)[5]


Information Related


List of References
  1. Faroe Islands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands. Accessed April 25, 2010.
  2. The Faroe Islands. http://old.insula.org/islandsonline/faeroe-1.pdf. Assessed November 21, 2009.
  3. Map of Faroe Islands. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Map_of_the_Faroe_Islands_en.svg. Accessed April 25, 2010.
  4. Map. http://130.226.17.201/extra/web_docs/sornf/map_01.gif. Accessed April 25, 2010.
  5. Pure Hydrogen®–Two successful Projects, one in an urban environment and the other in a community. http://www.climate-change-solutions.co.uk/pictures/content503/3-2a_daniel_aklil_-_pure_hydrogenr_-_two_successful_projects_v2.pdf. Accessed April 25, 2010.

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