However, if one area could prove a stumbling block in the country’s drive to become a fully-fledged developed nation, some fear it could be in meeting its energy needs.

In September 2011 around 10 million Chileans — of a population of less than 17 million — found themselves in darkness due to a blackout, which paralysed the country’s copper mines and brought the capital Santiago grinding to a halt.

Power was restored within hours but politicians have struggled to mask the fact that the power cut was a worrying sign of the questions looming large about Chile’s energy future.

Overdependence on hydroelectric sources, which account for 40 percent of Chile’s electricity, with almost all the rest coming from imported fossil fuels, has led to drought-related power shortages, a situation exacerbated by Argentina cutting gas exports.

Furthermore, according to Business Monitor International’s (BMI) latest analysis, demand looks set to increase from 58.8 TWh in 2011 to 70.5 TWh by 2015 and 87.8 TWh by 2020.

Central to the government’s current plans to meet the increase is HidroAysen, a project approved by President Sebastián Piñera in May 2011, which would see five hydroelectric plants built on two pristine rivers in Patagonia at a cost of around $3.2 billion. With an installed capacity of 2750 MW, the dams would generate more than 18 TWh a year — around a third of current consumption.

But the plans have caused a public outcry across the country as they would see approximately 5900 ha of wilderness flooded and could threaten the Huemul, an endangered Andean deer which features on Chile’s national coat of arms. One poll found 74 percent were against HidroAysen on environmental grounds. Whether or not it goes ahead will have a substantial effect on the energy Chile needs to find from other sources.

After taking office in March 2010, President Piñera went on record as saying that by 2020 he wanted 20 percent of the country’s energy needs to come from non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) — not including large-scale hydropower — up from just 4 percent at present.

Given that the country wants to raise its installed generating capacity from 15 GW at the end of last year to at least 25 GW over the same period to sustain rapid economic growth, the so-called ‘20/20’ goal would require almost 5 GW of installed capacity from NCRE over the coming decade.

In November, a report by the Electricity Development Advisory Committee (CADE) — appointed to advise the government on how Chile can best increase its electricity generation — concluded that that the pace of development of NCRE projects is too slow and that changes are needed to give such projects better access to the market. They also came out in favour of HidroAysen, saying large-scale hydropower potential in the south of Chile is ‘a potential energy source highly relevant to the future matrix’.

Nonetheless, speaking at the New Energy Forum in Madrid in October, energy minister Alvarez, perhaps mindful of the recent blackout, admitted Chile needed ‘to strengthen supply security’ and spoke of the country’s ‘fabulous alternatives’ for renewable energy. He declared his country ready for a mass roll-out of renewables, as he emphasised that there was ‘huge room’ for investment to help develop the market.

But the fact remains that at present Chile generates around 75 percent of its energy from imported fossil fuels and the government does not as yet appear fully convinced by the potential of NCRE generation.

‘Every country that wants to be well-prepared for the next decade needs to have an important part of their energy needs coming from renewable resources,’ said Jose Ignacio Escobar, executive vice-president of the Chilean Association of Renewable Energy (ACERA). ‘Unfortunately, here we see a lack of political vision from the authorities. We are still not sure why they are continuing to support the conventional energies and the status quo.’

BMI predicts that from 2011 until 2015 Chile will see annual electricity gains of 26 percent from gas-fired supply, 7 percent from renewables, 6 percent from coal and 5 percent from hydropower. This will see Chile’s power supply shortfall gradually diminish and by 2020 that could even be scope for ‘very modest net exports’.

While this may be heralded as good news by politicians, there is concern that Piñera has already seemingly downgraded the ‘20/20’ goal from a firm pledge to an ambition. Some experts believe the government has already realised that it is unlikely to materialise.

Hugh Rudnick, professor of electrical engineering at the Catholic University of Chile, and a member of CADE, said: ‘The President said that 20/20 was a key thing to achieve but later on he said, through his ministers, that it was a wish rather than a commitment. They started to realise [meeting the goal] would mean using what is already in the pipeline and that does not necessarily mean efficient renewable energy. I would be sceptical as it is too much to achieve in only eight or nine years. 15 percent by 2020 or 2025 could be more achievable.’

At present the legal obligations for electric utilities to invest in and supply renewable energy sources are lower still, at 8 percent by 2020 and 10 percent by 2024. But rather than using the current dilemmas as an excuse to forget the 20/20 target, Escobar wants to see it written into law. ‘If you compare our targets with many other countries in similar situations to Chile in terms of growth and commodity exports, it is totally feasible,’ he insisted. ‘There are countries that in very few years with the right regulatory conditions have managed to get to a high level of renewables but it is very difficult in Chile with the current conditions,’ he says.

One of the conditions making the transformation difficult is a lack of transmission capacity between remote areas which are most suitable for many renewable projects and densely populated cities.Another common complaint is that hydropower projects of more than 40 MW do not qualify as NCRE.

In October 2011 the $450 million Chacayes run-of-river plant was inaugurated, the first of several such projects planned by the Australian firm Pacific Hydro which will add more than 600 MW of installed capacity to Chile’s national grid.

But the plant has an installed capacity of 111 MW, meaning the owners have to buy power from smaller renewable projects to comply with the law.

Escobar believes that with the right changes, renewables can solve the energy problems which he says have caused energy prices in Chile to rise at almost six times the level of inflation and drive up the price of other services. ‘Chile is a very rich country in renewable resources but very poor in fossil resources,’ he said. ‘We don’t have oil, gas or coal. Chile is suffering from this lack of fuels and lack of energy independence for the last 15 years.’

‘Energy in Chile is very costly, it’s very unsafe because it relies on faraway countries and has to be brought here via roads and ports and we are not sure of the long-term reliability of these fuels. Renewables are going to be a reliable, clean and cheap solution that can be introduced quickly to solve the big problems Chile has over the next five years.’ He concludes: ‘The short-term solution to bring a breath of fresh air into the system and reduce use of fossil fuels is renewables.’

Indeed, he is not even convinced that HidroAysen is crucial to Chile’s needs. ‘In general terms, there is no project that is absolutely without question necessary for the survival of the country,’ said Escobar, adding: ‘I think we have enough projects to cover the demand of the country with the right incentives and framework. We have the resources so it’s a question of finding the political will.’

Professor Rudnick, however, believes HidroAysen must go ahead if Chile is to avoid what supporters of renewables least want to see – new investment in ‘dirty’ power generation.

‘The government is very keen that they must have large hydro without greenhouse gas emissions but it remains to be seen if they will achieve this with the very strong opposition from non-government institutions,’ he said.

‘I’m very positive that this [HidroAysen] is the kind of thing we need. If we don’t do it, we will have to go towards building new coal plants instead. Or eventually if Patagonia is not used then we will even have to look at nuclear but Chile is an earthquake zone and with the tsunami in Fukushima there has been growing concern.’

If Chile is to avoid that path, then wind and solar power must play a rapidly growing role in the years ahead.

U.S.-based Pattern Energy Group is expected to start developing the 115 MW El Arrayan coastal wind farm, 400 km north of Santiago, in early 2012 with commercial operation to begin in the second half of 2013. It will be the country’s largest wind energy project and will be equipped with 2.3-MW Siemens turbines, the company said.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Chile ‘has good wind resources from the northern deserts to the extreme south, including the south-central zone which is home to around 80 percent of the country’s population and two thirds of its industry.’ It estimates Chile’s wind energy potential at around 40 GW — and yet to the end of 2010 the country had only 172 MW installed.

GWEC cites a lack of government policy support, poor grid infrastructure and a need for more electrical engineers as barriers to wind energy development.

Mauricio Trujillo, GWEC’s project manager for Latin America, said progress towards fulfilling the country’s wind potential was likely to be slow. ‘At the moment it is too remote to develop wind power in the south of the country because the lack of infrastructure makes it prohibitive,’ he said. ‘The only thing that could change the scenario would be the construction of HidroAysen and even then it will be complicated to add wind because of the characteristics of the possible transmission infrastructure.’ He said it was difficult to predict the pace of development in the coming years but ‘a medium-range scenario if we see new transmission infrastructure would be around 1500-2000 MW in 10 years.’

Escobar is a little more optimistic: ‘Our estimates are that with the right regulatory systems we can have 2.5 GW to 4 GW of wind by 2020 and 5 GW by 2030.’

He is also excited by the potential for solar power in Chile, where the Atacama desert enjoys the highest levels of solar radiation. ‘I think there are a lot of large-scale photovoltaic (PV) projects in development,’ he said. ‘We will be seeing a big change in the next few years as the costs of solar go down. If the cost keeps dropping after 2015, solar can definitely compete with coal in the north of the country.’

In 2011 MPX Energia also announced plans to develop a 200 MW solar facility in Chile at a cost of $400 million. The company is searching for a suitable location in the Atacama and construction is unlikely to begin until 2016.

In construction since December 2010 is a major PV project by Spanish firm Solar Pack, near Calama in the middle of the Atacama. It will provide electricity to the nearby Chuquicamata copper mine, the world’s largest. The project has been described as the first industrial solar electric power plant in South America and the first solar power plant globally to be constructed without subsidies or specific tax benefits. It will have 1 MW of installed capacity across an area of 15 acres, will generate 2.69 GWh per year. According to Solarpack, the plant will have a life cycle of 35 years and will be the most productive in the world with a 31 percent capacity factor.

Professor Rudnick said recent surveys suggest many people expect solar to solve the country’s conundrum as it ‘should be abundant and free’ but they do not appreciate the costs of the technology involved. ‘There are a lot of political positions being taken on energy in Chile,’ he added. ‘The challenge is not that we don’t have alternatives, but that we as a society need to agree on what to do.’

www.renewableenergyworld.com

Wave power is the capture of the energy from waves on the surface of the ocean. It is one of the newer forms of renewable or ‘green’ energy under development, not as advanced as solar energy, fuel cells, wind power, ethanol, geothermal companies, and flywheels. However, interest in wave power is increasing and may be the wave of the future in coastal areas according to many sources including the International Energy Agency Implementing Agreement on Ocean Energy Systems (Report 2009).

Although fewer than 12 MW of ocean power capacity has been installed to date worldwide, we find a significant increase of investments reaching over $2 billion for R&D worldwide within the ocean power market including the development of commercial ocean wave power combination wind farms within the next three years.

Tidal turbines are a new technology that can be used in many tidal areas. They are basically wind turbines that can be located anywhere there is strong tidal flow. Because water is about 800 times denser than air, tidal turbines will have to be much sturdier than wind turbines. They will be heavier and more expensive to build but will be able to capture more energy. For example, in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region alone, it’s feasible that wave energy could produce 40-70 kilowatts (kW) per meter (3.3 feet) of western coastline. Renewable energy analysts believe there is enough energy in the ocean waves to provide up to 2 terawatts of electricity.

Companies to Watch in the Developing Wave Power Industry:

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PCG) is building the first American commercial wave power plant AquaBouy 2.0 in Northern California, in conjunction with Finavera Renewables (FNVRF.PK) is a Vancouver, Canada-based company which is building a wave farm 2.5 miles off the California coast near Humboldt County located 2.5 miles offshore and is expected to begin operating by 2010. The power plant is scalable from hundreds of kilowatts to hundreds of megawatts but will initially power about 1500 homes.

Siemens AG (SI) is a joint venture partner of Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation, a leader in advanced hydro power technology and services, which owns Wavegen, Scotland’s first wave power company. Wavegen’s device is known as an oscillating water column, which is normally sited at the shoreline rather than in open water. A small facility is already connected to the Scottish power grid, and the company is working on another project in Northern Spain.

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc (OPTT) develops proprietary systems that generate electricity through ocean waves. Its PowerBuoy system is used to supply electricity to local and regional electric power grids. Iberdrola hired the company to build and operate a small wave power station off Santona, Spain, and is talking with French oil major Total (TOT) about another wave energy project off the French coast. It is also working on projects in England, Scotland, Hawaii, and Oregon.

Pelamis Wave Power, formerly known as Ocean Power Delivery, is a privately held company which has several owners including various venture capital funds, General Electric Energy (GE) and Norsk Hydro ADR (NHYDY.PK). Pelamis Wave Power is an excellent example of Scottish success in developing groundbreaking technology which may put Scotland at the forefront of Europe’s renewable revolution and create over 18,000 green high wage jobs in Scotland over the next decade.The Pelamis project is also being studied by Chevron (CVX).

Endesa SA ADS (ELEYY.PK) is a Spanish electric utility which is developing, in partnership with Pelamis, the world’s first full scale commercial wave power farm off Aguçadoura, Portugal which powers over 15,000 homes. A second phase of the project is now planned to increase the installed capacity from 2.25MW to 21MW using a further 25 Pelamis machines.

RWE AG ADR (RWEOY.PK) is a German management holding company with six divisions involved in power and energy. It is developing wave power stations in Siadar Bay on the Isle of Lewis off the coast of Scotland.

Australia’s Oceanlinx offers an oscillating wave column design and counts Germany’s largest power generator RWE as an investor. It has multiple projects in Australia and the U.S., as well as South Africa, Mexico, and Britain.

Alstom (AOMFF.PK) has also announced development in the promising but challenging field of capturing energy from waves and tides adding to the further interest from major renewable power developers in this emerging industry.

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced several wave energy developments including a cost-shared value of over $18 million, under the DOE’s competitive solicitation for Advanced Water Power Projects. The projects will advance commercial viability, cost-competitiveness, and market acceptance of new technologies that can harness renewable energy from oceans and rivers. The DOE has selected the following organizations and projects for grant awards:First Topic Area: Technology Development (Up to $600,000 for up to two years)

Electric Power Research Institute, Inc (EPRI) (Palo Alto, Calif.) Fish-friendly hydropower turbine development & deployment. EPRI will address the additional developmental engineering required to prepare a more efficient and environmentally friendly hydropower turbine for the commercial market and allow it to compete with traditional designs.

Verdant Power Inc. (New York, N.Y.) Improved structure and fabrication of large, high-power kinetic hydropower systems rotors. Verdant will design, analyze, develop for manufacture, fabricate and thoroughly test an improved turbine blade design structure to allow for larger, higher-power and more cost-effective tidal power turbines.

Public Utility District #1 of Snohomish County (SnoPUD) (Everett, Wash.) Puget Sound Tidal Energy In-Water Testing and Development Project. SnoPUD will conduct in-water testing and demonstration of tidal flow technology as a first step toward potential construction of a commercial-scale power plant. The specific goal of this proposal is to complete engineering design and obtain construction approvals for a Puget Sound tidal pilot demonstration plant in the Admiralty Inlet region of the Sound.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company – San Francisco, Calif. WaveConnect Wave Energy In-Water Testing and Development Project. PG&E will complete engineering design, conduct baseline environmental studies, and submit all license construction and operation applications required for a wave energy demonstration plant for the two WaveConnect sites in Northern California.

Concepts ETI, Inc (White River Junction, Vt.) Development and Demonstration of an Ocean Wave Converter (OWC) Power System. Concepts ETI will prepare detailed design, manufacturing and installation drawings of an OWC. They will then manufacture and install the system in Maui, Hawaii.

Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) – Manassas, Va., Advanced Composite Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion – “OTEC”, cold water pipe project. Lockheed Martin will validate manufacturing techniques for coldwater pipes critical to OTEC in order to help create a more cost-effective OTEC system.
Second Topic Area, Market Acceleration (Award size: up to $500,000)

Electric Power Research Institute (Palo Alto, Calif.) Wave Energy Resource Assessment and GIS Database for the U.S. EPRI will determine the naturally available resource base and the maximum practicable extractable wave energy resource in the U.S., as well as the annual electrical energy which could be produced by typical wave energy conversion devices from that resource.

Georgia Tech Research Corporation (Atlanta, Ga.) Assessment of Energy Production Potential from Tidal Streams in the U.S. Georgia Tech will utilize an advanced ocean circulation numerical model to predict tidal currents and compute both available and effective power densities for distribution to potential project developers and the general public.

Re Vision Consulting, LLC (Sacramento, Calif.) Best Siting Practices for Marine and Hydrokinetic Technologies With Respect to Environmental and Navigational Impacts. Re Vision will establish baseline, technology-based scenarios to identify potential concerns in the siting of marine and hydrokinetic energy devices, and to provide information and data to industry and regulators.

Pacific Energy Ventures, LLC (Portland, Ore.) Siting Protocol for Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Projects. Pacific Energy Ventures will bring together a multi-disciplinary team in an iterative and collaborative process to develop, review, and recommend how emerging hydrokinetic technologies can be sited to minimize environmental impacts.

PCCI, Inc. (Alexandria, Va.) Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Technologies: Identification of Potential Navigational Impacts and Mitigation Measures. PCCI will provide improved guidance to help developers understand how marine and hydrokinetic devices can be sited to minimize navigational impact and to expedite the U.S. Coast Guard review process.

Science Applications International Corporation (SAI) – San Diego, Calif., International Standards Development for Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy. SAIC will assist in the development of relevant marine and hydrokinetic energy industry standards, provide consistency and predictability to their development, and increase U.S. industry’s collaboration and representation in the development process.
Third Topic Area, National Marine Energy Centers (Award size: up to $1.25 million for up to five years)

Oregon State University, and University of Washington – Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center. OSU and UW will partner to develop the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center with a full range of capabilities to support wave and tidal energy development for the U.S. Center activities are structured to: facilitate device commercialization, inform regulatory and policy decisions, and close key gaps in understanding.

University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii) National Renewable Marine Energy Center in Hawaii will facilitate the development and implementation of commercial wave energy systems and to assist the private sector in moving ocean thermal energy conversion systems beyond proof-of-concept to pre-commercialization, long-term testing.

Types of Hydro Turbines

There are two main types of hydro turbines: impulse and reaction. The type of hydropower turbine selected for a project is based on the height of standing water- the flow, or volume of water, at the site. Other deciding factors include how deep the turbine must be set, efficiency, and cost.

 Impulse Turbines

The impulse turbine generally uses the velocity of the water to move the runner and discharges to atmospheric pressure. The water stream hits each bucket on the runner. There is no suction on the down side of the turbine, and the water flows out the bottom of the turbine housing after hitting the runner. An impulse turbine, for example Pelton or Cross-Flow is generally suitable for high head, low flow applications.

Reaction Turbines

A reaction turbine develops power from the combined action of pressure and moving water. The runner is placed directly in the water stream flowing over the blades rather than striking each individually. Reaction turbines include the Propeller, Bulb, Straflo, Tube, Kaplan, Francis or Kenetic are generally used for sites with lower head and higher flows than compared with the impulse turbines.

Types of Hydropower Plants

There are three types of hydropower facilities: impoundment, diversion, and pumped storage. Some hydropower plants use dams and some do not.

Many dams were built for other purposes and hydropower was added later. In the United States, there are about 80,000 dams of which only 2,400 produce power. The other dams are for recreation, stock/farm ponds, flood control, water supply, and irrigation. Hydropower plants range in size from small systems for a home or village to large projects producing electricity for utilities.

Impoundment

The most common type of hydroelectric power plant (above image) is an impoundment facility. An impoundment facility, typically a large hydropower system, uses a dam to store river water in a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, which in turn activates a generator to produce electricity. The water may be released either to meet changing electricity needs or to maintain a constant reservoir level.

The Future of Ocean Wave Energy

Wave power devices extract energy directly from surface waves or from pressure fluctuations below the surface. Renewable energy analysts believe there is enough energy in the ocean waves to provide up to 2 terawatts of electricity. (A terawatt is equal to a trillion watts.)

Wave-power rich areas of the world include the western coasts of Scotland, northern Canada, southern Africa, Japan, Australia, and the northeastern and northwestern coasts of the United States. In the Pacific Northwest alone, it’s feasible that wave energy could produce 40-70 kilowatts (kW) per meter (3.3 feet) of western coastline. The West Coast of the United States is more than a 1,000 miles long.

In general, careful site selection is the key to keeping the environmental impacts of wave power systems to a minimum. Wave energy system planners can choose sites that preserve scenic shorefronts. They also can avoid areas where wave energy systems can significantly alter flow patterns of sediment on the ocean floor.

Economically, wave power systems are just beginning to compete with traditional power sources. However, the costs to produce wave energy are quickly coming down. Some European experts predict that wave power devices will soon find lucrative niche markets. Once built, they have low operation and maintenance costs because the fuel they use — seawater — is FREE.

The current cost of wave energy vs. traditional electric power sources?
It has been estimated that improving technology and economies of scale will allow wave generators to produce electricity at a cost comparable to wind-driven turbines, which produce energy at about 4.5 cents kWh.

For now, the best wave generator technology in place in the United Kingdom is producing energy at an average projected/assessed cost of 6.7 cents kWh.

In comparison, electricity generated by large scale coal burning power plants costs about 2.6 cents per kilowatt-hour. Combined-cycle natural gas turbine technology, the primary source of new electric power capacity is about 3 cents per kilowatt hour or higher. It is not unusual to average costs of 5 cents per kilowatt-hour and up for municipal utilities districts.

Currently, the United States, Brazil, Europe, Scotland, Germany, Portugal, Canada and France all lead the developing wave energy industry that will return 30% growth or more for the next five years.