INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
One Energy Source for France is Blowing in the Winds
France set a target to more than double its onshore wind power capacity by 2023 .
By Bethany Coleman-Atherton Contributing Editor
If there is one much-maligned commodity Provence possesses , it is the wind . Unlike fossil fuels which are an abundant but fundamentally limited resource , the wind in this part of France bordering Italy and the Mediterranean Sea has proven itself ample and infinite .
The Romans in their beloved “ province ” of Rome spoke of this wind and gave it the name Circius due to its circular motion . According to the Latin author , Seneca , Emperor Augustus erected a temple to honor this wind . The Greek geographer , Strabon , described it as a violent , terrible wind ... which “ hastens men from the heights of their chariots , and whose strength strips them of their weapons and their cloths .”
In fact , there are 32 different winds in Provence , France . The two most famous being the Sirocco , a wind that comes from the Sahara , covers Provence in yellow dust and has the potential to reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe , and the Mistral .
The Mistral blows , on average , 100 days out of the year , has been recorded at 320 km / h ( 199 mph ) and , consequently , has had a profound impact on the life , literature and culture of Provence . An archaeological site called Terra Amata near modern Nice revealed that the inhabitants built a low stone wall to protect their foyer ( fire ) from the Mistral ’ s force 40,000 years ago . The architecture of Provence acquiesces to the will of the Mistral . The traditional stone farmhouse , the mas , faces south with its back to the wind and the fields contain a network of hedges planted to protect the crops . Church steeples are typically open iron frameworks that allow the wind to pass through unimpeded . Then , there are the windmills .
From my upstairs window , I can see the remains of a windmill built by two brothers in 1782 . At one point in the history of Provence , there was a windmill on just about every accessible hilltop close to a village or hamlet . I have personally counted 126 ( most in ruin , some restored ). The first windmill appeared in AD 600 in the territory of present-day Afghanistan . The Crusaders brought home many innovations from the Crusades and in particular this concept of a wind turbine with a vertical axis confined inside a mill performing the work previously done by hand or beasts of burden . The turbine was operated by wind rushing into the tower . The first attestation of a windmill in
France was in AD 1170 in the city of Arles , in Provence . It was redesigned to have a turbine with a horizontal axis and external sails to catch the power of the wind .
With other forms of energy usurping the wind ’ s role , the average resident no longer considers its turbulent presence an asset . However , with the advent of the Millennium Development Goals ( MDGs ) and the subsequent Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ) — which added affordable and clean energy to the already daunting list — France committed , amongst other objectives , to producing 21 percent of its electricity consumption with renewable energy by 2010 . By year-end 2014 , still falling short , 19.5 percent of the country ’ s electricity was generated by renewable energy . Wind energy from onshore turbines made up 3.5 percent of that figure .
In 2016 , with its typical coming-up-fromthe-back-of-the-pack zeal , France and the French parliament set a target to more than double its onshore wind power capacity from 2015 levels by 2023 . They suddenly took it to heart that they have the second largest wind potential in Europe after Poland . With the prospect of offshore wind power added to the mix , France could potentially experience a significant paradigm shift with respect to energy production . As the ministers of parliament were hashing out the details , a company determined to harness the energy and potential of offshore wind concluded a 5-year testing campaign of its WindFloat prototype . Principle Power based in Berkeley , California , had already tendered for Floating Projects in France in the summer of 2015 and was striving to establish a consortium abroad . The WindFloat , a floating foundation for offshore wind turbines with its ability to dampen wave- and turbine-induced motion , had proven itself in water depths exceeding 40 meters ( 132 feet ), in waves measuring 18 meters (+/ - 60 feet = about 6 stories ) and in winds of 41 m / s ( 92 mph ). Wind blows much more consistently on the sea than on land , thus the need for a reliable platform to harvest that energy and to “ provide access to transitional and deep-water offshore wind sites .” The turbine-equipped WindFloat features an anticipated capacity of up to 25 MW which is enough to power 10,000 homes .
In September 2016 , Principle Power withdrew a lease request it had made for a site 15 miles off the Oregon coast in 2013 ; a site they had chosen for their WindFloat Pacific Demonstration project . When one door closes , another opens , the maxim goes . France ’ s commitment is firmly
Continued On Page 25
The Mistral blows , on average , 100 days out of the year , and has been recorded at 320 km / h ( 199 mph ).
Photo : Getty Images / iStockphoto / Photo : Principle Power
24 COMMERCE www . commercemagnj . com