WICO 1st Newsletter March 2010

Wind of the Coast WICO European project launched

A new European funded project to share knowledge and experience regarding the deployment of small wind energy systems along coastlines has been launched with partners from Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The partners in the project are Province of Ravenna in Italy (lead partner), the Diputacion Provincial de Huelva in Spain and Marine South East in the UK. The partners will be identifying and developing best practice in the public sector to promote successful large-scale deployment of renewable energy schemes in order to maximize benefit to the regional economy and environment and society.

The project partners will exchange and bench mark their experiences and knowledge in order to produce guidelines for the installation of small wind systems along coastlines which will provide key information and solutions to a number of issues:

* Information on how to influence and modify local planning rules to simplify the procedures for the installation of small wind systems
* Information on how to overcome the barriers to installations
* Technical information
* Information on the economic viability of small wind systems and financial incentive systems

To access the WICO web pages go to http://www.marinesoutheast.co.uk/wico or http://www.provincia.ra.it/Argomenti/Ambiente/Energia-ed-elettromagnetismo/WICO-Wind-of-the-Coast-english-version

Posted 2010-03-23 09:40:00

WICO project background and information

The main goal of the WICO project is to work with the European partners in Spain, Italy and the UK to share knowledge and experience for the deployment of small wind energy systems along coastlines.

Coastal areas offer a wide range of opportunities to produce wind, current and tidal derived renewable energy.

The WICO project partners have identified small wind systems as a technology suitable for integration along the coast to exploit the presence of onshore and offshore winds.

The WICO project will produce guidelines which will be functional and designed to facilitate the development of policies to overcome the barriers and enable faster and wider deployment of small-scale renewable energy systems.

Engagement with policy makers and organizations with planning responsibilities is therefore important to the project.

The project aims to develop a transferable tool to allow both the sharing of technical information on new generation systems and the knowledge required to overcome barriers to the wider use of this technology including policies, economic viability, financial incentives, awareness etc.

For more information about the WICO project go to
www.marinesoutheast.co.uk/wico/project_information
or
http://www.provincia.ra.it/Argomenti/Ambiente/Energia-ed-elettromagnetismo/WICO-Wind-of-the-Coast-english-version/The-project

Posted 2010-03-23 12:20:31

WICO Project Activities

The WICO project consists of work packages whose main activities are:

* Analysis of the barriers affecting the application of small wind systems

* Assessment of the potential development of wind energy in the areas

* Exchange of experiences and best practices between the partners specifically looking at policies, market development and technologies

* Drafting of guidelines for the deployment of renewable energy from small wind systems

* Joint communication and paper free dissemination

The first phase of the project has already begun and analysis activity has started. The project partners have been collecting data on policies, technologies and existing wind resources.

Three wind anemometers will be sited on the Italian coast (two in seaside resorts and one on a hotel) to assess the power of the wind over a period of 12 months. The information obtained should give vital clues as to which turbines will be most suitable for coastal locations.

The first workshop to exchange experiences and best practices took place in Ravenna in February 2010 and progress was made assessing existing policies and identifying solutions to simplify the installation of small wind systems.

Presentations from the first workshop are available to download from
http://www.marinesoutheast.co.uk/wico/downloads
or
http://www.provincia.ra.it/Argomenti/Ambiente/Energia-ed-elettromagnetismo/WICO-Wind-of-the-Coast-english-version/Download-Area

Posted 2010-03-23 12:21:31

About the WICO project partners

The WICO project partners are Marine South East from the UK, the Province of Ravenna from Emilia-Romagna in Italy and the Diputacion Huelva in Andalucia in Spain.

Marine South East is an organization set up to address the needs of marine businesses in the South East of England. Marine South East has extensive experience in renewable energy generation, coastal spatial planning, technological innovation and policy development.

The Province of Ravenna in Italy is a local authority with a role in policy making for the environment and energy. It was involved in developing the Regional Energy Plan (Emilia-Romagna Region) and is responsible for drawing up the Provincial Energy and Sustainable Development Action Plan whose aim is to give priority to renewable energy generation from a variety of resources.

The Diputacion of Huelva in Spain has been investigating the possibilities for wind generation for several years. The partner has experience of similar wind generation projects in mountain areas and is very keen to apply its experience to the coast and identifying how the public sector can act to facilitate the widespread uptake of renewable technologies along the coastline, and in particular small wind systems.

For more information about the WICO partners and links to their website please go to

http://www.marinesoutheast.co.uk/wico/contacts/
and
http://www.provincia.ra.it/Argomenti/Ambiente/Energia-ed-elettromagnetismo/WICO-Wind-of-the-Coast-english-version/Contact-Us

Posted 2010-03-23 12:26:17

How to keep informed of the WICO project

Regular newsletters will be produced informing interested parties of the progress of the WICO project.

If you'd like to keep up to date with news of the WICO project make sure you sign up to receive the project newsletters.

To register yourself to receive the WICO newsletters please click here

http://www.marinesoutheast.co.uk/wico/news

More information can also be found the WICO web pages at:

http://www.marinesoutheast.co.uk/wico
and
http://www.provincia.ra.it/Argomenti/Ambiente/Energia-ed-elettromagnetismo/WICO-Wind-of-the-Coast-english-version

http://www.diphuelva.es_WICO

The web pages contain background information about the project, downloads of press coverage, downloads of useful documents, useful links, details of forthcoming events and the contact details of all the partners.

Posted 2010-03-23 12:27:51

WICO project accepted as partner to the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign

Just weeks after the launch of WICO, the European funded project has been accepted as a partner of the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign which brings with it many benefits.

The Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign is a European Commission initiative in the framework of the Intelligent Energy - Europe programme, which aims to raise public awareness and promote sustainable energy production and use among individuals and organisations, private companies and public authorities, professional and energy agencies, industry associations and NGOs across Europe.

The Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign sets out to convince the public at large that making a commitment to sustainable energy is an investment for Europe's future. To encourage further involvement of European citizens in all kinds of energy decisions, the Campaign counts on the media to play a pivotal role in raising public awareness and bringing actions at a local and regional level to the widest possible audience.

For more information about the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign go to http://www.sustenergy.org