Dance between the sun and the wind
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It is the energy from the sun that causes the sea breeze to show up on a sunny afternoon. As inland areas heat up, the air warms, causing it to rise. As a result, cooler air moves in from the ocean to fill up the space, and soon a strong breeze can be blowing several kilometers inland, creating the ‘forever dance’ between the sun and the wind.
For both the sea breeze and the more powerful hurricane the wind is the main attraction, with only its intensity and unleashed potential varying.
Active nature of the wind
For thousands of years people have used the wind to cross the oceans, to show them direction, and to operate windmills to grind grain, and pump water. With scientific breakthrough wind can now also be used to generate electricity. It started with the humble wind charger on the farm, to what we now call the wind turbine, which uses blades to capture the wind’s kinetic energy.
Wind is referred to as a renewable energy source because the wind will blow as long as the sun shines. Wind energy, like solar energy is a free source of energy and is available everywhere.
South Africa’s good fortune
Wind as an energy source is only practical in areas that have open spaces with strong and steady winds. South Africa has fair wind potential, especially along the coastal areas of the Western and Eastern Cape.
Whilst solar energy is a passive method of retrieving energy, wind-generated power is an active process where wind farms have several wind turbines grouped across a large area, to produce electricity. Wind speed and direction are important in the placement of these wind turbines.
Turbines facing into the wind
In the capture and transformation of wind energy, the turbine is the key element. The superstructure supporting the blades and turbine can be 50 meter high and the blades can have a span of more than 40 meter. You can appreciate that the construction of a wind farm, unlike most solar farms, can be tedious and with its own challenges to the insurance underwriter.
Comprehensive Energy Insurance Policy
Consort designed a Comprehensive Energy Insurance not only for the erection of the high in the sky turbine with its colossal blades, but also to cater for the ongoing insurance support to the moving parts. Mechanical and Electrical Breakdown Insurance does play a key role in the insurance programme. Again, the cover will not be complete without the Business Interruption Insurance.
No project or process is free of fortuitus exposures be it human error, things done which should not have been done, or things not done which should have been done. Public Liability Insurance is essential and once again, Consort is the leader with a purpose drafted Public Liability Insurance Cover included in its Comprehensive Energy Policy Wording.
Consort comes along on the journey
Wind is a valuable part of the solution of renewable energy, even although the turbines can only operate when the wind is blowing at adequate speeds. Wind is free to use, it is clean, and produces no air pollution.
Whether you fly high in the sky with your hang glider, do kite flying, or gently cruise on your yacht, let your mind go on how wind energy can be harnessed in the form of electricity for a more sustainable tomorrow -- with the professional and bespoke assistance of Consort.
“The wind of change, whatever it is, blows most freely through an open mind.”
-- Katharine Whitehorn
Consort Technical Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd (FSP 2273) underwritten by Lombard Insurance Company Limited (FSP 1596) an Insurer licensed to conduct non-life insurance business
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