Introduction to Renewable Power
Note: The course can be attended as a stand-alone session or as part of a combination of courses during Green Power Week.
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Introduction
Course objectives
Whether you are working within one of the “green power” sectors or evaluating investment into it, this comprehensive, time-effective two-day training course ensures you are brought up-to-speed with the key aspects of renewable power solutions and the economic factors and technologies that are driving them. Explaining the key technologies in a clear and business-focused manner, the course is of particular value to those in non-technical positions, such as finance, legal, marketing or other commercial functions.
You will learn how to evaluate renewable energy resources and the economic, technical and market conditions which argue for (or against) them. You will understand the different technologies available to generate and store renewable power - particularly solar, wind, biomass and geothermal - exploring the potential of each to contribute to current energy needs and how they compete with (or complement) both each other and traditional, fossil sources.Level & Style
The course will explain key concepts and terminology in energy, power and technology, but assumes no prior technical knowledge. Indeed the course is specifically designed to be of value to those working in non-technical functions, who need to understand the technology fundamentals, their economics, development and market applications; but not the nuts-and-bolts of engineering or hands-on installation.
The course runs in a friendly, informal manner, encouraging discussions and questions to ensure that participants get the most out of their time. In order to better understand and illustrate the various topics, some simple calculations and other explanatory exercises will be incorporated.
About your trainer
Dr John Massey is Green Power Academy's Training Director and in-house renewables expert. He combines a strong academic science background with over fifteen years experience researching and analysing technology industries and trends in the commercial sector (covering a range of technologies and markets including renewables, telecoms and electronics). He has delivered training globally, explaining the workings and financial / commercial context of rapidly evolving technologies to senior, non-technical executives. He has also developed educational material for both live and distance learning courses.
Following a 1st Class Honours degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, John gained a PhD in Earth Sciences and – in addition to his commercial experience - has undertaken further study in topics including Economics, Innovation and Sustainability.
About Green Power Academy
Green Power Academy exists to provide the quality, impartial, informative and enjoyable training needed to increase and distribute knowledge and skills to green energy industry professionals. Whether you are new to the industry, have recently changed jobs or simply wish to refresh your knowledge, our training should become a key part of your personal or company professional development programme.
“Excellent Tutor”
“Comprehensive overview in a short period of time”
Agenda Details
Key concepts in understanding Renewable Energies
- Introducing key energy concepts:
- Energy, work and power
- Forms of energy and energy conversion
- Energy cycles and engines
- Energy demand in the various industrial and residential sectors
- Renewable resources:
- Understanding the real physical and practical limits on available resources for solar, wind, bio-energy and geothermal
- Tools, resources and simple calculations for analysing and comparing renewable energy proposals
Integrating Renewable Energy into the World Economy
- Power Grids
- Understanding the structure and operation of The Grid - and how this affects the deployment of renewable power
- Power Demand and its impact on Price and Generation/Supply
- The future: "Smart Grids"
- Energy Storage
- Methods of energy storage, local and grid-based
- The impact of energy storage on the renewable energy business case
- The technology and infrastructure basis of a ‘Hydrogen economy’
Introducing the key Renewable Energy technologies
- Solar Power
- Photovoltaics (PV), including a comparison of different types of PV material (Silicon & Thin-film)
- Concentrated solar power (CPV and CSP) for utility-scale applications
- Biomass Power, including Waste-to-Energy
- Sources of biomass feedstock, including processing residues, waste sources, specialised energy crops and algae
- Conversion processes of biomass into fuels and/or electricity
- Power generation from municipal waste
- Wind Power
- The characteristics of wind energy
- Wind turbine basics: operation, siting, control and output
- Issues of intermittency and grid supply
- Particular challenges of Offshore wind
- Geothermal Power
- Mechanisms for deep geothermal heat extraction and power generation, including dry-steam, flash-steam and binary-cycle
- Enhanced geothermal (EGS) for “non-traditional” locations
- Drilling risk and geothermal projects
The Competitive Analysis and Economics of Renewable Power
- Market context: the wider market and competing energy/power sources
- Why not all power types suit all power needs
- Grid Parity and Levelised Electricity Costs
- Renewable Market Drivers (and hurdles)
- Competition between and beyond renewable power technologies
- Regulatory instruments and their impact
- Incentives and Feed-in-Tariffs
- Carbon policy and pricing
- Consumer and social factors
Approximate Timing
Day 1: Course begins: 09:00 Course ends: 17:30
Day 2: Course begins: 08:30 Course ends: 16.30
(NB. timings are approximate and include lunch plus morning and afternoon refreshment breaks)