Europe Braces for Hurricane Gusts Spurring Wind Power Records

(Bloomberg) --

Storms across northwest Europe are set to drive electricity generation from wind farms to records this week in gusty conditions that threaten to disrupt transportation and down power lines.

Weather forecasters in the U.K., France and Germany warned high-speed winds are expected Wednesday evening and into the next day. The stormy weather will drive wind power generation in the Germany and U.K., the two biggest sources of the renewable electricity in Europe, to records, according to Bloomberg models.

Strong winds this winter are helping provide short-term relief to an energy crunch across Europe driven by surging gas prices. Severe wind storms are likely to become more common in Northern Europe as global temperatures rise, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In the U.K., Storm Dudley is set to batter Scotland and Northern Ireland with strong winds starting Wednesday afternoon, prompting the Met Office to issue a warning that roads, railways and ferries could be closed with power cuts likely in those areas. Another low-pressure system, dubbed Storm Eunice, is expected Friday, bringing gusts as high as 70 miles (113 kilometers) per hour and potentially heavy rain and snow in the Midlands and the north of the country. 

Northern Europe’s strong wind speeds, particularly in the winter, make it a prime place to erect turbines. But over a certain speed -- about 90 kilometers (56 miles) per hour -- winds blow so fast that it could actually damage the turbine. When the wind gets too strong, a turbine will automatically stop spinning to protect itself. That means in places where the storm is most severe, wind turbines likely won’t be operating at times. 

In Germany, DWD, the national forecaster has level-two warnings in place for the whole country, where “hurricane-like” wind speeds could reach 120 kilometers per hour in some places. The storm will sweep from the west starting Wednesday night and through Thursday morning, with the possibility of more severe weather over the weekend.

France’s weather forecaster also issued a warning of “violent wind” from the southwest Wednesday that could reach as high as 85 kilometers per hour. Meteo France advised people to avoid travel in areas hit by the strong winds and to expect disruptions to power and telephone lines.

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