With improved lifetime profitability of a wind-generating asset comes improved cost-competitiveness of wind energy compared with traditional energy sources and thereby aid in CO2 reduction. Additionally, there is considerable technical potential for large WPPs to contribute to the stability of the power system frequency, enhancing wind power grid friendliness, and the TotalControl results will help realising this potential. Ultimately, this will lead to the ability to integrate higher shares of renewables like wind power. Service provision is already today acknowledged by the transmission system operators, and further developments of such might lead to new types of contracts as additional income for the WPP operators.
The technological and market potential of the TotalControl concept is very large. Achieving the objectives and exploiting the technologies will not only have a high impact on the partners of the consortium but also, and more significantly, contribute to boosting the global competitiveness of the European industries and to creating new economic opportunities. Already today, wind energy is contributing significantly to the EU economy, and EWEA estimates that by 2020, more than 520,000 people should be employed directly in this sector. TotalControl will support this development by contributing to increased cost-competitiveness of wind energy.