Wind Energy News

WIND ENERGY: Billionaire Tom Golisano says his new company will keep more money in host towns

2007-03-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

WIND ENERGY: Billionaire Tom Golisano says his new company will keep more money in host towns

By Michael Regan/reganm@gnnewspaper.com
Amid references to his hockey team and jokes that fired up the nearly 200 in attendance, billionaire Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Sabres and founder of the successful Paychex company out of Rochester, promoted his newest entrepreneurial endeavor, Empire State Wind Energy, on Monday night at the Albion Senior High School.

It wasn’t the first occasion politicians and residents of Orleans County had gathered to hear heads of companies pass on details related to the often controversial topic of wind turbines. But, according to Golisano and his business partner Keith Pitman, their plan is different.

“I don’t want to make the same mistakes as Niagara Falls,” Golisano said in reference to what he views as unfair distribution of funds yielded from the Niagara Power Project. “If it’s your energy and wind, why give it up? We started this company because we think we have a better idea.”

According to Golisano and Pitman, that idea includes giving local municipalities more of the profits from wind energy, while leaving an option for ownership. In their view, outside companies work their way into the region, leaving taxpayers with a pittance of what they deserve.

“Why are these folks coming from all over the earth to investigate wind power in upstate New York?” Pitman said. “Developers offer $8,000 per year per Megawatt of generation capacity. So we think that instead of a company in Europe capturing the money we keep it right here.”

Under his company’s blueprint, Pitman pointed to the potential for upwards of $125,000 a year profit for each turbine during the first 10 years and said after loans are paid off, that figure could more than triple.

But, their presentation wasn’t without questions as dozens in the crowd inquired about a wide-range of topics. Wendi Pencille of Shelby wanted to know how the turbines could affect birds passing through on a major migratory route. Tom Fuller, a county planning board member, asked how much of the profit would be shared with Empire Wind Energy. Others were concerned about noise, aesthetics and a turbine’s proximity to residential areas.

Golisano and Pitman said since the company was started last summer they have had similar conversations with a dozen municipalities across New York state. So far four of them have requested additional information and dialogue. Pitman alone made a similar pitch to the Town of Somerset in Niagara County a few weeks ago.

“It’s certainly been a mixed bag,” Pitman said. “It’s a town by town judgment. The last thing we want to tell you is here’s your project. The first thing we want to ask you is do you want wind energy, yes or no?”

Contact editor Michael Regan at (585) 798-1400, ext. 2226.

Spain's wind energy generation reaches new high, exceeding all other forms

2007-03-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

MADRID, Spain: Taking advantage of a particularly gusty period, Spain's wind energy generators this week reached an all-time high in electricity production, exceeding power generated by all other means, the nation's electricity network authority said Tuesday in a statement.

At 17.40 (1640 GMT) on Monday wind power generation rose to contribute 27 percent of the country's total power requirement, Red Electrica said.

At that moment wind power contributed 8,375 mega watts to the nation's power consumption of 31,033. Nuclear power, the second largest contributor, added 6,797 mega watts, while coal-fired electric generation came third with 5,081, the statement said.

National broadcaster TVE said it believed this may have been the first time wind power exceeded nuclear power's contribution to the power grid.

Over the course of last year wind power contributed nine percent of the nation's requirement while coal-fired power stations put in 24 percent and nuclear power 22 percent.

Spain has in recent years turned to harnessing wind power through the use of tall, slender electricity generating turbines on remote hillsides.

AMSC Signs Multi-Million-Dollar Contract to Develop Higher Power Wind Energy Systems for Chinese Market

2007-03-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

AMSC Signs Multi-Million-Dollar Contract to Develop Higher Power Wind Energy Systems for Chinese Market

WESTBOROUGH, Mass.-(Business Wire)-March 13, 2007 - American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, announced today its wholly owned subsidiary, Windtec(TM), has signed a multi-million-dollar wind energy system joint development contract with Sinovel Wind Corporation Limited. AMSC also has a prior delivery right to sell future electrical components under the same conditions as other suppliers to Sinovel for the wind energy systems covered under the contract, creating a substantial follow-on business opportunity for AMSC. The order significantly expands Windtec's business with Sinovel. Since 2005, Sinovel has ordered electrical components from Windtec for 785 wind energy systems rated at 1.5 megawatts (MW).

Under the terms of the new contract, Windtec and Sinovel will design and jointly develop 3 and 5 MW wind energy systems that Sinovel plans to market and sell worldwide. Sinovel will have the exclusive ownership and complete industrial and intellectual property rights for large-scale onshore and offshore wind turbines developed under this contract, enabling the company to compete effectively with established leaders in the market. Based in Beijing, Sinovel plans to begin series production of 3 MW systems during 2009 and 5 MW systems the following year.

"AMSC's Windtec business enabled Sinovel to quickly establish itself in the wind power market," said Han Junliang, Chairman and President of Sinovel. "We believe the 3 and 5 MW systems we will jointly develop with Windtec will allow Sinovel to grow its market share and position us as a technology leader in the industry. We look forward to benefiting from our expanded relationship with Windtec as we continue to implement our plan to manufacture 500 wind energy systems in 2007, 800 in 2008 and reach an annual capacity of 1,000 wind energy systems in 2010."

By December 2006, Sinovel had already signed more than US$1 billion in contracts to supply domestically made wind energy systems to help meet China's rising demand for clean energy. According to one of its customers and one of China's biggest power generation companies, China Huaneng, up to US$36 billion may be spent in China by 2020 to increase wind energy capacity to cut pollution. The Chinese government has mandated that at least 70 percent of equipment used in Chinese wind farms must be made in China.

"AMSC's business in the Asia-Pacific region continues to grow rapidly," said Greg Yurek, founder and chief executive officer of AMSC. "Sinovel has done a tremendous job of scaling its production capabilities and has emerged as a major wind system manufacturer. We are honored that it has chosen Windtec to aid in expanding its product offerings to 3 and 5 MW systems - a step that will help considerably to meet the renewable energy needs of China."

According to a recent report from the Global Wind Energy Council, China's installed base of wind generated electricity grew by 107% in 2006 alone to 2,600 MW. Li Junfeng of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association (CREIA) stated: "Thanks to the Renewable Energy law, the Chinese market has grown substantially in 2006, and this growth is expected to continue and speed up. According to the list of approved projects and those under construction, more than 1,500 MW will be installed in 2007. The goal for wind power in China by the end of 2010 is 5,000 MW, which according to our estimations will already be reached well ahead of time."

About Sinovel

Sinovel Wind Co., Ltd is an industrial company that is engaged in developing, engineering and marketing high tech wind energy systems. The company is headquartered in Beijing and its manufacturing base is located in Dahlia, China. The company is in the process of opening new manufacturing plants in Inner Mongolia and Jiangsu.

About AMSC

AMSC (American Superconductor Corporation - NASDAQ: AMSC) is a leading energy technologies company. The company develops and sells a wide range of products and solutions based on power electronic systems and high temperature superconductor (HTS) wires that dramatically improve the efficiency, reliability and quality of electricity during its generation, transmission, distribution and use. The company is a dominant force in alternative energy, offering grid interconnection solutions as well as licensed wind energy designs and electrical systems. As the world's principal supplier of HTS wire, AMSC is enabling a new generation of compact, high-power electrical products, including motors, generators, power cables, grid-level surge protectors, and advanced transportation and defense systems. AMSC also provides utility and industrial customers worldwide with voltage regulation systems that dramatically enhance power grid capacity, reliability and security, as well as industrial productivity. The company's technologies are protected by a broad and deep intellectual property portfolio consisting of hundreds of patents and licenses worldwide. More information is available at www.amsuper.com. # # # #

American Superconductor and design, Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity, AMSC, Powered by AMSC, SuperVAR, D-VAR, DVC, PQ-IVR, PowerModule and Windtec are trademarks or registered trademarks of AMSC.

Wind lab won't be placed in Ohio Finalists are Massachusetts and Texas

2007-03-11T03:25:00.000-07:00

Wind lab won't be placed in OhioFinalists are Massachusetts and Texas

East Toledo won't get America's first laboratory for testing offshore wind turbine blades. It's a decision that likely has cost northwest Ohio a shot at numerous jobs in the renewable energy sector and likely will keep the Great Lakes region from assuming a leadership role in the development of offshore wind power.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman today is expected to announce sites in Texas and Massachusetts as the two finalists for the $11.5 million project... "A lot of work went into it. It was very exciting. It was a good effort," Mr. Calzonetti said last night. "We don't know exactly the reasons why the DOE selected Texas and Massachusetts. We'll go forward from here." ...But Robert Kozar, a former NASA official who was hired in early 2006 as a special projects official in UT's research office, also said he had heard Texas and Massachusetts will be named as the two finalists.

Texas and Massachusetts are well ahead of the Great Lakes region in terms of possible construction of offshore turbines. Texas on Monday announced it had the nation's first platform for collecting offshore wind ready to go out into the Gulf of Mexico from the Galveston shoreline.
Massachusetts is even further along with its Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound, awaiting word on permits to build 130 turbines for what would become America's first offshore wind farm... Read the rest of this Toledo Blade story here.____________________________

Texas says Ted Kennedy may stop Mass. getting facility

Cape Cod TODAY has obtained the document below from the Texas General Land Office bragging about how Ted Kennedy may have prevented Massachusetts from being given a major, new Federal testing lab due to his efforts to stop Cape Wind.
The dicument reads in part, “Ted Kennedy has fought wind energy in Massachusetts, but Ted Kennedy is not from around here,” Patterson said.

“In Texas, we welcome wind power and the money that comes with it. I’m confident the Department of Energy will appreciate what we have to offer.”Wind is the fastest growing source of energy in the world today. And Texas is the top generator of wind power in the nation. Last year alone, Texas built nearly a third of the new wind power installed nationwide...

Here's the rest;

Texas is finalist for wind turbine research facility$80 billion international market for turbines at stake

AUSTIN — Texas will square off against Massachusetts in a showdown for a new, national large-scale wind turbine research and development facility, announced Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office. The facility would replace the Department of Energy’s existing test center in Colorado.

“Ted Kennedy has fought wind energy in Massachusetts, but Ted Kennedy is not from around here,” Patterson said.

“In Texas, we welcome wind power and the money that comes with it. I’m confident the Department of Energy will appreciate what we have to offer.”
Wind is the fastest growing source of energy in the world today. And Texas is the top generator of wind power in the nation. Last year alone, Texas built nearly a third of the new wind power installed nationwide.

Under Patterson, Texas signed the nation’s first and second leases for the development of offshore wind power. And no coastal state has greater wind energy potential than Texas. Texas could generate as much as 10 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, according to resource assessments conducted by the University of Houston. The nation’s cumulative wind power capacity is currently 9,971 megawatts. The booming growth of the wind industry in Texas makes the state a natural fit for the testing of the huge turbine components required for future wind farms.

Patterson has likened the potential impact of the Alliance’s proposed National Large Wind Turbine Research & Testing Facility to that of NASA in Houston during the space race in the 1960s. A Texas-sized test facility will give the U.S. an advantage in getting a bigger share of the projected $80 billion annual international business in designing and building turbines.
“Anyone building wind turbines will want to be near this facility,” Patterson said. “A Texas facility will be a magnet for research and manufacturing. It will establish Texas as a worldwide leader in wind power for many years to come.” deep-water ports, strong gulf winds and political will to make our coast the perfect site for the new blade-testing facility,” Patterson said. “The only hard part here will be deciding where along our 367 mile coast to place it.”
Patterson made the announcement on behalf of the Land Office and the Lone Star Wind Alliance, a Texas-led coalition of universities, government agencies and corporate partners created to prepare the proposal for submission to the federal government.

Patterson has likened the potential impact of the Alliance’s proposed National Large Wind Turbine Research & Testing Facility to that of NASA in Houston during the space race in the 1960s. A Texas-sized test facility will give the U.S. an advantage in getting a bigger share of the projected $80 billion annual international business in designing and building turbines.
“Anyone building wind turbines will want to be near this facility,” Patterson said. “A Texas facility will be a magnet for research and manufacturing. It will establish Texas as a worldwide leader in wind power for many years to come.”

The Consortium’s proposal to DOE enjoys the full support of the Texas Congressional delegation, as well as leadership at the state level including Governor Perry, Speaker Tom Craddick and several Texas State House and Senate members.
“We are thrilled that DOE has included Texas in the final round of competition for the new facility,” said Ray Flumerfelt, Dean of the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston. “Our proposal, as well as the Lone Star Wind Alliance, will only get stronger as we move forward. I am confident that the new wind facility will be housed along the Texas coast and we look forward to working with DOE to that end.”

In May, the Department of Energy announced it is seeking partners to build a new facility capable of testing blades up to 70 meters long. In addition to Texas, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio and Virginia submitted applications for the test facility.
Texas brought together a coalition of its best academic minds, industry leaders and public servants to focus on this bid, which was submitted to the Department of Energy by the University of Houston. Austin-based Good Company Associates is coordinating the coalition’s efforts.

The Lone Star Wind Alliance includes the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, West Texas A&M University, the Houston Advanced Research Center, Stanford University, Montana State University, New Mexico State University, Old Dominion University, the Texas General Land Office, the State Energy Conservation Office, the Texas Workforce Commission, Governor Rick Perry and Good Company Associates.

It looks like wind power is going to be in our future

2007-03-11T03:19:00.000-07:00

It looks like wind power is going to be in our future
Sunday, March 11, 2007

It's not going to be pretty, and the sight and sound of spinning turbines is going to grate on some nerves, but wind energy is in West Michigan's future. Next year, the first of 90 planned wind-to-energy machines may start up their propellers in Oceana County.
That much is clear following the announcement of Mackinaw Power President Rich Vanderveen that 35 leases have been secured from area farmers in four Oceana County townships: Weare, Elbridge, Hart and Crystal. The four townships are near the knobby peninsula sticking out along the shoreline of West Michigan due north of the Muskegon County line.
It is here that winds blow with particular energy across the Big Lake and into Oceana County. As the winds blow, they power the turbines, which spin like the windmills of old to generate the power that comes from nature's free energy source. Environmentalists say natural energy sources such as wind, solar and geothermal heat from underground are the key to reducing reliance on fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

In addition to his Oceana project, Vanderveen has plans for other areas within the state where his research shows that wind power is reliable enough to be feasible for a turbine site. Areas in Muskegon County in the White Lake region have also been eyed by Vanderveen and others.
It is only a matter of time, we think, before limitations of supply and rising costs force energy customers to look elsewhere for power. As stated earlier, there are indeed tradeoffs whatever sources are used. However, it's best that supply and demand be given its opportunity now while there's still time to adjust to the great energy challenges ahead for America and the world.

Company plans to build Nebraska's largest wind farm

2007-03-11T03:10:00.002-07:00

Company plans to build Nebraska's largest wind farm
By The Associated Press

A company specializing in renewable energy plans to build a wind farm in northcentral Nebraska that would be the state's largest wind power operation.

Mike Donahue, executive vice president of Midwest Wind Energy LLC, confirmed Friday that a 100 megawatt wind farm is in the works for Holt County. The project would cost $160 million.

One megawatt of electricity is roughly enough to power 250 to 300 American homes for a day. The planned wind farm would generate enough power for 40,000 Nebraskans, according to Midwest.

The Chicago-based company is affiliated with Edison Mission Group Inc., a subsidiary of power company Edison International. Eighteen wind farms are in operation or are under construction by the partnership.

Donahue said Midwest has formed Holt County Wind LLC to oversee the Nebraska wind farm. It hopes to sell the power to Nebraska Public Power District.

"NPPD has had some high-level discussion with them regarding this project," spokeswoman Beth Boesch said Friday.

She said officials there have received little information on the wind farm so far, and it was too early to comment on the proposal.

NPPD already owns and operates a 60-megawatt wind farm south of Ainsworth and two turbines near Springview.

The 36-turbine Ainsworth complex, which opened in 2005, is the state's largest wind farm. It produces enough electricity annually to provide power to 19,000 homes.

NPPD provides power to about 1 million Nebraskans through retail service and wholesale service to other power companies.

The power district gets about 1 percent of its power from renewable energy. David Rich, NPPD's renewable energy manager, said recently that the goal is to generate about 5 percent of its power from renewable energy.

"This proposal offers an opportunity for a public-private partnership to achieve NPPD's objectives for developing more renewable energy," Donahue said Friday in a news release.

The site for the planned operation is 11,500 acres near Atkinson that was owned by members of the Keating family. The family confirmed the plans.

Donahue said Holt County Wind has already bought the land and secured the necessary permits. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2008.

Midwest said eight full-time jobs would be created to be operate the wind farm.

Nebraska ranks sixth in the nation in terms of the potential for wind energy, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

But there aren't nearly as many wind turbines in Nebraska, which is the nation's only all public-power state, as in neighboring states. Nearby states, including Iowa and Minnesota, are both among the top five wind energy-producing states, with California producing the most.

Two oil giants plunge into the wind business Shell, BP intend to play major role

2007-03-02T05:25:00.000-08:00

Two oil giants plunge into the wind business
Shell, BP intend to play major role
By John Donnelly, Globe Staff March 2, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Two of the world's leading oil producers have almost overnight joined some of the biggest players in wind power in the United States, accelerating a trend of large corporations investing in the rapidly growing alternative-energy field.

As global warming and clean fuels have gained more attention, Shell Oil Co. and BP have accumulated impressive credentials. Shell is one of the nation's top five generators of wind power, while BP's Alternative Energy group -- launched 16 months ago -- aims to develop projects that produce 550 megawatts of electricity this year, one-sixth of the projected US wind energy output in 2007.

"Shell and BP see wind as an increasingly important part of the energy industry. They are looking to continue to grow," said Randall Swisher , executive director of the American Wind Energy Association , a Washington-based industry group. "They want to look for new opportunities, and wind is clearly in their sights."

The oil companies bring enormous cash reserves, years of experience in large projects, and a can-do spirit to an alternative-fuels industry that has largely been driven by speculators, small developers, and utilities. Though environmentalists largely praise the interests of the two oil giants, they harbor suspicions of whether the energy giants are adding renewable sources to their portfolios as a way to enhance their reputations with consumers rather than to combat global warming.

BP and Shell executives acknowledged that their investments in wind -- and to a lesser extent solar power -- may enhance their public images, but said their primary goal is to make money and reduce their companies' carbon outputs, if only slightly. Scientists have identified carbon dioxide gases as the leading contributor to global warming, a phenomenon that threatens to progressively increase the temperature of the planet.

Graeme Sweeney , Shell's executive vice president for renewables, hydrogen, and CO{-2} , said most forecasts predict that by 2050, renewable energy will make up a third of the world's power sources.

"We need to take a position on whether you wait to see what happens or whether you play. We'd like to play," Sweeney said in an interview. "We see a clear opportunity in the wind business. "
The United States is third in the world in wind power production behind Germany and Spain, the historic leaders, although in 2006 the United States created the most wind power in the world: 2,454 megawatts, enough electricity to power nearly 700,000 homes.

Robert Lukefahr , president of BP Alternative Energy North America , said all trends point toward a "more carbon-constrained world. The concerns about climate control are rising. Energy security issues will cause many communities to seek indigenous supplies of energy."
With 41 percent of US carbon dioxide emissions coming from power plants -- coal-fired plants by far produce the most greenhouse gases -- renewable energy must become a larger part of the power mix, Lukefahr said.

"All the stars are aligning in a way that supports alternative energy," he said.
Some environmentalists oppose wind power, concerned that the clusters of giant turbines used to produce it could threaten birds and bats. They also consider wind farms to be eyesores planted on near-pristine landscapes.

Opponents of the Cape Wind project -- a plan to build several 417-foot-high turbines off the coast of Cape Cod -- as well as projects planned for the tall-grass prairies in Kansas and the ridgetops of Vermont and New Hampshire, cite aesthetics as one of the major drawbacks of wind power.

Tom Natan , research director of the National Environmental Trust , a Washington-based advocacy group, said he believes that wind power's benefits outweigh the negatives and that the involvement of heavyweights such as BP and Shell -- regardless of their motives -- is necessary to accelerate development of wind power.

"Some people fear it will be used to green-wash [the oil companies'] reputation," Natan said. But if the demand for electricity substantially increases in the coming years, especially with more hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, Natan said, "it's not a huge stretch of imagination to see why these companies are going into renewable energies."

Swisher, who has been head of the wind power association since 1989, said the industry has changed dramatically in recent years. At this year's annual meeting in June, he expects 6,000 people to attend and 300 companies to have exhibits.

"I remember at my first annual meeting we were in a seedy hotel in San Francisco with 10 tabletop exhibits, maybe 300 people, and there were more ponytails than I had seen in a long time," Swisher said. "But we're talking suits at this annual meeting. It's serious business."
In his meetings with BP and Shell -- he traveled to Texas to meet representatives of both companies last month -- Swisher said that "sitting in a room with some of these people and talking about where the industry is going, you sense the excitement they have in what they are doing. You can tell they are not doing this for show. They are looking to do a significant amount of business."

The largest US wind power investor is Florida Power & Light , including many projects far from the state. Other big investors include JPMorgan Chase and Babcock & Brown , and some power companies are creating their own alternative energy units as well as investing in existing ones.
The big issues facing the industry are whether the federal government will extend clean-energy tax credits beyond 2008 -- the industry wants at least a five-year extension -- and whether Congress will pass a bill to mandate that 15 percent of the nation's power comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020. Senator Jeff Bingaman , a New Mexico Democrat and chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is the bill's chief sponsor.
Swisher said he believes the larger companies such as BP and Shell are poised to make much larger investments in wind, especially with those incentives.

"If you are serious about wind, the only way to get there is to rely on companies that have significant access to capital and industrial capability," he said.

Shell's Sweeney said he believes the concerns over global warming will be the biggest impetus for wind power investment. "We need to remember that fossil fuels are not going away. They will be with us for most of this century," he said. "We need to meet the energy challenge and do it an environmentally responsible way."

John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com.

Westar Announces Plans to Acquire 500 Megawatts of Renewable Energy

2007-03-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

Westar Announces Plans to Acquire 500 Megawatts of Renewable Energy
Westar Energy is answering the governor's call for to make Kansas a leader in wind energy. The utility announced it would acquire up to 500 megawatts of renewable energy by 2010 with the most likely source being wind power.

By doing so, Westar would more than double the amount of the state's energy comes from windmills and would be a significant step towards the governor's goal of 10% of the state's electricity coming via wind power.

Kansas currently ranks among the top three states in utilizing wind energy, however still only comprises 3.5% of its energy production.

Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson cites the Westar announcement as validation of the states collaborative approach to encouraging wind power, working with utilities rather than mandating utilities build wind farms.

American Wind Energy Association Applauds Proposed Incentive For Home, Small Business Wind Systems

2007-03-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

Move by Senator Ken Salazar and co-sponsors opens way for federal tax credit for consumers purchasing a small wind systemFebruary 28, 2007 --

The American Wind Energy Association today praised Senators Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) for introducing legislation that would allow purchasers of a small wind system to receive a credit on their taxes for a portion of the turbine’s cost.

The “Rural Wind Energy Development Act” (S. 673) would provide a federal tax credit of $1,500 per ½ kilowatt (kW) of capacity to purchasers of small wind systems nationwide. This five-year credit would apply to all wind systems with capacities of under 100 kW used to power individual homes, farms, or small businesses. Joining Salazar and Smith as original co-sponsors of the bill were Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho).

“There is a great satisfaction in generating your own electricity, and doing so in a way that reduces global warming emissions and strengthens the country’s energy security,” said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. “The bill proposed by Senators Salazar and Smith empowers consumers and is good energy policy.”

AWEA Small-Wind Advocate Ron Stimmel noted that the bill’s introduction is a positive development for small wind. “This would be the first federal incentive in 20 years to help individuals – homeowners, farmers, and small business owners - buy a small wind turbine,” said Stimmel. The credit would help bring down the up-front cost of purchasing a system and spur a market that is growing, but remains well below what industry experts believe is its full potential.

The bill would also allow the credit to be carried over—meaning that in the event that using the credit reduces the consumer’s taxable income below the minimum threshold, the unusable excess credit would be carried over to the next tax year. This provision essentially allows a consumer with a low annual income to take full advantage of the credit. The bill would also provide for an accelerated depreciation of three years for small wind turbines.

AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry. The association's membership includes turbine manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians, and interested individuals. More information on wind energy is available at the AWEA web site: www.awea.orgSource: AWEA

Proposed wind farm near Cut Bank may double in size

2007-02-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

Proposed wind farm near Cut Bank may double in size
By KARL PUCKETT
Tribune Staff Writer

Construction of the state's largest commercial wind farm would be part of billions of dollars of investment in wind projects in Montana and Alberta over the next few years, which renewable energy developers say will result from a deal announced Friday.

Somers-based Great Plains Wind & Energy LLC, the developer of a proposed wind farm in Montana, was sold to the much larger Naturener, which is based in Spain, with its North American headquarters in San Francisco.

ADVERTISEMENT

Naturener's first announcement was its intention to more than double the size of the proposed McCormick Ranch Wind Park from 120 to 300 megawatts. That would make the project in Toole and Glacier counties even bigger than the 135-megawatt wind farm in Judith Gap, the state's sole wind farm producing at a large commercial level.

Great Plains had been developing the McCormick project since 2005, but on a smaller scale.
With the expansion, it would feature some 200 turbines spread across 20,000 acres, which the developer, now Naturener, would lease from landowners. Leases have been secured from all the landowners, said Bill Alexander, one of the original owners of Great Plains.

The $500 million wind farm is proposed for 10 miles west of Shelby between U.S. Highway 2 and the Marias River, in Toole and Glacier counties.

"This is a considerable expansion and we only had to secure a little bit more land to accommodate that expansion because the winds are so good in Montana," Alexander said.

Alexander has joined Naturener as chief development officer for North America. The other owner of Great Plains, Dave Dumon, will manage Montana projects for Naturener. The company's new name is Naturener USA, LLC.

Naturener also announced Friday that it had purchased another wind energy developer, Energy Logics (now Naturener Energy Canada, Inc.), which is in southern Alberta.

Combined, the Alberta and Montana companies were planning 1,800 megawatts of wind power. And both had purchased capacity on a proposed power line between Great Falls and Lethbridge that will ship wind-generated electricity to customers in Montana and Alberta. Naturener now owns that capacity. The company also says it plans to invest $3 billion in developing the full 1,800 megawatts by 2012.

Naturener is owned by a Belgian industrial group, a savings bank based in Spain and a private New York investor, according to the company.

With the purchase of Great Plains and Energy Logics, it's now entered the North American wind energy market. It's already developed hydroelectric, solar and wind energy in Spain.

Naturener has enough investment capital to tackle large projects that Great Plains couldn't handle, said Alexander, who declined to disclose terms of the deal. "The sale was a really beneficial move for us," he said.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer said that utility lobbyists typically dismiss wind power as being "fine for hippies living on a mountaintop smoking marijuana."

He called the Naturener plan "true economic development for Eastern Montana." The McCormick project, he added, would increase the state's commercial wind-power production by 200 percent.

Whether that project proceeds will depend on whether the 218-mile electricity transmission line is constructed from Great Falls to Lethbridge. At times, the line will carry 600 megawatts of renewable energy, 300 in each direction, to homes and businesses.

The line, planned by Calgary-based Montana Alberta Tie Ltd., is expected to spawn wind farms along it and the McCormick project is one of them.

Besides Naturener, other companies that own capacity on the line are Invenergy, the owner of the Judith Gap wind farm, and Wind Hunter LLC, which is proposing a 170-megawatt facility in Valley County. Invenergy has said it's considering construction of a large wind farm north of Great Falls.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is expecting to release an environmental impact statement on the merchant transmission line within a few weeks, said Bill Williams, a Montana-Alberta Tie vice president. The Canadian National Energy Board also is expected to render its decision on the project in a few weeks.

The company hopes to break ground on the transmission line by this summer.

"Without that Montana-Alberta line none of (the wind-power projects) will happen," said Shelby Mayor Larry Bonderud, who also serves on the Toole County economic development agency.

Both the city and county have worked closely with Great Plains on the McCormick wind farm and support the acquisition by Naturener, he said. In addition to capital, the larger company brings expertise in renewable energy development to the state, he said.

Local officials envision an entire bank of wind farms from northcentral Montana to the Canadian border, representing billions of dollars in investment. Bonderud said the proposed McCormick wind farm would triple the tax base in Toole County.

"These wind projects have the potential to lower the taxes on every farm, every ranch and every main-street business and every household," he said.

Local officials have negotiated an agreement with the McCormick developers to offset the impact of the large project, which includes payments of several hundred thousand dollars a year to local governments, he said. Landowners will receive lease payments and even more compensation if turbines are put up on their property, he said.

UK Offshore Wind Farm to Generate 500 MW

2007-02-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

February 21, 2007
UK Offshore Wind Farm to Generate 500 MW

Secretary of State Alistair Darling approves first offshore wind farm outside of British territorial waters.
London, England [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]

Greater Gabbard Offshore Winds Limited (GGWOL), a joint venture between Irish wind giant Airtricity and Texas-based Fortune 500 company Fluor, received planning permission on Monday from the British government for the construction of a 500 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm to be located in the Outer Thames Estuary.

"The significance of this decision, aside from the notable benefits to the UK in terms of clean carbon free generation, is the continuing clear signal from the UK to the rest of the world that this country is open for business for offshore wind and we look forward to more consents in the near future."

-- Maria McCaffery, BWEA, chief executive

The proposed Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm will feature up to 140 wind turbines, located around two sand banks known as the Inner Gabbard and The Galloper, approximately 23 km off the coast of Suffolk.

The project is the third consent to be awarded by UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling, in the government's second phase of offshore wind development, and follows on the heels of two consents granted in December for the 341-turbine London Array project and 100-turbine Thanet project.

"We need more renewable energy as part of the mix of generation of electricity. It cuts emissions while powering homes. We are seeing this industry grow by the day. Only two weeks ago we reached the 2 GW wind energy landmark, it took more than 10 years to get the first GW and less than 20 months to get the second," said Darling. "It is a key part of our approach; we will continue to back it."

In addition, the GGOWL recently received permission to connect the wind farm to the electricity grid via a new substation planned at Sizewell from the Suffolk Coastal District Council. This will be connected to the offshore wind farm via underground and subsea cabling and will link to the existing overhead transmission lines in the area.

"This is a great boon for the United Kingdom. Wind on such scale will bring strong economic and environmental benefits for the UK. When the wind blows free generation replaces generation that costs. Wind reduces risk because the cost of the power offered will be fixed in price and offers price benefits for the consumer. Such large scale offshore wind provides consistent power and will push down the prices for fossil fuels," said Eddie O'Connor, Airtricity CEO. "This price decrease is caused by the diminishment in demand for fossil fuels, something we've seen frequently in Northern Europe.

The east coast of England is a key area for offshore wind projects with approximately 6.5 GW of capacity currently planned out of a total of 10 GW for the whole of the UK. Presently there are two phases of offshore development in the UK -- Round 1 which awarded 17 sites with 30 turbines and Round 2 -- a far greater scope with higher numbers of turbines and at greater distances from shore.

There are currently five offshore wind farms operational in the UK: Scroby Sands, Kentish Flats, North Hoyle, Barrow and Blyth. Ten have received consent (includes the London Array and Thanet in the Thames Estuary) and eight are in the planning stage.

According to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), the Greater Gabbard projects brings the UK's consented offshore portfolio to 2,484 MW -- with an additional 303 MW already operating and 294 MW under construction.

"BWEA is delighted by the next consent in the second phase of the UK's world-leading offshore program. The significance of this decision, aside from the notable benefits to the UK in terms of clean carbon free generation, is the continuing clear signal from the UK to the rest of the world that this country is open for business for offshore wind and we look forward to more consents in the near future," said BWEA Chief Executive Maria McCaffery.

Receipt of planning consent allows the joint venture to progress the project design and to structure the project financing arrangements as well as the power purchase agreements that are required to allow the project to achieve financial close which is scheduled for second half of 2007.

GGOWL is already focusing on pre-construction activities: Fluor has been appointed as Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor. The procurement process for turbines and other equipment has commenced, with offshore construction planned to commence in 2009.

"We are pleased to have achieved this important milestone and we look forward to working with all involved stakeholders to progress the project to financial close during 2007 so that we can begin the construction works in time to support the government's 2010 renewables target," said Patrick Flaherty, Fluor's Managing Director, referencing the British Government's renewable energy target of generating 10% by 2010 and 20% by 2020.

GE to Supply 300 Wind Turbines for New York State Projects

2007-02-21T05:17:00.000-08:00

February 16, 2007

GE to Supply 300 Wind Turbines for New York State Projects
Atlanta, Georgia [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
GE Energy will supply 300 of its 1.5-megawatt (MW) wind turbines to Noble Environmental Power, based in Essex, Connecticut, for 2007 and 2008 projects that will increase New York State's wind power capacity by 450 MW.

"New York State has been very aggressive in striving toward energy independence. The state has set a goal to produce 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources, including wind, by the year 2013." -- Victor Abate, GE Energy, VP-renewables

Noble Environmental Power will use the new GE turbines for the second phases of the Bliss Windpark (in western New York) and the Clinton Windpark, in northern New York. Plans call for selling all of the power from the wind projects to the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) for dispatch through the state electricity grid.

"New York State has been very aggressive in striving toward energy independence," said Victor Abate, vice president-renewables for GE Energy. "The state has set a goal to produce 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources, including wind, by the year 2013. More than 60 counties, towns and villages in New York have adopted renewable energy goals."

GE also recently announced that it has surpassed 5,000 installations for its 1.5-MW wind turbine. The company's knowledge base includes the development and/or installation of more than 8,500 wind turbines with a total rated output of 7,600 megawatts.

This comes on the heels of GE Energy Financial Services just announcing its $270 million investment in a 410- MW wind farm portfolio, among its single largest wind investments, with locations in California, Illinois, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.

FPL Energy and Texas College to Train Wind Engineers

2007-02-19T12:54:00.000-08:00

February 19, 2007
FPL Energy and Texas College to Train Wind Engineers
Juno Beach, Florida [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]

FPL Energy, LLC, has formed a partnership with Texas State Technical College (TSTC) West Texas to educate and train students in wind turbine technology in an effort to meet the increased demand for highly skilled employees in the wind energy business in Texas -- and throughout the region.

"As the largest owner and operator of wind turbines in Texas and throughout the world, having a well trained workforce is critically important to our future growth and ultimate success."-- Manny Sanchez, FPL Energy, VP Wind Operations

As part of the partnership, FPL Energy will assist TSTC West Texas with its curriculum by offering subject matter experts and faculty adjuncts; allow opportunities for participants to interact with FPL Energy wind experts on and off campus; provide paid internships within FPL Energy wind operations; and work with the college to secure the equipment and other resources necessary for laboratory facilities.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with the Texas State Technical College West Texas on this important educational program," said Manny Sanchez, vice president, Wind Operations for FPL Energy. "As the largest owner and operator of wind turbines in Texas and throughout the world, having a well trained workforce is critically important to our future growth and ultimate success."TSTC West Texas currently offers a two-year degree developed by TSTC faculty in collaboration with program advisory group members of the wind industry including FPL Energy.

TSTC West Texas will identify and recruit candidates for the program, handle all marketing efforts related to the program, provide service learning opportunities in the community and develop curriculum that meets the needs of FPL Energy.FPL Energy, through its subsidiaries, invested nearly $1 billion in Texas wind projects in 2006 and currently has 11 wind farms in operation in the state. With a net capacity of more than 1,600 megawatts. FPL Energy owned wind projects in Texas generated more than 3.6 million megawatt hours of electricity in 2006.

Airtricity Invests $1.5 B to Transmit 4,200 MW of Wind Energy

2007-02-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

February 19, 2007
Airtricity Invests $1.5 B to Transmit 4,200 MW of Wind Energy
Dublin, Ireland [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
A consortia backed by Airtricity has committed to the construction of a 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission 'loop' in the Texas Panhandle Plains region: The $1.5 billion 'Panhandle Loop' will be a 800-mile 'looped' transmission project bringing 4,200 megawatt (MW) of wind energy to more than one million homes.

"The Panhandle Loop project is like constructing a power station greater than the entire generation for Ireland and building it by 2010," -- Eddie O'Connor, Airtricity, Chief Executive
The proposal for the three interconnected transmission lines extending from three separate loops on the grid has been filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and, once approved, all parties are committed to moving it forward with a goal of project completion as early as late 2010.

The consortia behind the Panhandle Loop include Airtricity, Inc.; Babcock & Brown Renewable Holdings Inc; Celanese, Ltd.; Occidental Energy Ventures Corp.; and Sharyland Utilities, L.P.

"The Panhandle Loop project is like constructing a power station greater than the entire generation for Ireland and building it by 2010," said Airtricity's Chief Executive, Eddie O'Connor.

Airtricity, an integrated utility that generates and supplies green electricity, currently supplies renewable electricity to more than 35,000 commercial customers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is actively developing wind farms onshore and offshore throughout Europe (Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands), the U.S. and Canada, and has wind farms operating across Ireland and in Scotland at Ardrossan.

Wind Energy is the World's Fastest Growing Energy Source

2007-02-18T03:47:00.000-08:00

February 15, 2007 01:14 PM Eastern Time
Wind Energy is the World's Fastest Growing Energy Source

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c50505) has announced the addition of Global Wind Power Market Potential to their offering.
Wind is simple air in motion. It is caused by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. Since the earth’s surface is made of very different types of land and water, it absorbs the sun’s heat at different rates. Today, wind energy is mainly used to generate electricity. Wind energy is also world's fastest growing energy source and is a clean and renewable source that has been in use for centuries in Europe and more recently in the United States and other nations. Wind turbines, both large and small, produce electricity for utilities and homeowners and remote villages.

Wind energy is a clean energy source as electricity generated by wind turbines does not pollute the air or emit pollutants like other energy sources. This means less smog, less acid rain and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Every 10,000 MW of wind installed can reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 33 MMT annually if it replaces coal-fired generating capacity, or 21 MMT if it replaces generation from average fuel mix.

Many developing countries have little incentive to use wind energy technologies to reduce their emissions, despite the fact that the most rapid growth in CO2 emissions is in the developing world. Two related activities could give both developed and developing countries incentives to develop wind projects. The first is joint implementation, a program under which firms from the developed countries can earn carbon offsets by building clean energy projects in the developing world. Developed nations should endorse and push for joint implementation to move from its current status to full-scale implementation.

The second activity is the World Bank's Global Environmental Facility (GEF), which can cover the incremental cost of developing environmentally benign or beneficial projects in the developing world, such as building a wind project instead of an apparently cheaper coal project. This incentive is particularly important for countries such as China and India, which have tremendous power needs and must build energy capacity quickly at the lowest possible cost.
This report examines global wind power market potential.

Region emerges as a leader in renewable power sources

2007-02-18T03:28:00.000-08:00

Region emerges as a leader in renewable power sources
By Sarah Light, staff writerSaturday, February 17, 2007 2:47 PM CST

Last week, the Minnesota state Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation requiring most utility companies to generate at least 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025.Electric utilities such as Xcel Energy Inc. would be required to gather 30 percent from those sources by 2020.Renewable energy includes electricity from solar, wind, hydrogen, biomass and hydroelectric sources.If the initiative passes both the House and the governor, it could place Minnesota into the limelight for renewable energy legislation across the nation and make the state a leader in the country for these efforts, said state Sen. Dan Sparks. Twenty-one other states have already passed similar legislation.The legislation gives a timeline for utility companies, stating that by 2012 they should obtain 12 percent of their power from renewable sources, by 2020 obtain 20 percent and then by 2025 obtain 25 percent.For companies such as Xcel — which provides about half of the state’s electricty — this timeline would be higher.
Sparks said when the bill was moving through the Senate, there was discussion as to whether the initiative would be feasible for utility companies and for residents.“Most of the energy companies want to move toward that energy standard, but we just wanted to make sure it was attainable,” Sparks said. “Everyone’s going to say they’re for renewable energy, but we need to look at whether this will be affordable to our local rate payers. We need to look at the whole picture when we’re putting public policy several years into the future.”Because of this, the bill includes a portion that will allow the state’s Public Utilities Commission the ability to modify the timeline if there is a “significant rate impact” on customers. The bill passed the Senate 61-4.Kenric Scheevel, with government relations for Dairyland Power Cooperative — of which Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services is a part —said although it will be difficult to reach the new standard, he is optimistic that utilities will be able to achieve the goal.“Make no doubt about it, that is going to be a challenge for the utilities,” Scheevel said. “I think there will be some bumps in the road, but ultimately we will get there.”Dairyland Power Cooperative, which is headquartered in La Crosse, Wisc., provides wholesale electrical requirements and services for 25 electric distribution cooperatives and 19 municipal utilities throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services is one of those cooperatives.“We have the opportunity to be a leader,” said Tim Thompson, president of Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services. “We already have the biodiesel right here, we have the ethanol right here and now the hydroelectric right here.”
In light of the legislation moving through the state government, Bob Crowell, Midwest development director for Horizon Wind Energy, said he, too is optimistic that the initiative can be reached.“There’s lots of good, windy sites and transmission in Minnesota, as well as some stuff that’s still on the drawing board,” Crowell said.Horizon Wind Energy is a company that develops and operates wind farms throughout the United States.In the spring, it will start construction for the Prairie Star Wind Farm just 15 miles southeast of Austin, which will consist of 61 wind turbines. These turbines have the capacity of generating 362,000 megawatt hours of energy to power about 36,000 Minnesota homes. The project should be complete by the end of the year.“We are very excited about what’s going on in Minnesota,” he said. “We’re very excited about starting construction. It’s a great time to be a part of the wind industry.”He noted that Minnesota’s wind resources are stronger than most of the similar resources in the Midwest.The recent Minnesota legislation came around the same time that President George W. Bush allocated $1 billion to renewable energy into the 2008 fiscal budget.
The 2008 budget request includes $179 million for the Biofuels Initiative, which is organized to help the country reduce gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 10 years. During the 2006 State of the Union address, Bush set a national goal to replace more than 75 percent of the country’s oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.“We’re excited to see all this legislation,” said Exol General Manager Rick Mummert. “America needs to become wiser users of our energy sources.”

GE unit makes one of its largest wind portfolio investment commitments

2007-02-18T03:25:00.000-08:00

GE unit makes one of its largest wind portfolio investment commitments GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), announced today that it has committed to invest in a 410-megawatt wind farm portfolio, among its single largest wind investments

15 Feb 2007 : GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric (NYSE: GE), announced today that it has committed to invest in a 410-megawatt wind farm portfolio, among its single largest wind investments. GE Energy Financial Services has committed to invest approximately $270 million for 70 percent of the Class A equity, with a subsidiary of Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB), providing the balance, in six wind farms in California, Illinois, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, until now wholly owned by affiliates of global investment and advisory firm Babcock & Brown (ASX: BNB). Affiliates of Babcock & Brown will be the manager and will remain as Class B equity co-investors in the portfolio. Additional financial details were not disclosed. GE Energy Financial Services made the announcement in Houston at CERAWeek 2007, Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ annual conference. The wind portfolio consists of: Aragonne Mesa (90 megawatts) in Guadalupe County, New Mexico. Built with Mitsubishi 1000A turbines, Arizona Public Services is the project’s off-taker. Allegheny Ridge I and II, (80 and 70 megawatts respectively), in Pennsylvania’s Cambria and Blair counties. FirstEnergy Solutions, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., has contracted to purchase the output of the two wind farms, which use Gamesa G87 turbines. GSG (80 megawatts), in Illinois’ Lee and LaSalle counties. Using Gamesa G87 turbines, the output will be sold at market prices. Mendota Hills (52 megawatts), in Lee County, Illinois. The wind farm uses Gamesa G52 turbines and will sell output at market prices. Buena Vista (38 megawatts), in the Altamont Pass area of Northern California. The output is contracted to PG&E Corporation and uses Mitsubishi 1000A turbines. All the wind farms have either been completed or will be completed by the end of April, except Allegheny Ridge II, expected to be finished by December. “This transaction continues the expansion of the geographic footprint and technology mix of our wind holdings,” said Kevin Walsh, Managing Director and leader of renewable energy at GE Energy Financial Services, who spoke today at CERAWeek 2007. “In addition, the portfolio helps the states of Arizona, California, Illinois and Pennsylvania meet their renewable energy targets, and reinforces GE’s commitment to ecomagination.” Ecomagination is GE’s initiative to help its customers meet their environmental challenges while expanding its own portfolio of cleaner energy products. The six wind farms combined will annually produce electrical energy estimated to be sufficient to power 100,000 homes, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than nearly 700,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, compared with equivalent fossil fuel generation. "This mix of projects is an exciting addition to our rapidly expanding US portfolio. We are excited to see the rapid growth of wind power in the US and are committed to making sure this growth continues. We value our relationship with GE Energy Financial Services and Wachovia and look forward to working with them on future wind deals," said Hunter Armistead, head of Babcock & Brown’s North American wind energy group. With this transaction, GE Energy Financial Services has invested or committed to invest equity in 25 wind farms, bringing the total capacity of its wind equity holdings globally to more than 1,300 megawatts. About GE Energy Financial Services GE Energy Financial Services' 300 experts invest globally with a long-term view, across the capital spectrum and the energy and water industries, to help their customers and GE grow. With $13 billion in assets, GE Energy Financial Services, based in Stamford, Connecticut, invests more than $5 billion annually in two of the world's most capital-intensive industries, energy and water. In renewable energy, GE Energy Financial Services has developed a strong record investing in wind, solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal power, and is growing its portfolio of more than $1.75 billion in renewable energy assets. More information: www.geenergyfinancialservices.com. About GE GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.ge.com. About Babcock & Brown Babcock & Brown is a global investment and advisory firm with longstanding capabilities in structured finance and the creation, syndication and management of asset and cash flow-based investments. Babcock & Brown was founded in 1977 and is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Babcock & Brown operates from 26 offices across Australia, North America, Europe, Asia, United Arab Emirates and Africa and has in excess of 1000 employees worldwide. Babcock & Brown has five operating divisions including real estate, infrastructure and project finance, operating leasing, structured finance and corporate finance. The company has established a funds management platform across the operating divisions that has resulted in the creation of a number of focused investment vehicles in areas including real estate, renewable energy and infrastructure. Babcock & Brown has nearly 20 years of experience in the wind energy sector, having arranged financing for over 3,000 MW of wind energy companies and projects with an estimated value over US$3 billion. Babcock & Brown's roles have included acting as an adviser/arranger of limited recourse project financing, arranging equity placements, lease adviser, project developer, principal equity investor and fund manager for wind energy projects in North America, Australia and Europe. Babcock & Brown has developed specialist local expertise and experience in the wind energy sector in each of these regions. More information is available at www.babcockbrown.com.

Study: Offshore Wind Farms Could Power Entire East Coast

2007-02-18T03:11:00.000-08:00

Study: Offshore Wind Farms Could Power Entire East Coast
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
By Andrea Thompson

Wind power could supply all the energy needs of much of the East Coast and then some, if a phalanx of wind turbines running from Massachusetts to North Carolina were installed offshore, a new study concludes.
Though local residents often object to wind farms intruding on their landscape and views, wind power has become an increasingly attractive option for generating clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions for several countries.
Offshore wind farms in Denmark and the United Kingdom are now used to generate electricity, with Denmark drawing 20 percent of its energy from wind power.
• Click here to visit FOXBusiness.com's Energy Center.
• Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Natural Science Center.
But determining just how much ocean area is available and how much energy a wind farm can actually produce is tricky and had yet to be done for this area of the Atlantic.
"In doing our surveys and watching the public debate, we saw that no one had solid empirical data on the actual size of the offshore wind resource, and we felt this was important for policy decisions," said study author Willett Kempton of the University of Delaware.
An ideal location
Oceans make ideal locations for wind turbines because they "are particularly windy all over," Kempton said.
The ocean's surface isn't littered with hills, trees and houses as the land is, so winds over the water are faster because there is less friction to slow them down.
The wind turns the three blades of the turbine, and their rotation is converted into electricity by a generator.
The Middle Atlantic Bight, a region of the Atlantic Ocean that runs from Cape Cod, Mass., to Cape Hatteras, N.C., turns out to be an ideal setting for wind turbines because it is a large area of shallow water, Kempton said
Locating a large body of shallow water is important because with current technology, turbines can only be built out to a depth of 20 to 30 meters (close to 20 or 30 yards). Otherwise, it is too difficult to erect the metal pole that the turbine sits atop.
However, experimental turbines have been built out to a depth of 50 meters off the coast of Scotland. These types of turbines may be in commercial use soon, Kempton said, and with reasonable additional costs, he forsees building them out to a depth of 100 meters.
"Anything deeper than that, and you're talking science fiction," Kempton told LiveScience.
Surpassing energy needs
To estimate how much area would actually be available to place wind farms on in the Middle Atlantic Bight, the researchers had to exclude areas used for bird flyways, toxic waste sites and shipping lanes.
"We don't want to compete with that use," Kempton said.
The researchers also had to consider that wind turbines must be spaced half a mile apart, otherwise they create turbulence that interferes with other turbines.
Even with all those allowances, the energy needs of most of the East Coast could be met, or even surpassed, with the installation of over 160,000 turbines, according to Kempton's findings.
But to achieve that energy, the turbines would have to be built out to a depth of 100 meters, according to the research published in the Jan. 24 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The reduced use of fossil fuels would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the area by 57 percent, even in New England, one of the world's most highly polluting areas, according to the study.
"The fact that we could get such huge reductions there gives me hope for other places," Kempton said.
Mixed opinions
Proposals for offshore wind farms have met with mixed opinions: residents of Cape Cod are vocal in their opposition to such a project, but those in nearby Delaware support building the turbines.
Common complaints against wind turbines are their unsightliness, their potential to destroy habitats and their potential effect on local weather patterns.
There would be "a realistic set of pluses and minuses — there would be some bird kills," Kempton said.
But he pointed out that the pylons actually create habitat for fish, the turbines would not be visible from shore and local weather effects would be negligible.
Even with local opposition, Kempton thinks it is likely that one of these projects will be built.
"I think it's a 100 percent probability," Kempton said.
And the whole area doesn't have to be built at once.
"It definitely could be done on a state-by-state basis," he said.

BP Plans Construction of Five US Wind Projects in 2007

2007-01-17T04:16:00.000-08:00

BP Plans Construction of Five US Wind Projects in 2007

Projects build on earlier growth announcements

Houston, TX, January 12, 2007 – BP Alternative Energy North America Inc. today announced that it expects to begin construction on five wind power generation projects in the US in 2007. Located in four states – California, Colorado, North Dakota and Texas – the projects are expected to deliver a combined generation capacity of some 550 megawatts (MW).

When complete, the projects will exceed the company’s previously announced target to build 450 MW by end of 2008.

BP’s US wind portfolio includes the opportunity to develop almost 100 projects with a potential total generating capacity of some 15,000 MW. These projects are the result of several agreements and acquisitions the company made in 2006. In July, BP announced a strategic alliance with Clipper Windpower to supply up to 4,250 MW of wind turbines over the next five years. Later in the year, BP acquired two US wind development companies – Greenlight Energy Inc. and Orion Energy LLC.

“Today’s announcement marks an important step in delivering BP’s commitment to producing low and zero-carbon electricity,” said Robert Lukefahr, president of BP Alternative Energy North America Inc. “Our 2007 build program surpasses our target and does so a year ahead of schedule. It is a testament to the calibre of people working in our business and the opportunities in the US wind sector.”

Construction is already under way on the Cedar Creek project in Weld County, Colorado, a development venture between BP Alternative Energy North America Inc., and Babcock & Brown Operating Partners LP. The 300 MW wind power generation project will be comprised of 274 wind turbines. Initial operation is expected in the second half of 2007 and when fully commercial, the project will generate enough carbon-free electricity to power 120,000 homes.
“This is an exciting project for Babcock & Brown,” said Hunter Armistead, head of Babcock & Brown’s U.S. wind energy group. “The Cedar Creek project will be a significant source of renewable power in Colorado, and it represents a significant investment in the state's infrastructure.”

The remaining four projects are:

California – the Yaponcha wind power generation project is the re-powering of an existing wind energy facility in San Gorgonio Pass which expects to have a capacity of 20 MW.
North Dakota – a 65 MW wind power generation project.
Central Texas – a 60 MW joint project with Clipper Windpower.
West Texas – a project in excess of 100 MW.

As part of this build program, BP Alternative Energy North America Inc plans to deploy 150 MW of Clipper Liberty turbines as part of the supply and joint development agreement it entered into in 2006 with Clipper Windpower.

Notes to Editors:
BP Alternative Energy
BP is one of the world’s largest energy companies, with interests in more than 100 countries and over 96,000 employees. BP Alternative Energy, launched in November 2005, combines all of BP’s interests in low and zero-carbon power generation: wind, solar, hydrogen power with carbon capture and storage and gas-fired power generation. BP Alternative Energy North America Inc. is one of the leading wind developers in the United States and has portfolios in Europe, Asia & Latin Americ
BP alternative energy
Babcock & Brown
Babcock & Brown is a global investment and advisory firm with longstanding capabilities in structured finance and the creation, syndication and management of asset and cash flow-based investments. Babcock & Brown was founded in 1977 and is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.Babcock & Brown operates from 26 offices across Australia, North America, Europe, Asia, United Arab Emirates and Africa and has in excess of 810 employees worldwide. Babcock & Brown has five operating divisions including real estate, infrastructure and project finance, operating leasing, structured finance and corporate finance. The company has established a funds management platform across the operating divisions that has resulted in the creation of a number of focused investment vehicles in areas including real estate, renewable energy and infrastructure.
Babcock and Brown
Clipper Windpower (“Clipper”):
Clipper Windpower, is a rapidly growing wind energy technology, turbine manufacturing, and wind project development company. With offices in California, Colorado, Maryland, Mexico and the U.K., and ISO9001:2000 QMS Certified manufacturing and assembly facilities located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the company designs advanced wind turbines, manufactures its 2.5-MW Liberty wind turbine and actively develops wind power generating projects in the Americas and Europe. Clipper’s project development activities include approximately 6,000 MW of wind resource rights, with new project sites being actively pursued.
Clipper wind power
Further information:
Name: Sarah Howell
Office: BP Press Office
Phone : 202 457 6603

Name: David Nicholas
Office: BP Press Office
Phone : +44 20 7496 4708

Expect 1,500 MW from Offshore Wind Energy in Germany

2006-12-08T05:20:00.000-08:00

Expect 1,500 MW from Offshore Wind Energy in Germany
Hamburg, Germany [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
According to the CEO at REpower Systems AG, Professor Fritz Vahrenholt, it is realistic to expect offshore wind farms with an output of 1,500 megawatts (MW) in Germany by the end of 2011.

Vahrenholt also announced a short-term decision on Bremerhaven as the site for the serial production of the offshore turbine REpower 5M, to start as early as 2007.

During the National Maritime Conference in Hamburg, Vahrenholt welcomed Germany's resolution to adjust the infrastructure law so that grid-connection costs are borne by the grid operators.

Vahrenholt also announced a short-term decision on Bremerhaven as the site for the serial production of the offshore turbine REpower 5M, to start as early as 2007.

The dimensions of the 5M, whose nacelle has the measurements of a single family home and weighs approximately 290 tons, place particular demands on the size and infrastructure of the production site.

The first 5M was thus manufactured at HDW shipyard in Kiel and four subsequent 5Ms were produced at the J. Kramer shipyard in Bremerhaven. All other REpower Systems AG wind turbines are manufactured in Husum and Trampe/Brandenburg.

Wind-powered System Under Way to Purify Water

2006-12-01T06:15:00.000-08:00

Wind-powered System Under Way to Purify Water
Niskayuna, New York [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]

GE Global Research is partnering with Texas Tech University (TTU) to develop affordable water desalination systems to increase the quantity and quality of clean water in arid areas around the world.

"Developing cost effective technologies that address improving water quality and availability are of critical importance to many water stressed areas in this region."

-- Dr. Dean Smith, Texas Tech University, VP for Research

The GE-Texas Tech partnership will focus on the integration of renewable energy systems, such as wind turbines, with membrane desalination processes. The development of the integrated renewable energy-water system can reduce the cost of creating new sources of freshwater from impaired resources, such as brackish water, by directly addressing the major component of operating cost of desalination systems - energy.

"Up to fifty percent of the operating costs of desalination is derived from energy consumption," said Dr. Minesh Shah, project leader, GE Global Research. "With the potential for large variability in energy costs due to fuel price volatility, desalination systems can have significant operational costs. The integration of wind energy provides an opportunity to mitigate this variability and allow for a lower cost desalination system."

"Developing cost effective technologies that address improving water quality and availability are of critical importance to many water stressed areas in this region," said Dr. Dean Smith, Vice President for Research at TTU. "We are pleased to partner with the GE Global Research Center to work together on this problem of both regional and world-wide importance."

The focus of the research partnership will be the integrated control and optimization of the two systems to improve operations, reduce capital cost and reduce energy consumption. This would help to improve the commercialization of a renewable energy-water system. The program aims to develop a commercial scale demonstration within the next several years.

The partnership is part of GE's company-wide ecomagination initiative, in which GE has pledged to more than double its level of investment in the development of cleaner energy technologies, from $700 million to $1.5 billion, over the next five years.

Knight & Carver Builds First STAR Blade for the DOE

2006-11-17T03:32:00.000-08:00

Knight & Carver Builds First STAR Blade for the DOE
November 15, 2006
San Diego, California [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]

Knight & Carver's Wind Blade Division has completed the first in a series of 27.5-meter wind blades as part of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project that ranks as an advance in wind energy production. The Sweep Twist Adaptive Rotor (STAR) blade's characteristic is a gently curved tip, which, unlike the vast majority of blades in current use, is specially designed for low-wind-speed regions.

"Depending on the wind farm's site, this blade will capture between 5 and 10 percent more energy."

-- Gary Kanaby, Knight & Carver's Blade Division Manager

Instead of the traditional linear shape, the blade features a curvature toward the trailing edge, designed to relieve pressure on the blade and turbine drive train. The blade, which takes maximum advantage of all wind speeds, including marginal speeds, is scheduled for static-testing at Knight & Carver's onsite test facility in San Diego during December. A second blade will be built before the end of the year.

"Depending on the wind farm's site, this blade will capture between 5 and 10 percent more energy," said Gary Kanaby, Knight & Carver's Blade Division Manager.

The project is a cooperative effort among several companies and institutions including Knight & Carver YachtCenter, Sandia Laboratories, Dynamic Design, MDZ Consulting, University of California at Davis, and NSE Composites.

Last April, Knight & Carver's Wind Blade Division was honored by the U.S. DOE for research and development on the STAR blade project.

Texas, private partners to invest $10 billion in wind energy

2006-10-05T02:45:00.000-07:00

Texas, private partners to invest $10 billion in wind energy
San Antonio Business Journal - 11:19 AM CDT Tuesday
Print this Article Email this Article Reprints RSS Feeds Most Viewed Most Emailed
The state of Texas will partner with private-sector parties to invest more than $10 billion in new wind energy infrastructure, Gov. Rick Perry said Monday evening in Dallas.

The wind energy initiative will diversify the state's energy production, clean up the air and help Texas surpass its renewable energy goals, Perry said during an appearance at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Under the partnership, private companies will make the capital investments in wind energy generation and the Public Utility Commission will direct the construction of additional transmission lines to deliver the power.

For every 1,000 megawatts generated by new wind sources, Texas will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 6 million tons over the next 20 years, according to the governor's office. The investment also will provide a boost to the economy, Perry said.

"With this $10 billion announcement, the economic ripple will be more like a tidal wave as these companies pour millions of dollars into wages and salaries for Texas workers," he said.

The Texas Energy Council, which was developed in 2003 and charged with developing a long-term energy plan for the state, issued a report in December 2004 stating that 10 percent of the state's power needs come from renewable sources.

The council recommended that the Public Utility Commission take steps to overcome transmission obstacles that limit the development of renewable energy sources.

"This is a monumental investment that will make our air cleaner and our people healthier," Perry said.

Private companies participating in the initiative include the following:

AES Wind Generation
Airtricity Inc.
Babcock & Brown LP.
Gamesa Energy Southwest
Horizon Wind Energy
John Deere Wind Energy
Orion Energy LLC
PPM Energy
Renewable Energy Systems (USA)
Shell WindEnergy Inc.
Superior Renewable Energy
D.H. Blattner
GE Energy LLC
Mortenson
Siemens
Trinity Structural Towers Inc.
Vestas-Americas Inc.

Suzlon Now Supplies John Deere Wind Energy with 530 MW

2006-09-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

Suzlon Now Supplies John Deere Wind Energy with 530 MW
September 25, 2006

Pune, India [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] A new order from John Deere Wind Energy (JDWE) nearly doubles its wind turbine capacity with another 247 megawatts (MW) from Suzlon Energy A/S of Denmark (SEAS), international arm of Suzlon Energy Limited. JDWE's Suzlon wind turbine portfolio now exceeds 530 MW in capacity. 30 units of the S64-1.25 MW turbine and 100 units of the S88-2.1 MW turbine will be delivered throughout 2007.

"John Deere is relatively new to the industry, but has already made great strides and continues to extend its business model."

-- Per Hornung Pedersen, SEAS, CEO "We are confident our investment in the U.S., along with our customer-focused approach, has contributed to repeat orders," said Tulsi R. Tanti, Chairman & Managing Director, Suzlon Energy Limited.

Suzlon's relationship with JDWE began in 2003 with its investment in several Minnesota wind power projects, but quickly expanded to Texas and recently Missouri. JDWE's latest order builds upon previous orders, including an order for 238 MW of capacity placed in early 2006.

"We view this latest agreement as a reaffirmation of our belief and investment in the U.S. market, and our manufacturing strategy," said Andris Cukurs, CEO of Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation (SWECO). "John Deere's commitment to purchasing these turbines further confirms our long-term strategy to focus on partnerships and production capabilities."

Commenting on the order, David Drescher, VP of JDWE, said, "John Deere Wind Energy is very pleased that we came to terms with Suzlon and have procured turbines for numerous projects throughout the U.S."

"John Deere is relatively new to the industry, but has already made great strides and continues to extend its business model," added Per Hornung Pedersen, CEO of SEAS.

ACCIONA, Enbridge and Suncor Open 30 MW Wind Power Project

2006-09-29T05:08:00.000-07:00

ACCIONA, Enbridge and Suncor Open 30 MW Wind Power Project
September 28, 2006

Taber, Alberta [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Acciona Wind Energy Canada Inc., Enbridge Inc., and Suncor Energy Products Inc. announced the opening of the 30-megawatt (MW) Chin Chute Wind Power Project, which consists of 20 1.5-MW turbines. Power is expected to be available to the grid in late October 2006.

"We are honored to have the opportunity to expand zero- emission electricity generation through renewable energies, and to cooperate with the authorities and businesses in expanding initiatives that address climate change."

-- Peter Duprey, Acciona Energy North America, CEO The companies are currently focusing on safely commissioning each turbine and completing the 20 kilometer (km) transmission line. Once in full service, Acciona will operate the CDN$60 million wind farm, located 20 km southwest of Taber.

"The opening of the Chin Chute Wind Power Project increases and consolidates Acciona's presence in Canada, where we already have a wind farm in operation in Alberta," said Peter Duprey, CEO of Acciona Energy North America.

"We are honored to have the opportunity to expand zero-emission electricity generation through renewable energies, and to cooperate with the authorities and businesses in expanding initiatives that address climate change," said Duprey.

Chuck Szmurlo, President of Enbridge Wind Power, said, "Developing Chin Chute and our other wind power projects is consistent with our commitment to sound environmental stewardship."

Acciona, Enbridge and Suncor also own the 30-MW Magrath Wind Power Project in southern Alberta, which was commissioned in 2004 and is now operated by Acciona. Enbridge and Suncor also own the 11-MW SunBridge project near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan, which Enbridge operates.

The companies expect to receive funding from the Canadian government's Wind Power Production Incentive, which supports wind power development in Canada.

Floating Ocean Windmills Designed to Generate More Power

2006-09-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

Floating Ocean Windmills Designed to Generate More Power
Ker Than LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com

Windmills that would float hundreds of miles out at sea could one day help satisfy our energy needs without being eyesores from land, scientists said today.

Offshore wind turbines are not new, but they typically stand on towers that have to be driven deep into the ocean floor. This arrangement only works in water depths of about 50 feet or less—close enough to shore that they are still visible.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have designed a wind turbine that can be attached to a floating platform. Long steel cables would tether the corners of the floating platform to a concrete-block or other mooring system on the ocean floor, like a high-tech ship anchor. The setup is called a "tension leg platform," or TLP, and would be cheaper than fixed towers.

"You don't pay anything to be buoyant," said Paul Sclavounos, an MIT professor of mechanical engineering and naval architecture who was involved in the design.

The floating platforms to sway side to side but not bob up and down. Computer simulations suggest that even during hurricanes, the platforms would shift by only about three to six feet and that the bottom of the turbine blades would revolve well above the peak of even the highest wave. Dampers similar to those used to steady skyscrapers during high winds and earthquakes could be used to further reduce sideways motion, the researchers say.

Like the offshore windmills currently in use, the TLP's would use undersea cables to shuttle the electricity to land.

The researchers estimate their floater-mounted turbines could work in water depths ranging from about 100 to 650 feet. This means that in the northeastern United States, they could be placed about 30 to 100 miles out at sea. Because winds are stronger farther offshore, the floating windmills could also generate more energy—5.0 megawatts (MW), compared to 1.5 MW for onshore units and 3.5 MW for conventional offshore setups.

To save money, assembly of the TLP's could be done onshore—probably at a shipyard—and towed out to sea by a tugboat, the researchers say.

Sclavounos estimates that building and installing the TLP's should cost a third of what it costs to install current offshore tower windmills. Another advantage of using floating platforms is that the windmills could be moved around. If a company with 400 wind turbines in Boston needs more power in New York City, it can unhook some of their windmills and tow them south.

The researchers plan to install a half-scale prototype of their invention south of Cape Cod.

"We'd have a little unit sitting out there to show that this thing can float and behave the way we're saying it will," Sclavounos said.

Giant wind farm gets permit from BLM

2006-09-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

Idaho's Economic Answer: Blowin' In the Wind
Giant wind farm gets permit from BLM

BY TONY EVANS
Boise-based Windland, Inc. working in partnership with Shell Wind Energy recently completed a four-year permitting process with the Bureau of Land Management to OK a massive wind turbine power project on BLM land in the Cotterel Mountains near Albion, Idaho. Once completed, the Cotterel Wind Power Project will comprise 98, 300-foot-tall towers equipped with swirling white propellers stretching along 14 miles of ridgeline. Cotterel will provide enough energy to power 50,000 homes, roughly the number of homes in Twin Falls and Jerome and Gooding counties combined. If completed, the project will be the largest wind farm built on federal lands in the last 25 years.

Mike Heckler of Windland, Inc. says he is "very pleased" with the completion of the BLM review. Before construction begins on the project, Windland faces the task of acquiring a power purchase agreement from one of three utility companies in the region; Idaho Power, Altavista, or Rocky Mountain Power.

"All three have expressed an interest in adding wind generation to their energy portfolios," says Heckler, who attributes the renewed interest in wind power to a recent increase in the cost of natural gas and rapid technological advances in wind turbine technology. According to Heckler, the huge and powerful 1.5 to 3.0 megawatt wind turbines planned for Cotterel, each capable of generating enough power for 500 homes, have only been available in the last six years.

Gerald Fleischman of the Idaho Energy Division counts 42 wind farm projects in various stages of development around the state with a combined potential output of 1,500-2,000 megawatts when completed.

"Many of these are on private lands and are in the 10-20 megawatt range. Most of them keep a pretty low profile," Fleischman says.

The BLM seems eager to spread word of Cotterel's permit, perhaps because it will help meet the goal set by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. That document calls on the secretary of the Interior to seek approval of projects on federal lands which generate 10,000 megawatts of energy from non-hydro-powered renewable sources, in the next nine years. The BLM estimates 3,200 megawatts of wind power are available in the nine Western states. Idaho ranks 13th in its potential for wind energy.

But despite the current interest in wind energy, Idaho Power's supply of energy comes primarily from hydropower, followed closely by natural gas and coal-fired power plant sources, according to Dennis Lopez.

Idaho Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett organized opposition last year to Sempra Energy's proposed coal-fired power plant, which would have provided 600 megawatts of power, one-third of Cotterel's capacity.

"We have enough wind to supply our new energy needs in Idaho," says Stennett. "I am hoping that Idaho will pursue a renewable energy portfolio, including wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. If utilities would consider our hydropower as a solid source of base-load capacity, we certainly would not have to rely on coal in the future."

Doing so, he adds, would require a quantum leap in thinking by the utilities companies. Wind power, Stennett admits, has a huge up-front cost, "but you don't have to wonder about the price of coal and oil 20 years down the road."

"These projects are also great for providing a tax base and some rural economic development," Stennett says.

Cotterel is expected to generate up to $12.5 million in local sales tax revenue once operations are fully underway. According to a BLM report, Cassia County could also benefit from property taxes on the project's $197 million in property improvements.

Iowa Will Consider Building 40,000-Acre Wind-Energy Farm

2006-09-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

Iowa Will Consider Building 40,000-Acre Wind-Energy Farm
BY Associated Press
September 1, 2006

Northern Iowa could have one of the nation's largest wind farms by Iowa Winds LLC wants to build a 200- to 300-megawatt farm covering about 40,000 acres in Franklin County.

A county zoning board will consider approving permits for the $200 million project next month.

"It's something new and renewable," a spokeswoman for the Iowa Falls-based company, Amber Schwarck, said. "It's great for national security, so we can start depending on ourselves and the wind."

Iowa ranks third in the nation in wind energy behind Texas and California, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The Franklin County Wind Farm would help Iowa keep pace with those states and create between 30 and 40 technical jobs maintaining turbines, Ms. Schwarck said. A pay scale was unavailable.

Company officials said the farm could be the nation's largest — depending on the permits and the county's power grid infrastructure. The project would be built near Bradford and involve 193 landowners in the townships of Grant, Hamilton, Ingham, Lee, Morgan, Oakland, and Reeves.

If the county approves the project, construction would start next spring and take about a year, Franklin County Supervisor Michael Nolte said

FAA gives go-ahead to three Minnesota wind projects

2006-09-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

FAA gives go-ahead to three Minnesota wind projects
Posted 9/14/2006 7:56 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration has given the go-ahead to three Minnesota wind power projects, after concluding that they don't interfere with military radar.
The approvals were announced Thursday by Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican who urged the FAA to approve the projects. The FAA confirmed the projects had been given the go-ahead.

More than a dozen wind developers in the Midwest had been told earlier this year that their projects might not get safety permits because of the potential impact on military radar.

The three Minnesota projects that have been approved are: PPM Energy, enXco Energy and Wind Energy Developers.

Jan Johnson, a spokeswoman for PPM Energy, said the company got a determination of "no hazard" from the FAA a couple of weeks ago. That will pave the way for construction to begin this year on a 150-megawatt project in Lincoln County in Minnesota, and Brookings County, South Dakota, she said.

Johnson said that the project would provide enough energy to power about 45,000 homes a year.

Officials with enXco Energy and Wind Energy Developers did not return telephone messages left Thursday.

The enXco project would be built near Chandler. Spokespeople for the FAA and Coleman's office weren't immediately sure where the Wind Energy Developers project is located. The company's website and state and local government records indicate the company is developing projects in both Cottonwood and Murray counties.

"Hundreds of millions of dollars in wind development, much-needed jobs in southwestern Minnesota, and abundant clean, renewable energy can now become a reality thanks to the FAA clearing the way for three Minnesota wind projects," Coleman said in a statement.

FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere confirmed the three had been given clearance.

"There were some issues with those projects, but we worked very closely with the applicants to mitigate any safety factors so that they could go ahead with their projects," said Spitaliere, who did not have details on the specifics of the mitigation.

The American Wind Energy Association, a Washington trade group, ranks Minnesota fourth in the nation in the amount of wind energy installed.

Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center Completes 662 MW

2006-09-15T16:09:00.000-07:00

Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center Completes 662 MW
September 14, 2006

Juno Beach, Florida [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] FPL Energy completed 662 megawatts (MW) of the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Texas in the end of August. When the last phase of the project is complete later this month, the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center will have a total capacity of 735 MW, making it the largest wind farm in the U.S.

"Because of the strong support we have received in Texas, this year alone we have invested more than $1 billion to expand our wind business in the state and bring the benefits of this clean, renewable energy source to tens of thousands of Texans."

-- Jim Robo, FPL Energy, president The Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center is comprised of 291 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines and 130 Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbines spread over nearly 47,000 acres in Taylor and Nolan County, Texas.

The first phase of the project consisting of 213 MW was completed in late 2005; phase two consisting of 223.5 MW was completed in the second quarter of 2006; and phase three consisting of 299 MW, of which 225 MW are already operational, is expected to be completed by the end of September. Once Horse Hollow is complete, FPL Energy will operate more than 1,600 MW of wind in Texas alone.

"Projects like Horse Hollow are possible because of the pro-business environment that exists in Texas today as well as tremendous support from the local community," said Jim Robo, president of FPL Energy. "Because of the strong support we have received in Texas, this year alone we have invested more than $1 billion to expand our wind business in the state and bring the benefits of this clean, renewable energy source to tens of thousands of Texans."

FPL Energy, through its subsidiaries, operates 47 wind farms in the U.S. with a gross capacity of 4,002 MW. Since July 2005 FPL Energy has added 880 MW of new wind and expects more than 220 MW to reach commercial operation by the end of the year. FPL Energy plans to add at least 1,500 MW to its portfolio, excluding acquisitions, over the course of the 2006/2007 period.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. DOE Funds Research on Modular Technology for Large Wind Turbines

2006-09-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

U.S. DOE Funds Research on Modular Technology for Large Wind Turbines
September 12, 2006

Waitsfield, Vermont [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Development of 5- to 8-megawatt wind turbines by Northern Power is moving forward thanks to a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

"Over the last several years, our wind experts have focused on developing large-scale, direct-drive wind turbine generator and power converter systems to address the cost, utility interconnection and equipment implementation issues that are prominent in the multi- megawatt wind market today."

-- Darren Jamison, Northern Power, president The Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant will allow the company, a subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp., to continue development of key modular construction approaches necessary to build the turbines.

With blade lengths of 60 meters or greater and tower heads often weighing more than 450 tons, shipping, installing and maintaining larger turbines is a challenge.

Northern Power's Phase 2 contract with the DOE covers manufacturing and assembly for permanent magnet generators and power converters, to improve the viability of large-scale wind power both on- and offshore. The project's emphasis on modular designs is intended to permit easier subassembly transportation, less weight per component, partial power capabilities and more flexibility in providing onsite service.

"Over the last several years, our wind experts have focused on developing large-scale, direct-drive wind turbine generator and power converter systems," said Darren Jamison, Northern Power's president, "to address the cost, utility interconnection and equipment implementation issues that are prominent in the multi-megawatt wind market today."

The first phase of the competitive, three-phase SBIR program is the startup phase, during which exploration is funded based on the technical merit or feasibility of a technology. Phase II grants enable development of the technology and evaluation of its commercial potential, and Phase III moves the product from the laboratory into the marketplace.

Wind's Economic Value

2006-09-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

Wind's Economic Value

September 11, 2006

Xcel Energy's experience with wind energy is whipping up support for alternative fuels. A new study says that energy consumers in Colorado will save more than $251 million over the next 20 years because of the utility's current fleet of wind plants.
Ken Silverstein
EnergyBiz Insider
Editor-in-Chief

By today's standards, wind is competitive with other forms of generation. But, even more compelling is the fact that its costs are more stable than natural gas. But if wind is to reach its full potential -- the U.S. Department of Energy has its eyes on 20 percent of the nation's generation mix in a couple decades -- then some critical barriers must be overcome. And those primarily include the extension of transmission lines into remote areas where wind resources are plentiful.

"Most utilities enter into a fixed and known price for wind or other renewables," says Ryan Wiser, a researcher and analyst at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "Wind contracts are offered at known prices that may escalate with inflation. Conversely, most of the natural gas generation is indexed to the price of natural gas. And that imposes some risk to utilities and their rate payers."

Wiser, who has written extensively about wind as a hedging tool for utilities, goes on to add that while coal is relatively cheap at 5 cents per kilowatt hour, it may become subject to carbon caps that would increase its overall price. Natural gas, by comparison, is now about 6-8 cents a kilowatt hour, although it has sold for substantially more. Meanwhile wind energy is 4-7 cents per kilowatt hour.

Wind's predictability is a selling point. While the fastest growing fuel form is natural gas, wind is the second largest source for new power generation in the country for two years running, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. There are now 10,000 megawatts of installed wind capacity, representing about 0.6 percent of the nation's generation mix.

In Xcel's case, the savings comes from operating wind plants instead of using natural gas. Beyond the economic value, the study released by Interwest Energy Alliance in Denver, says that by adding wind generation to its option, carbon dioxide emissions tied to global warming would be cut by 14.7 million tons.

"Wind energy is providing new electricity supplies that work for our country's economy, environment, and energy security," says Randall Swisher, executive director of the American Wind Energy Association. "With its current performance, wind energy is demonstrating that it could rapidly become an important part of the nation's power portfolio."

The Potential

Swisher adds that wind's growth can also be attributed to the renewal of the production tax credit, a federal incentive extended in the Energy Policy Act signed a year ago by President Bush. Previously, the credit had been allowed to expire three times in seven years, discouraging investment in wind turbine manufacturing. The association is calling for a long-term extension of the credit before it is scheduled to expire at the end of 2007.

Increasing wind's role is possible. Europe, which has inferior wind resources compared to this country, is a pacesetter. Germany and Spain, for example, are on route to producing at least 10 percent of their power generation from wind while Denmark has passed the 20 percent threshold. In this country, the potential is in those states with the greatest wind speeds and in those places that are dependent on gas but where it is in short supply.

So what's stopping development? At present, the demand for wind exceeds the supply of wind turbines and the various components that go into production. That's why the price to generate wind has risen in the last few years. Manufacturers are cranking up production but it will take a few years to build up. At the same time -- and more significantly -- the transmission infrastructure is not adequate. That is, such places as North and South Dakota are rich with wind resources but are not able to harness the resource because would-be developers cannot connect to the grid.

Despite some of the hurdles, about 20 percent of all utilities nationally in regulated markets now offer green energy options. Altogether, roughly 600 utilities give 40 million customers in 34 states the ability to purchase renewable energy to meet some portion of their electricity needs -- a proposition that has resonated with some Wall Street analysts.

Critics say, however, that the current build out of wind farms is a direct function of the lucrative tax breaks given to developers. Without those incentives, they add that wind would not be economically viable. Proponents are quick to counter that fossil fuels receive far more government support.

But, moreover, wind advocates say that detractors are missing the point. That is, the overall push is to move toward more sustainable fuel sources and away from those with the greatest emissions. And like any emerging technology, wind power -- for now -- needs federal assistance to get it into the mainstream.

"If you think of wind as an added variable -- not something in isolation -- but in the context of running an entire portfolio, it is attractive," says Brian Parsons, with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. "We are displacing gas and other fuels. That's the main value." By today's standards, 10,000 megawatts of wind power saves about 0.6 billion cubic feet per day, or about 3.5 percent of the natural gas used nationwide to generate electricity.

Clearly, wind's promise is derived from its potential economic value as well as its environmental benefits. Utilities know all too well that gas prices have gyrated while coal plants are under constant pressure to modernize.

As such, utilities now see wind power as a tool to balance cost, reliability and fuel diversity. And if the use of wind energy is going to expand, then the technology to produce it must continue to advance while the country's transmission infrastructure must accommodate an ever-increasing demand.

AWEA Wind Power Finance & Investment Workshop

2006-08-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

AWEA Wind Power Finance & Investment Workshop
October 4 - 5, 2006
New York, New York

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is pleased to announce additional details for the AWEA Wind Power Finance & Investment Workshop taking place October 4 - 5, 2006 in New York, NY. This two-day workshop is the premier financing workshop in the industry, designed to delineate the state-of-the-art financial structures available in the market today, and to demonstrate the issues project developers and financiers are able to solve through thoughtful presentations and amicable negotiations. The workshop will survey the advantages associated with tax credit monetization transactions and explore the ins-and-outs of partnership flip structures. This is AWEA's third event in New York City, and promises to bring a detailed look at wind project financing and investment while remaining interesting, thought-provoking, and controversial.

Why Attend?

Has the time arrived for merchant wind? Is a merchant wind deal financiable? What about a power purchase agreement - do you still need one? These and many more questions will be examined and answered by a panel of experts, populated by long-term practitioners in renewable energy finance in general and wind power finance in particular.

Have you ever wished you could watch a financing negotiation unfold - without the responsibility for the outcome? Well, we are staging just such an event as part of our two-day workshop. Consider a Greenfield wind power generation project that is ready for construction / long-term financing. A panel of developers will present their case to a panel of lenders and the negotiations will begin! Watch as the key points reveal themselves and both sides work to close the deal while keeping the parameters "market." Will it close?

Come to the AWEA Wind Power Finance & Investment Workshop to find out!

Workshop Topics

The Future of Wind Energy Financing
CFOs and General Counsels Panel
Environmental Update
Equity Panel
Real Estate Update
Legislative Outlook
Regulatory Update
Advisers Panel
Debt Panel
Mock Debt Negotiation
Monetization Mock Negotiation
Wind Studies
Tax Update
Other Capital Sources

Who Should Attend?

Financial Service Firms
Project Finance Banks
Portfolio Managers
Fund Managers
Institutional Investors
Venture Capitalists
Foundation Managers
Investment Banks
Project Developers
Wind Project Operators
Law Firms
Insurance Companies
Utilities
Construction / Transportation Companies
Turbine Equipment Suppliers
Service Providers
Academic Institutions
Government Agencies
Landowners

More information, including more detailed program content, registration costs, online registration, and housing and travel details, please visit http://www.awea.org/events/finance2006oct. Speakers to be announced shortly.

Reserve your hotel room at the New York Marriott Financial Center by September 18th to receive the discounted AWEA room rate of $269. Call (800) 228-9290 and indicate you are with the American Wind Energy Association.
Register
Now

Download
Brochure
View
Agenda
Contact
Us

Sponsorship
Opportunities

AMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION
Conference & Education Department
1101 14TH Street NW, 12th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 383-2512
Fax: (202) 383-2505
Email: conference@awea.org
Web: http://www.awea.org/events

Bureau of Land Management Announces Final Approval of Wind Energy Project in Idaho

2006-08-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

Bureau of Land Management Announces Final Approval of Wind Energy Project in Idaho
Kathleen Clarke, Director of the Bureau of Land Management, today announced completion of an environmental review of the largest wind energy project on Federal land in the last 25 years. Approval of the Record of Decision (ROD) and right-of-way grant for the Cotterel Wind Power Project on 4,500 acres of BLM-managed public land clears the way for the installation of up to 98 turbines on a ridge in south-central Idaho five miles east of Albion in Cassia County.

The 200 megawatt (MW) project will generate enough electricity to supply approximately 50,000 homes. Promoting wind energy is a high priority for the Bureau in its efforts to enhance energy security by expanding opportunities for developing alternative, domestic sources.

“This project represents the kind of diversification of America’s energy supply that is a key component of President Bush’s energy policy,” Clarke said. “We are committed to encouraging wind energy production on public lands, while at the same time minimizing environmental impacts.”

The Cotterel right-of-way grant includes important measures for mitigating the effects of wind generation on wildlife resources. Best Management Practices (BMPs), offsite mitigation, and adaptive management strategies will be incorporated into the project to address impacts to sage-grouse, raptors, bats, and migratory birds. An interagency team of Federal and state biologists developed the mitigation plan and will continue to monitor wildlife impacts. Power generated from the project will be distributed through the existing regional power grid.

The Cotterel project will also help meet the goal Congress set in Section 211 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which calls on the Secretary of the Interior to seek (by 2015) to approve projects on Federal lands generating at least 10,000 MW of electricity from non-hydropower renewable sources.

The project is expected to bring economic benefits to the local area. Construction activity is projected to generate up to $12.5 million in local sales tax revenue and more than half a million dollars annually once operations are fully underway. Cassia County will also benefit from property taxes on the project’s $197 million in property improvements.

Wind energy is the world’s fastest-growing energy source. Technological advances in the design and siting of turbines have increased their generating capacity while continuing to reduce their impact on the environment. Because there are no emissions involved, wind energy’s environmental impact per unit of electricity generated is significantly lower than that of more common forms of electricity generation.

In addition, wind energy is not subject to the same price fluctuations as natural gas and oil. Electricity production from wind energy in the U.S. is expected to increase six-fold by 2020. By the end of 2006, the production of electric power using wind is projected to conserve more than 500 million cubic feet of natural gas per day nationwide, relieving demand pressures on that supply of energy.

BLM-managed lands in nine Western States have the potential to generate an estimated 3,200 MW of wind energy – enough to provide electric power for nearly one million homes. Public lands administered by the Interior Department produce approximately five percent of the wind energy, one-half of the geothermal energy, and 17 percent of the hydropower generated in the United States.

Wind farms to increase in Australia

2006-08-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Wind farms to increase in Australia
Newscom

August 20, 2006

The officials in Victoria, Australia have approved the construction of a wind farm in the southwest Mount Gellibrand area.

The AUD380 million ($228.9 million) project involves building 116 giant turbines and will produce enough power for 133,000 homes.

Victoria Planning Minister Rob Hulls said the project will generate more power than any other in the state.

This is great for the environment and great for the economy, he told a news conference.

He added that the government of Victoria is on track to meet renewable energy targets.

That means ensuring that 10 percent of electricity, 10 percent of power is generated from renewable energy over the next 10 years and we believe that will mean about AUD 2 billion ($1.5 billion) worth of investment, Hulls said.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

U.S. Wind Power Reaches 10-Gigawatt Milestone

2006-08-18T03:55:00.000-07:00

U.S. Wind Power Reaches 10-Gigawatt Milestone
August 14, 2006

Wind turbines at the Searsburg Wind facility in Vermont supply power to about 2,000 homes in the state.

Washington, DC [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] As the U.S. wind energy industry stayed on pace for another record year, Texas for the first time supplanted historic leader California as the top state in cumulative wind power capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) Second Quarter Market Report.

AWEA forecasts that the industry remains on track to install more than 3,000 MW of new wind capacity, which would decisively eclipse the previous record of 2,431 MW set in 2005. The report also shows that U.S. developers brought online a capacity total of 822 megawatts (MW) in the first half of the year. With the strong growth, the U.S.'s cumulative wind power capacity surged to 9,971 MW -- within close striking distance of the 10-gigawatt (10,000-MW) milestone. (For a listing of projects completed and under construction, see link below.)

A recent update from AWEA shows the industry has since surpassed the 10-gigawatt mark. The news in Texas, however, comes as perhaps a greater surprise as California had historically been the strongest state market, by far.

Texas 's cumulative total now stands at 2,370 MW of capacity -- enough to power more than 600,000 average American homes -- followed by California's 2,323 MW. Texas edged ahead of California by adding a total of 375 MW, about half of the total amount installed in the country since the beginning of the year.

It's a historic moment. California has led the nation in installed wind capacity uninterruptedly for nearly 25 years, ever since the first wind farms were built there in late 1981, and at one time the Golden State was host to more than 80 percent of the wind capacity in the entire world. However, energy and electricity prices tanked during the global oil glut of the 1980s, putting California's wind power boom on hold.

But Texas by no means has been the lone state busy developing wind power projects. In fact, while Texas took the capacity crown from the perennial state leader, development activity in California has not exactly been dormant, with PPM Energy's (PPM) 150-MW Shiloh Wind Project in Solano County and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's 24-MW project near Rio Vista coming online earlier in the year.

Developers continue their steady advance in project activity while the industry confronts a series of inevitable challenges, one being the interplay between wind turbines and military radar. At AWEA's annual conference, the WINDPOWER 2006 Conference & Exhibition in June, industry players gathered for a siting panel on military issues, an event that brought together stakeholders from all sides of the radar issue. At the session Lt. Col. William Crowe, chief of airspace for the U.S. Air Force, offered to serve as a point of contact for the industry as the various parties work through the challenges and concerns.

Meanwhile, the industry forges ahead, despite delays in some projects due to radar issues. AWEA forecasts that the industry remains on track to install more than 3,000 MW of new wind capacity, which would decisively eclipse the previous record of 2,431 MW set in 2005. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that slightly less than 10,000 MW of new natural gas plants will be brought online in 2006, and that less than 400 MW of new coal- and oil-fired generating plants will be added, making wind power second only to natural gas in new capacity and new power generation for the second year in a row.

With this robust climate serving as a backdrop, wind energy leaders are thinking both short- and long-term. At WINDPOWER 2006, AWEA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory committed to develop an action plan focused on providing up to 20% of the nation's electricity from clean, renewable wind energy, the potential of which was highlighted in the Advanced Energy Initiative released by President George W. Bush in February. The process will solicit input from key stakeholders including environmental groups, utilities, policy planners, investors, educators, communities, and others, with the action plan being unveiled at the WINDPOWER 2007 Conference & Exhibition in Los Angeles, Calif., June 3-6, 2007.

To reach the 20% benchmark and for the strong industry growth to continue even in the short term, the federal production tax credit, which expires at the end of 2007, needs to be extended in a timely fashion before it expires; furthermore, a long-term extension is needed to allow wind energy businesses to operate and invest in a stable environment and to further reduce costs. Added transmission capacity will also be needed to ship large amounts of power from windy areas to market.

BP Makes Major Wind Power Investment

2006-08-18T03:52:00.000-07:00

BP Makes Major Wind Power Investment
August 17, 2006

London, United Kingdom [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] A large wind power investment by BP Alternative Energy's move on the wind power market was nearly obscured by recent operational problems and investor lawsuits over the forced shutdown of its Prudhoe Bay, Alaska oil operations.

"This purchase gives BP Alternative Energy immediate access to a large number of high quality wind development projects across the country..."

-- Steve Westwell, BP Alternative Energy, chief executive This week, BP acquired all the shares of Greenlight Energy, a US-based developer of wind power generation projects, for approximately $98 million (excluding working capital and tax adjustments).

Greenlight is a developer of large-scale wind energy projects across the USA. Founded in 2000 and based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the company has a portfolio of some 39 mature and early stage development projects across the USA with a potential total power generating capacity of 6.5GW. This portfolio contains a number of projects, which BP expects to be able to develop over the next five years.

The acquisition comes among a recent series of BP investments and commitments in the renewable energy realm. In July, BP Alternative Energy announced it had reached agreement with the wind project developer and turbine manufacturer Clipper Windpower to acquire a 50 percent stake in a 2 gigawatt (GW) wind development portfolio in the USA as well as an agreement for the supply of turbines with a generating capacity of up to 2.25 GW over the next five years.

"This purchase gives BP Alternative Energy immediate access to a large number of high quality wind development projects across the country, including a number of projects we expect to be able to develop over the next few years," said Steve Westwell, chief executive of BP Alternative Energy. "We look forward to working closely with the Greenlight team, who have built the company over the past six years."

Shell WindEnergy and Ulupalakua Ranch Announce Plans for New Maui Wind Farm

2006-08-13T03:41:00.000-07:00

Shell WindEnergy and Ulupalakua Ranch Announce Plans for New Maui Wind Farm
Friday June 30, 7:00 pm ET
Hawaiian Electric Companies Welcome Shell WindEnergy to Hawaii

HOUSTON, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Shell WindEnergy Inc. (Shell) today announced plans to develop its first wind farm in the State of Hawaii. The project's first phase may provide up to 40 MW of wind power. If approved, the Auwahi wind project will provide wind-generated electricity for thousands of homes on Maui.
ADVERTISEMENT

Shell plans to develop the Auwahi wind project on Maui's Ulupalakua Ranch. The turbines would stand in a remote corner of the 20,000-acre ranch. The site was chosen because of its exceptionally strong winds and because it was felt that there would be minimal visual impact.

The project may also combine wind and hydroelectric power. Pumped hydro storage technology could store power from the wind turbines during off-peak periods, which could then be used to help meet peak demand. The concept of integrating this wind project with pumped hydro storage was advocated by Renewable Hawaii Inc., a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Company.

Today's joint announcement by Shell and Ulupalakua Ranch was welcomed by Hawaiian Electric Company and Renewable Hawaii Inc.

Hawaii pays among the highest utility rates in the United States and is seeking to produce more power from renewable sources. When the Auwahi wind project is in operation -- the first phase is expected to be completed by 2008, subject to planning permission -- close to 20% of Maui's energy could come from wind turbines. The total project is expected to cost more than $200 million and take from three to five years to complete.

"This is great news for Ulupalakua Ranch, Maui and Hawaii," said Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, a former mayor of Maui County. "It is an important step toward reducing Hawaii's dependence on imported fossil fuel and meeting our goal of having 20 percent of our energy come from renewable sources by the year 2020. Our thanks go to Ulupalakua Ranch, the Hawaiian Electric companies and especially to Shell WindEnergy for its confidence in Hawaii's potential for renewable energy."

John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Company, said he hoped Auwahi would be the first of several renewable energy projects involving Shell in Hawaii. "We are proud to be a part of this effort," he said. "Shell has a strong commitment to renewables, including wind energy. Shell has already demonstrated that modern, technologically-advanced wind farms work well on the Mainland and we believe developing wind farms in Hawaii could be a model for island communities around the world."

"This project and the arrival of Shell WindEnergy into the Hawaiian Islands represent a win all around, especially for Hawaii and our key goal of reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels," said Mike May, president & CEO of Hawaiian Electric Company, the parent company of Maui Electric Company and Renewable Hawaii Inc. (RHI).

"Three years ago, Renewable Hawaii Inc. began looking for opportunities to bring utility-scale, commercially viable renewable energy projects to Hawaii. That work is now paying off. If not for RHI's persistent hard work, this would not be happening," May said.

Dr. Karl Stahlkopf, president of RHI, said, "RHI's request for proposals signaled to the world that we wanted renewable developers to come to Hawaii and we were thrilled when Shell was one of the first to show an interest. We have enjoyed working with the great folks from Shell and look forward to many more years. They know their business, they are one of the biggest renewable players in the world and their interest in Hawaii is a strong sign of things to come," Stahlkopf said.

"This is a great opportunity for up-country Maui," said Sumner Erdman, president of Ulupalakua Ranch, Inc. "On the Mainland, wind energy has offered an economic boost to many ranches and farms and now this is happening here. This deal will provide income for the ranch to help us continue our diversification in an environmentally friendly way.

"The agreement will allow us to keep the paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) culture alive and keep ranch land open and in agriculture rather than in urban development. And we will be careful to respect the rich Native Hawaiian cultural history of the area, and the environmental and other concerns of our friends and neighbors on Maui," Erdman said.

Shell is currently applying for permits to set up meteorological monitoring towers on the site to measure the available wind resource.

Shell Oil Company, including its consolidated companies and its share in equity companies, is one of America's leading oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers. Shell, a leading oil and gas producer in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, is a recognized pioneer in oil and gas exploration and production technology. Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Shell Group, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies, employing approximately 109,000 people and operating in more than 140 countries and territories.

Global Marine Begins Work on Pioneering UK Wind Energy Project

2006-08-09T02:23:00.000-07:00

Global Marine Begins Work on Pioneering UK Wind Energy Project
August 4, 2006

Chelmsford, United Kingdom [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Global Marine Systems Limited has begun subsea cable installation work on the Beatrice Wind Farm Demonstrator Project (Beatrice Project), a flagship project for offshore wind energy development, states the release. The initial project will use two wind turbines 25 kilometers off the east coast of Scotland to test the viability of the Beatrice Oil Field as a future site for a commercial deep-water wind farm.

Global Marine's experience in the renewable energy sector includes working on the Kentish Flats offshore wind farm in summer 2005; Horns Rev, the world's largest offshore wind farm in 2002; and wind farms at Blyth Northumberland in 2000. Global Marine partnered with Talisman Energy (UK) Limited, Scottish & Southern Energy and the Department of Trade and Industry on the project.

It is hoped the Beatrice Project will help in addressing the fact that up to one third of the UK's oil and gas generating capacity will reach the end of its life over the next 20 years, as reported in July's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Energy Review. The DTI's strategy is to increase the proportion of electricity generated from renewables to 20% -- a five-fold increase from today's level.

"Beatrice is an important project involving industry, academia and government collaboration which we are pleased to be part of as Global Marine continues to diversify its core telecom cable installation experience into other sectors, such as renewable energy," said Ian Gaitch, Renewable Energy Manager at Global Marine.

Using its Cable Ship Sovereign, Global Marine will install two main cables, each comprising a power and fiber optic cable, to connect the two 5-megawatt (MW) turbines to Talisman's Beatrice Alpha oil platform. The cable installation will enable Talisman to power Beatrice Alpha using energy generated from the turbines and also remotely control and monitor certain aspects of the turbines' performance from the oil platform, such as altering blade pitch and sending back turbine performance data for analysis.

"Global Marine has a significant track record in providing cable installation to the renewable energy sector which, when coupled with their industry leading expertise and technology, made them a natural partner of choice for this project," said Allan MacAskill, Wind Farm Project Director at Talisman Energy.

Global Marine's experience in the renewable energy sector includes working on the Kentish Flats offshore wind farm in summer 2005; Horns Rev, the world's largest offshore wind farm in 2002 and wind farms at Blyth Northumberland in 2000.

Plans Announced for Belgium's Largest Offshore Wind Farm

2006-08-02T01:56:00.000-07:00

Plans Announced for Belgium's Largest Offshore Wind Farm
July 20, 2006

The offshore wind farm at Kentish Flats in the UK undergoes construction using a specialized construction ship. A similar offshore wind farm will be constructed off the coast of Belgium.

Utrecht, Belgium [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Belwind, part of the Econcern group, plans to build an offshore wind farm on Bligh Bank, 46 kilometers from the Belgian port of Oostende. With 66 five-megawatt (MW) wind turbines, the 330 MW project represents an investment of Euro 800 million [US$1 billion].

"After receiving the concession from the Federal Ministry of Energy, we will need permits from the Federal Ministry of the North Sea. In the most favorable situation, we would start building in 2009, and the wind farm would become operational in 2010."

-- Frank Coenen, Belwind Director "[The Bligh Bank project] is our largest project to date, and will also be one of Belgium's biggest sustainable energy investments," said Dirk Berkhout, member of the Econcern board, one of the project partners. "It's not possible to undertake such a project on your own, so to ensure it becomes a success we'll be engaging the right partners at the right time."

To develop the offshore wind farm Bligh Bank, Belwind was founded by Econcern, a European Top 500 growth company whose mission is to ensure 'a sustainable energy supply for everyone.' The Econcern group comprises Ecofys, Ecostream, Evelop and Ecoventures; together these companies deliver projects, products and services for a sustainable energy supply.

The Evelop subsidiary currently holds a wind-energy project portfolio of some 4,000 MW. This includes the Q7 offshore wind project (120 MW) in the Netherlands and the Sheringham Shoal project (315 MW) in the United Kingdom.

Belwind's application for approval to build a wind farm on Bligh Bank was submitted in April 2006. The turbines will be placed on the shoal, where the sea reaches depths of 20-35 meters. The site is located even further offshore than those of C-Power and Eldepasco, two wind projects whose approvals already have been granted.

As Belwind Director Frank Coenen explains, various phases need to be completed before the wind farm Bligh Bank can become operational:

"After receiving the concession from the Federal Ministry of Energy, we will need permits from the Federal Ministry of the North Sea. In the most favorable situation, we would start building in 2009, and the wind farm would become operational in 2010."

U.S. Senators Flex Muscles on Wind Power, Radar Issue

2006-08-02T01:27:00.000-07:00

U.S. Senators Flex Muscles on Wind Power, Radar Issue
July 28, 2006

Senators Durbin and Obama are exercising their congressional power to try and speed up a solution to the radar / wind interaction issue that has resulted in putting many wind projects on hold.

Washington, DC [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced that they will put a hold on the nomination of Andrew Steinberg to be Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues a conclusive determination as to whether the operation of wind farms under construction in the Midwest will interfere with radar systems. A hold has the effect of blocking a nomination.

"Wind farms are an important part of our ongoing efforts to make the United States more energy independent, which is why the FAA needs to immediately clarify its position so that investors feel comfortable putting their money into these projects and construction crews can get to work."

-- U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) "The Administration's promised response on windmill construction is long overdue. It is time for a straight answer," said Durbin. "Windmills have become an important source of clean alternative energy throughout the country and are particularly important in the Midwest, which has more cumulative wind energy potential than any other area in the country. If there are real problems, we should find ways to mitigate, reduce or eliminate them, but our wind farm owners deserve an answer today."

The 2006 Defense Authorization Act called for the Department of Defense (DOD) to submit a report to Congress on the effects of windmill farms on military readiness. In particular, the report sought to determine whether wind farms could interfere with military radar.

On March 21, 2006, DOD and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a joint interim policy on the proposed windmill locations that states, "The DOD/DHS Long Range Radar Joint Program Office Interim Policy is to contest any establishment of windmill farms within radar line of site of the National Air Defense and Homeland Security Radars."

The Midwest Regional Office of the FAA sent "notice of presumed hazard" letters to wind farm sites that they had determined are in the line of site. The FAA defined "in the line of site" as any windmill within a 60-mile radius of a radar center or radar tower.

By this definition, much of the nation is now in the radar line of site, and this interim policy has had a sweeping effect that has stalled or stopped the development of wind energy facilities across the country, including more than a dozen in the Midwest.

Senators Obama and Durbin said they will block Mr. Steinberg's nomination until the FAA works with DOD to clarify whether these sites will be able to operate. Without this certainty, potential investors will fear the loss of their resources.

"While I take very seriously any concerns that these structures could interfere with military readiness, I also believe that with mounting instability in the Middle East and energy prices at record levels, we must begin investing in alternative energy sources today," said Sen. Obama. "Wind farms are an important part of our ongoing efforts to make the United States more energy independent, which is why the FAA needs to immediately clarify its position so that investors feel comfortable putting their money into these projects and construction crews can get to work."

One of the stalled projects is located in Bloomington, Illinois. If completed, the wind farm would be the largest source of wind energy in the nation, generating enough power to serve an estimated 120,000 Chicago-area homes.

On June 2, 2006, Senators Durbin, Obama, Russ Feingold (D-WI), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) wrote letters to officials at DOD and FAA voicing their support for the responsible development of wind power.

New Wind Power Project Destined for Iowa

2006-08-02T01:17:00.000-07:00

New Wind Power Project Destined for Iowa
July 31, 2006

Des Moines, Iowa [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Most renewable energy news coming out of Iowa these days is on the ethanol front, but this week enXco Development Corporation and Mid American Energy Company signed an agreement to develop and construct a 123-megawatt (MW) wind facility located in Pocahontas County, North central Iowa. Construction of this project is scheduled to begin later this year and is scheduled to be completed prior to the end of 2007.

"We're scheduled to have the project in Carroll and Crawford counties online by the end of this year, and construction is expected to get underway at the Pocahontas County site later this year."

-- Tom Budler, MidAmerican Energy, wind project manager In April 2006, MidAmerican announced a 99-MW wind project in Crawford and Carroll counties in west central Iowa following Iowa Utilities Board approval of the company's plan to build up to 545 MW of new wind-powered electric generation in Iowa before the end of 2007.

"We're pleased that construction is underway at the project in Carroll and Crawford counties," said Tom Budler, MidAmerican Energy's wind project manager. "We're scheduled to have the project in Carroll and Crawford counties online by the end of this year, and construction is expected to get underway at the Pocahontas County site later this year."

The ultimate size of MidAmerican Energy's 2006-2007 wind expansion project, its overall cost and possible additional locations have not been finalized, but electric rates -- the cost per kilowatt hour of electricity -- in Iowa for MidAmerican customers will remain at current levels through at least 2010 pursuant to the Iowa Utilities Board order approving the project. The last time MidAmerican's customers experienced an electric rate increase was 1995.

The 123-MW wind facility site in Pocahontas County will be developed and constructed by enXco Development Corporation and will use 82 GE Energy 1.5-MW wind turbines.

Invenergy Wind Development Iowa LLC is constructing the 99-megawatt wind facility in Carroll and Crawford counties that will use 66 GE Energy 1.5-MW wind turbines.

MidAmerican currently owns and operates 360.5 MW of wind energy facilities in northwest and north central Iowa that have the capability to produce enough electricity to power 100,000 homes.

Vail Resorts Chooses Wind Power for 100% Of Electricity Use

2006-08-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

Vail Resorts Chooses Wind Power for 100% Of Electricity Use - Becomes Second Largest Corporate Wind Power Purchaser In U.S.
Tuesday August 1, 12:00 pm ET
Vail Resorts to provide free lift tickets to guests who purchase wind power for their family's homes

DENVER, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN - News) announced today that the Company will offset 100 percent of its energy use by purchasing nearly 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy for its five mountain resorts, its lodging properties including RockResorts and Grand Teton Lodge Company, all of its 125 retail locations (operated through Specialty Sports Venture) and its new corporate headquarters in Broomfield, Colo. By purchasing renewable energy credits equal to the Company's entire electricity use, Vail Resorts becomes the second largest purchaser of wind power of all corporations in the United States.

Vail Resorts announced this initiative as part of the Company's ongoing environmental efforts. Vail Resorts' commitment to clean and renewable wind power will avoid over 211 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every year, which is equivalent to taking 18,000 cars off the road or planting over 27,000 acres of trees, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Our core mission is to provide extraordinary vacation experiences in spectacular mountain settings," said Rob Katz, chief executive officer of Vail Resorts. "By embracing wind power as a clean and renewable source for 100 percent of our company-wide electricity use, we want to reinforce our commitment to the natural environment in which we operate and be a leader on this critical effort within the travel industry."

Vail Resorts is also asking its employees and guests to join in the Company's renewable energy efforts by launching a Ski With the Wind promotion. Under this new promotion, Vail Resorts is offering a free one-day ski lift ticket, valid at any of its five mountain resorts, to anyone who purchases wind power for their family's residence for one year with Renewable Choice Energy. The Company also announced that each of its executives has personally signed up to purchase wind power for their homes. More details about the Ski With the Wind promotion, including applicable restrictions, and Vail Resorts' wind power purchase program can be found at www.snow.com.

Vail Resorts will work with Boulder, Colorado-based Renewable Choice Energy as their wind power provider. Renewable Choice Energy is a leading national provider building the market for clean and renewable sources of energy.

Since it is physically impossible to deliver electricity straight from a wind farm to Vail Resorts, renewable energy credits make purchasing wind power possible. Wind energy credits ensure that the amount of electricity Vail Resorts uses is replaced onto the power grid with wind power. Wind farms sell renewable energy credits to better compete with fossil fuels, allowing consumers to choose clean sources of electricity. Vail Resorts' purchase is significantly contributing to the growth of wind power across the United States.

"Renewable Choice Energy is proud to be working with an environmental leader like Vail Resorts to make this landmark wind power purchase possible," said Quayle Hodek, Renewable Choice Energy chief executive officer.

"Vail Resorts' commitment is the second largest corporate purchase of wind power in the country," said Matt Clouse, program director of EPA's Green Power Partnership. "EPA applauds Vail Resorts for their environmental leadership with this green power purchase. We hope their commitment will encourage others in the travel and hospitality industry to also embrace clean, renewable sources of energy that further reduce the risks associated with climate change."

Vail Resorts' long-standing dedication to environmental stewardship includes initiatives in energy and water conservation, water quality management, waste reduction and recycling, air and visual quality, wildlife habitat management, and education and outreach.

About Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts, Inc. is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, Heavenly in California and Nevada, and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company, manages casually elegant properties across the United States. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN - News). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.

About Renewable Choice Energy

Based in Boulder, Colo., Renewable Choice Energy (www.renewablechoice.com) is a leading national provider and marketer of wind power. Renewable Choice plays an integral role in connecting wind power producers with the wind power consumer. Renewable Choice Energy is certified to sell wind energy credits anywhere in the United States and has a diverse customer base that includes Fortune 500 companies, retailers, manufacturers, cities, universities and residential consumers. As a pioneer in wind power marketing, Renewable Choice Energy has helped develop many industry standards and best practices, and is the leading supplier to LEED certified green building projects. Renewable Choice Energy does not just serve existing demand for wind power, but actively grows the potential market for wind power with innovative marketing strategies.

About the U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership

The Green Power Partnership (www.epa.gov/greenpower) is an EPA voluntary program working to standardize green power procurement as part of best practice environmental management. Partners in the program purchase green power for a specified minimum portion of their electricity needs in return for EPA technical assistance and public recognition. The Green Power Partnership has more than 600 Partners including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, trade associations and universities -- collectively purchasing over 4 billion kilowatt hours of green power annually.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Vail Resorts, Inc.

Spanish company to build $400m wind farm

2006-07-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

Spanish company to build $400m wind farm
July 18, 2006
SPANISH renewable energy company Acciona will build Victoria's second biggest wind farm – a $400-million project with 128 turbines – at Waubra in Western Victoria.
The project, generating 192 megawatts from turbines on land leased from farmers, was approved more than a year ago by the State Government when the Melbourne-based firm Wind Power was the developer.

The Spanish company took over the project last year.

Brett Thomas, managing director of its Melbourne arm, Acciona Energy Oceania, said the company had acquired the project "on the belief" the Government would impose a mandatory renewable energy target on the state's energy sector.

Mr Thomas said yesterday's announcement of the 10-per-cent target "has given us the confidence" to invest $50 million in the first stage of the project.

Mr Thomas said there was no further development of renewable energy possible under the Federal Government's target, now capped at 2 per cent.

But the Victoria's new target meant energy retailers must tap at least 10 per cent of their power from renewable sources – such as wind, solar and hydro generators – by 2016.

"That places a demand on the market for renewable technology (and) renewable generation," he said.

Work would begin on the project in September this year with completion due in 2008.

Victorian Energy Minister Theo Theophanous said the project would not have gone ahead without the imposition of the renewable target.

"This scheme is what will drive renewable energy such as what we've seen with Acciona announcement today."

Wind farms now produce only 104MW of energy in Victoria currently, but there is approval for another 491MW, including a 195MW wind-power generator at Portland on the south-west coast.

BP and Clipper Windpower Enter Into Strategic Alliance

2006-07-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

BP and Clipper Windpower Enter Into Strategic Alliance
14 July 2006

The Liberty turbine.
Clipper Windpower and BP Alternative Energy have entered into a strategic alliance for a long-term turbine supply agreement and the joint development of five of Clipper’s wind energy projects in the USA.

The five wind projects, with an anticipated total generating capacity of 2,015 MW, are located in New York, Texas, and South Dakota. Under the long-term supply agreement, BP has secured a mix of firm and contingent orders of up to 2,250 MW of additional Clipper turbines in its global wind portfolio.

The Clipper/BP Alternative Energy joint development portfolio will be developed over a five year period. Each project will deploy Clipper’s advanced Liberty wind turbines. The projects will be jointly owned by the two companies with Clipper serving as the project operator in two projects and BP Alternative Energy serving as the project operator in the other three.

We believe the Clipper turbine is a break-through in reducing the total cost of renewable energy and we are pleased to be the first large customer for this innovative technology. Our strategic relationship with Clipper represents an important step in expanding BP’s low-carbon power business.

—Steve Westwell, CEO of BP Alternative Energy

The Liberty 2.5MW wind turbine is Clipper’s fourth-generation machine. It is based on Clipper’s patented Quantum Distributed Generation Power-train, DGEN-Q. DGEN-Q uses a compact two-stage helical distributed design. A total of four high-speed output shafts split torque loads from the rotor mainshaft to the generators by a factor that is four times greater than standard gearboxes, according to Clipper.

Liberty also employs two pre-loaded, low-speed tapered-roller main bearings to absorb thrust loads, preventing damage, minimizing downtime and extending turbine life. There is no problematic axial motion or mainshaft mis-alignment in Liberty as both are also stabilized through her two robust tapered roller main bearings.

Liberty’s high-speed gear sets are in cartridge form and can be easily replaced with the on-board hoist without the removal of the gearbox, further reducing costs.

Each turbine uses four permanent magnet (synchronous) generators rated at 660 kW each. Liberty’s generator control technology supports a wide range variable rotor speed, improving turbine aerodynamic efficiency by adjusting to ever-changing wind velocities, briefly storing and releasing energy from wind gusts while also reducing torque spikes. The turbine will continue to operate even with a generator outage.

As part of the long-term turbine supply agreement, BP Alternative Energy has committed to the purchase of 100MW of Liberty turbines in 2007 and 200MW in 2008 which it will use on other projects in BP’s global wind business. These orders represent the initial firm deliveries under the long-term supply agreement for up to 900 Liberty turbines over the next five years.

In recognition of the long-term strategic relationship between Clipper Windpower and BP Alternative Energy, BP has acquired a five-year share option for a 10% equity interest at £3.77 (US$6.92) per share in Clipper Windpower (subject to final approval of the Clipper Shareholders).

BP has agreed to acquire a 50% interest in the project portfolio along with an option to acquire an interest in Clipper Windpower Plc representing 9,596,681 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company and a turbine supply option, for a total of $30 million. In addition, BP has agreed to pay Clipper up to US$30 million upon successful completion of the development projects. BP will also make a US$30 million down payment for the 300MW Liberty turbines for delivery in 2007/2008.

Clipper Windpower designs advanced wind turbines, manufactures its 2.5-MW Liberty wind turbine and actively develops wind power generating projects in the Americas and Europe. Clipper’s project development activities include approximately 6,000 MW of wind resource rights, with new project sites being actively pursued.

BP, Clipper Windpower enter U.S. wind energy deal

2006-07-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

BP, Clipper Windpower enter U.S. wind energy deal
Fri Jul 14, 2006 11:22am ET

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - California-based wind-power company Clipper Windpower (CWP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and oil giant BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said they have entered a five-year supply and development agreement involving five wind energy projects in the United States.

The news boosted shares in Clipper Windpower by 23 percent to 335 pence shortly before the close of trading in London.

The projects, with an anticipated total generating capacity of 2,015 megawatts, are in New York, Texas, and South Dakota.

BP has secured a mix of firm and contingent orders of up to 2,250 megawatts of additional Clipper turbines in its global wind portfolio, the companies said in a statement on Friday.

"This strategic alliance provides both Clipper and BP an unparalleled opportunity to capture a major foothold in the U.S. wind energy market," said Clipper Windpower Chief Executive James Dehlsen.

"With active negotiations for other turbine and portfolio sales currently taking place, it is possible that further contracts will be announced before the Clipper EGM and at that stage an update will be given on our business plan," he added.

Patent Conflict Resolved, REPower Enters U.S. Wind Market

2006-07-14T03:48:00.000-07:00

Patent Conflict Resolved, REPower Enters U.S. Wind Market
July 12, 2006

Hamburg, Germany [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Having smoothed over a patent conflict with GE Energy, Germany-based commercial-scale wind turbine manufacturer REpower Systems is entering the U.S. market with a substantial order of turbines.

"Due to the general change in thinking in American energy policy, which involves moving away from oil and towards alternative forms of energy, the USA is now a large, attractive market for wind energy."

-- Fritz Vahrenholt, REpower Systems AG, Chairman of the Executive Board Fifty-six MM92 turbines are to be supplied to wind project developers enXco Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles in 2007. According to REpower, this will not only be REpower's first U.S. turbine order, but also the company's largest order yet worldwide.

An option for a further 19 turbines of the same type was also arranged. enXco is to install the wind turbines on the West Coast of the United States. The REpower development centre in Rendsburg (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) has created a technical solution for a 60 Hz version of the MM92 turbine that corresponds to the requirements of the American electricity network.

REpower is also able to enter the U.S. market through a cross-license agreement concluded with its competitor, GE Energy, in regard to the use of several patents.

"The license agreement concluded with GE is the foundation for a successful growth story in the USA. Dimensions are traditionally bigger there -- so it is fitting that our first U.S. project is also the largest single order in the history of REpower," said Fritz Vahrenholt, Chairman of the Executive Board of REpower Systems AG.

The two companies, previously at odds over their respective wind turbine technology, were entered into litigation and patent negotiations over the past few years. This issue had prevented REpower from competing in the large U.S. marketplace.

"Due to the general change in thinking in American energy policy, which involves moving away from oil and towards alternative forms of energy, the USA is now a large, attractive market for wind energy," Vahrenholt said.

The turbines will be produced exclusively at the REpower production site in Husum and will be prepared for shipping from there -- either from Brunsbuettel or Hamburg.

This U.S. order comes alongside a large Australian order, the second largest for REpower, according to Fritz Vahrenholt, Chairman of the Executive Board. The company was commissioned to supply 29 wind turbines by the Australian company Pacific Hydro Pty Ltd. Pacific Hydro is one of the largest Australian companies in the wind and water power sector.

REpower's MM82 turbines were chosen for the "Portland Stage II" project in the South-Eastern Australian state of Victoria and have a total rated power of 58 megawatts (MW). The Stage II project is part of a larger wind farm development in the Portland area, which has a planned total output of 195 MW and covers four different locations. A decision is yet to be made on the allocation of the orders for the remaining stages of the Portland wind energy project.

Canada Passes 1,000 MW of Installed Wind Energy Capacity

2006-07-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

Canada Passes 1,000 MW of Installed Wind Energy Capacity
July 13, 2006

Ottawa, Ontario [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Canada has now become the 12th country in the world to surpass 1,000 megawatts (MW) of installed wind energy capacity. With 1,049 MW of installed capacity now in place, wind energy produces enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 315,000 Canadian homes.

"Canada's provincial governments are now targeting to have a minimum of 9,000 MW of wind energy production in place by 2015 and many are currently examining the possibilities of going further."

-- Robert Hornung, Canadian Wind Energy Association, president As of June 2006, Canada had installed a record 365 MW of wind energy capacity this year, and this number will increase before the year is out.

"The 1,000 MW milestone is another clear signal that wind energy has moved from the margin to the mainstream in Canada, and our record-breaking 2006 is laying the foundation for much more significant growth in the years ahead," said Robert Hornung, president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association.

"Canada's provincial governments are now targeting to have a minimum of 9,000 MW of wind energy production in place by 2015 and many are currently examining the possibilities of going further. In fact, British Columbia is the only province that has no wind energy facilities operating or contracted at this time," Hornung added.

"Even though the growth of Canada's wind energy industry is impressive, we must not lose sight of the fact that wind energy continues to develop more quickly in other countries. Spain, for example, had 1,000 MW of installed wind energy capacity in 2000, and is now on track for 20,000 MW of installed wind energy capacity by 2010," said Hornung.

"With Canada's unparalleled wind resource, there are clear opportunities to do more to maximize the economic, industrial development, and environmental benefits associated with wind energy for Canada," he added.

The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA)'s goal is to have 10,000 MW of wind energy capacity either contracted on installed in Canada by 2010

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Under Construction

2006-07-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Under Construction
July 10, 2006

Ishpeming, Michigan [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Construction is currently under way this month on a rare wind energy project, a 200 kilowatt (kW) vertical-axis wind turbine outside a large residential complex in Michigan.

"Pioneer Bluff is an all-electric facility, so electricity costs are quite high. The wind turbine will generate more than half of the electricity needed to run the facility."

-- Evelyn Valente-Heikkala, Ishpeming Housing Commission, executive director Vertical axis turbines, as opposed to horizontal axis turbines, are best described as looking like large eggbeaters, where a series of curved, swooping blades capture the wind to spin a centrally mounted, vertically oriented hub.

The reality is that the wind power industry worldwide has unilaterally chosen the horizontal axis configuration as the chosen design and all large scale turbines have evolved in that direction. This hasn't stopped entrepreneurial pioneers like McKenzie Bay International, whose WindStor Power Co. aims to prove that there is indeed more than one option for wind turbine design.

WindStor recently secured a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA)with The Ishpeming Housing Commission, which manages the Pioneer Bluff senior citizen apartment complex in Ishpeming, Michigan, where the new turbine will be installed. Contractors are putting the final touches on the large concrete foundation for the turbine and full installation is expected by the end of July.

The turbine is designed to rotate at a maximum speed of 50 rpm and reach its rated power output of 200 kW at wind speeds of 12m/s (26.84 mph), says the company, which expects the turbine to produce approximately 500,000 kWh per year in average wind speeds of 7m/s (15.66 mph).

"The wind turbine will generate electricity to be fed into the 88 unit low-income senior apartment building, serving as a supplement to the electricity currently supplied by the Upper Peninsula Power Co.," said Evelyn Valente-Heikkala, executive director of the Ishpeming Housing Commission. "Pioneer Bluff is an all-electric facility, so electricity costs are quite high. The wind turbine will generate more than half of the electricity needed to run the facility."

A state-based organization has helped move the project along. WindStor and more than 60 additional organizations and companies are a part of Michigan GREEN, a group of energy companies and energy consultants, together with government agencies and schools, colleges and universities that have joined forces to champion the cause of providing economic renewable energy generation and education at schools in Michigan and the nation.

The project isn't the first either. Since October of 2004, WindStor has had a similar, yet smaller, 100 kW vertical axis wind turbine operating at the Universite due Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada. This latest, however, will be twice the size and a further validation of the design.

U.S. Energy Giant Acquires UK Wind Power Developer

2006-07-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

U.S. Energy Giant Acquires UK Wind Power Developer
July 7, 2006

Arlington, Virginia [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] The AES Corporation has acquired majority control of the Wind Energy Ltd. (WEL) group companies, a UK-based wind development company, with 640 megawatt (MW) of wind generation projects under development throughout Scotland. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"With global installed wind generation capacity expected to more than double over the next five years, we see tremendous growth opportunities in wind and we will continue to seek expansion projects worldwide."

-- William Luraschi, AES, Executive VP of Business Development "Through this transaction, AES gains a portfolio of wind projects in a market that has huge potential for growth," said Ned Hall, AES Vice President of Wind Generation. "The UK has one of the fastest growing and most attractive wind energy markets in Europe, where installed capacity is expected to increase fivefold over the next four years. In addition, Scotland enjoys some of the highest wind resources in the world, which allows for particularly efficient wind power generation."

AES has been in the wind generation business since 2004 and currently operates 600 MW of wind facilities. On April 17, 2006, the company announced plans to triple its investment in wind generation over the next three years, and currently is pursuing an additional 2,000 MW of wind projects in development, primarily in the United States.

"This acquisition is the first expansion of AES's wind energy business into Europe and represents a strategic step in our efforts to become a leader in wind generation development and operation worldwide," said William Luraschi, AES Executive Vice President of Business Development.

AES, one of the world's largest global power companies with 2005 revenues of $11.1 billion, said it is currently evaluating wind power projects in continental Europe, China, India and Central and South America, with an emphasis on countries with existing AES businesses. It is based in Arlington, Virginia.

"Growing our wind energy business is a key component of our expansion into alternative energy. With global installed wind generation capacity expected to more than double over the next five years, we see tremendous growth opportunities in wind and we will continue to seek expansion projects worldwide," Luraschi added.

Airtricity Buys 500 MW of Renewable Energy in GE Turbines

2006-07-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

Airtricity Buys 500 MW of Renewable Energy in GE Turbines
July 5, 2006

Dublin, Ireland and Chicago, Illinois [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Airtricity plans to purchase more than 300 GE 1.5-MW wind turbines, with 500 MW capacity in an arrangement exceeding $550 million, which the company describes as unprecedented. The investment will support Airtricity's U.S. build program for 2008; turbines required for 2006 and 2007 have already been secured.

"Bearing in mind the intense competition that exists in acquiring turbines at a time of world shortage, we are delighted to have secured capacity to deliver a further 500 MW of renewable energy for our 2008 build program in the USA."

-- Eddie O'Connor, Airtricity "This 500 MW deal with GE Energy is testimony to Airtricity's commitment to begin the process of making electricity generation in the USA into a native sourced activity," said Airtricity Chief Executive Eddie O'Connor.

In the U.S., Airtricity has a pipeline of 4,500 MW under way in Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and New Mexico with an ambitious plan for 2008 and beyond, including advanced plans to develop in the California market.

"Bearing in mind the intense competition that exists in acquiring turbines at a time of world shortage," said Airtricity Chief Executive Eddie O'Connor, "we are delighted to have secured capacity to deliver a further 500 MW of renewable energy for our 2008 build program in the USA."

Beyond the U.S., Airtricity has set its sights on the Canadian market, as well as considering similar deals for Ireland and the rest of Europe. For his own country, O'Connor said, "Airtricity is also installing 100 MW of GE wind turbines in Ireland this year and we look forward to continuing to work with GE."

Airtricity Buys 500 MW of Renewable Energy in GE Turbines

2006-07-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

California company plans wind farm in eastern Oregon

2006-07-05T05:27:00.000-07:00

California company plans wind farm in eastern Oregon
Tuesday, July 4, 2006 - 12:00 AM

The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. – A California company has notified Oregon officials it plans a wind farm covering 32,000 acres with 300 turbines.

The Shepherds Flat Wind Farm would be the largest in the Columbia River Gorge. It would generate 750 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 188,000 homes.

The developer, LifeLine Development Group of Sacramento, is a newcomer to the wind-energy boom in the gorge and hasn't developed any wind farms. It was formed expressly for Shepherds Flat, said Patricia Pilz, LifeLine's development vice president. She declined to identify corporate principals, except to say most were from California with strong backgrounds in wind energy.

LifeLine told the Oregon Department of Energy last week of its plans. A detailed application is due in September. A review by the state agency is required when wind projects exceed 105 megawatts.

"This is the largest one we've seen," said Diana Enright of the department. LifeLine would be built in phases of 250 megawatts each, Pilz said. The turbines, each with a 2.5-megawatt capacity, would hook into transmission lines leading to a Bonneville Power Administration interconnection that would take the power to population centers to the west.

The first phase of the project wouldn't be completed until 2008, when BPA expects to improve a substation to accommodate the new power generation. The site is near the Columbia River town Arlington in Gilliam and Morrow counties.

Clint Krebs owns most of the land, where he runs sheep and cattle. He's been advocating such a project for years.

"It's too windy, and the soil's too poor for farming," he said.

Other projects in the area, planned or under construction, are:

— A 450-megawatt farm that Oregon's largest utility, Portland General Electric, hopes to build in Sherman County. Last week, the state Energy Department approved a site certificate, clearing the way for development.

— A planned third phase of the Klondike wind farm in Sherman County, which would bring the capacity to 370 megawatts. The company, Portland-based PPM Energy, is one of the country's largest wind-power developers. PPM is owned by ScottishPower, based in Glasgow, Scotland.

— PPM's 200-megawatt wind farm called Big Horn, in Washington's Klickitat County.

— PPM's 100-megawatt Leaning Juniper wind farm near Arlington.

— The Stateline wind farm developed by Florida energy company FPL Group. It straddles Oregon and Washington in the eastern end of the gorge and has a 300-megawatt capacity. Plans call for 200 megawatts more.

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

Lower bills may not be blowing in the wind

2006-06-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

Lower bills may not be blowing in the wind

There is no guarantee that putting a turbine on your roof will produce enough electricity to make worthwhile savings, writes Terry Slavin

Sunday June 25, 2006
The Observer

Ever since David Cameron announced he was planning to put a wind turbine on his new house in London, demand for the gadgets has soared. But that is as nothing compared with the interest that will be whipped up next week when the government announces it intends to scrap the need for planning permission for domestic energy generators, including solar panels and wind turbines.
The government will propose that homeowners can install mini wind turbines without applying for planning permission. Yvette Cooper, the planning minister, will tell MPs that, subject to a consultation, the government intends to make it much easier for people to use their homes as generators by cutting red tape that has so far acted as a brake on renewable energy.

This move, combined with B&Q's aim to sell rooftop wind turbines at its 'Warehouse' stores for about £1,600, including installation, and with 30 per cent of the cost offset by a government grant, means you won't need to be a member of Cameron's Notting Hill set to afford one.

But renewable energy experts, including government-funded agencies, fear that roof-mounted turbines could be another double-glazing overselling debacle in the making. They are concerned that the unregulated technology has not been adequately tested and that devices claimed by some manufacturers to produce up to a third of the average family's electricity needs could produce a fraction of that. Some also fear the turbines could cause structural damage.

'There's a lack of independent, verifiable evidence to support the performance claims of turbines attached to buildings,' says Kirk Archibald of the Energy Saving Trust (EST). 'There's been a lot of hype and a lot of interest, but you could have a situation where they get rolled out and don't work.'

One consultant who sits on the government's renewables advisory board and has undertaken extensive testing of some of the turbines says: 'We found the performance of them is on average between 10 and 25 per cent of what the manufacturers are claiming.'

Unlike solar panels, which were thoroughly tested with government field trials before their introduction, rooftop wind turbines have seen very little such testing, says Archibald. They were assumed to perform like larger wind turbines on poles sited in exposed areas, but air turbulence caused by neighbouring buildings and obstructions such as trees can affect performance dramatically.

Windsave, which makes the turbine that will be sold by B&Q and will be selling directly via the internet from August, says its 1.75 metre turbine produces 1,000-2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. Renewable Devices says its Swift 2 metre turbine produces between 2,000 and 3,000 kwH of energy a year, and could save the householder up to £300 a year, including the value of green energy generation certificates.

But Archibald says that low wind speeds in urban areas mean that most installations will never come near that. 'In better locations we'd expect wind speeds of six metres per second, but in urban areas, with lots of other buildings around, you're probably looking at four [metres per second], and that will affect performance considerably.'

Nick Martin of the Hockerton Housing Project, a sustainable development in Nottinghamshire, is a construction expert who has monitored performance of much larger, pole-mounted turbines and investigated the claims of the rooftop turbine makers. He says that Swift and Windsave's performance claims 'defy the law of physics' and that they will produce much nearer to 10 per cent of the average household's energy needs.

It is an awkward situation for the EST, which administers a new Department of Trade and Industry programme to fund 30 per cent of the cost of small-scale renewables. The Swift and Windsave turbines were accredited under a previous government scheme, Clear Skies, which did not require them to meet performance criteria, Archibald says. Clear Skies rolled over into a new scheme, the Low Carbon Building Programme, in April, meaning that the two turbines still qualify for grants - although the government has not yet announced the criteria that products will need to meet.

Scottish and Southern Energy has a stake in Renewable Devices and is looking to offer the Swift turbine to another 400-500 customers this year. Business manager Nigel Ellis stands by the 2,000-3000 kwH performance claim, which he says is based on wind speeds of between 4.4 and five metres a second, but agrees that 'output does vary' and that obstructions, such as nearby trees or buildings, will eat into performance.

David Gordon, chief executive of Windsave, also defends the performance claims. He says that even at four metres a second, the turbine will produce more than 500 kwH a year, taking £60 off the average bill. Consumers will also be eligible to get a green energy certificate worth £60 from the government, taking the annual value of the electricity up to £120: 'And that has to be worth having.'

Shoppers will not just be able to pop a wind turbine in their trolley and head for the tills at B&Q, Gordon pointed out. They will be sold to order, and the company's installers will put them up only if windspeeds are at least 3.5 metres a second. This will be judged using data from the DTI, which has windspeeds for every postcode in Britain.

But the Hockerton Housing Project's Martin, says the DTI windspeed data is misleading: 'The DTI computer generator looks at topography but doesn't take into account fences, trees and buildings, which affect windspeeds.' He also worries about structural damage to houses if they are not installed properly: 'If you bolt it to the end of the gable of a Victorian house made with lime mortar, it's going to come apart.'

The consultant on the government's renewables advisory committee also noted vibration problems with some turbines that were 'more than the building [they were being tested on] could take'.

Windsave's sales literature warns that its wind turbines are not suitable for some roof types, including lime mortar, and says every building will be tested by its installers for suitability. Neither are all house types suitable for the Swift turbine, and Scottish and Southern will require a full structural survey by its engineers before a rooftop device is installed. Ellis says the availability of trained installers is limiting how fast it can go in rolling out the devices.

Meanwhile, Cameron's wind turbine of choice, the 1.1-metre diameter Stealthgen by Eclectic Energy, is too small for grant funding under the previous Clear Skies regime, which only funded turbines bigger than 1.7 metres. The Stealthgen costs about £3,000, including installation, but Peter Anderson, managing director of Eclectic, says he hopes it will be accredited for a grant under the new scheme. 'Of the three companies, ours is the smallest turbine and the most appropriate size for domestic houses,' he says, adding that it can be put on any building and produce about 660 kwH a year.

But he fears that the entire industry could be tarred if the claims of makers of larger wind turbines are not borne out: 'This is a viable technology, but we're concerned about the varying claims. There's a strong desire on everybody's part to develop UK standards for consumers and for the industry to be on a level playing field so that it develops professionally and consumers are protected.'

Find out more

So what should you do if you want a rooftop wind turbine? You might be better off waiting until the situation regarding planning permission is clear, and the accreditation scheme for the Low Carbon Building Programme is in place, but if you want to start the process rolling now:

· Call your local council to find out how difficult - and expensive - it might be to get planning permission. If you live in a conservation area, it's unlikely you'll get it, but there are exceptions. David Cameron's Notting Hill house is in a conservation area, but Alex Michaelis, who designed the renovations to Cameron's house, hopes he will be given permission. His company has previously received planning permission for Stealthgen turbines in another conservation area in Hammersmith and Fulham.

· RWE Npower has a microgeneration scheme that helps customers to apply for planning permission and grants. But of 250 customers on the scheme, only half received planning permission, with many local authorities telling them not to bother to apply. Chris Tomlinson, of the British Wind Energy Association, warns that the cost of getting planning permission could be from £600 to £3,500. ·

· Check the BWEA small wind website, www.bwea.com/small/index.html. This has links to the Low Carbon Building Programme for grant information and to the DTI to calculate wind speeds in your area. The Energy Saving Trust helpline is 0845 727 7200, or visit www.est.org.uk/myhome/ for information about grants, manufacturers and installers.

Wind-Powered Electrolysis of Coal Bed Methane Water for Hydrogen Production

2006-06-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

Wind-Powered Electrolysis of Coal Bed Methane Water for Hydrogen Production
15 June 2006
A Wyoming company has received a National Science Foundation Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to determine the technical feasibility and economic viability of the electrolytic production of hydrogen from coal-bed methane (CBM) water using power generated from wind turbines.

In Ladd Energy’s concept, the electrolysis units would only operate when the wind blows. The hydrogen could be used industrially (in oil refining, for example), used in a stationary fuel cell to generate power, or eventually provided for vehicles.

Most CBM operators are desperate to get rid of their water. We are more than happy to take it and put it to good use, not only improving environmental quality but also making a profit at the same time.

—Ted Ladd
The extraction of the methane (natural gas) contained in coal seams (Coal Bed Methane) has boomed recently, and now accounts for approximately 7.5% of the total natural gas production in the US.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Rocky Mountain Region has extensive coal deposits bearing an estimated 30-58 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of recoverable CBM. The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (2002) estimates 31.8 TCF of recoverable CBM in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming alone.

In the late 1980s there were fewer than 20 CBM wells in Wyoming; today there are more than 13,600 producing and shut in CBM wells across the state, according to the Wyoming State Geological Survey. The most active development is currently in the Powder River Coal Field.

Schematic diagram of a CBM well. Click to enlarge. Source: Wyoming State Engineers Office.
To extract CBM, operators drill wells into the seam and pump out water to reduce the water pressure holding gas in the seam. The CBM readily separates as pressure decreases, allowing it to be piped out of the well separately from the water. Water moving from the coal seam to the well bore encourages gas migration toward the well.

The amount of water produced is high, although it varies from deposit to deposit. The Power River wells have one of the higher water-gas ratios, according to the USGS, at an average 2.75 barrels per thousand cubic feet (MCF) of gas. On average, a Power River CBM well produces about 400 barrels (16,800 gallons) of water per day per well.

Over time, the water ratio decreases and gas production increases as the beds are dewatered.

The product water must be disposed of; it is not re-injected into the field as in some oil production. The application of the water is determined in part by its composition—the type and amount of total dissolved solids (TDS). But CBM product water generally has a moderately high salinity hazard and often a very high sodium hazard based on standards used for irrigation suitability.

There are currently four primary approaches to dealing with CBM product water, according to Montana State University:

Discharge into a stream channel. Direct stream discharge is no longer permitted on new wells, but existing operations were grandfathered and are still discharging directly into streams.

Impounded in holding ponds. Most impoundments are not lined and do discharge to the subsurface. Some percentage of seepage flow from impoundments is likely to reach stream channels via subsurface flow.

Irrigation.

Other uses, such as dust control.

Ladd’s concept would use this product water, alleviating some of the disposal problem. He speculates that the salts in the water might be beneficial to the electrolytic process.

The largest wind farm in Australia

2006-06-24T03:42:00.000-07:00

$400m wind farm agreements finalised
The largest wind farm in Australia will be located in South Australia's south-east as agreements are finalised for the construction of stage two of the Lake Bonney wind farm.

Fifty-three turbines will be built next to the existing wind farm at Lake Bonney, near Millicent, at a cost of $400 million.

A statement from project owners, Babcock and Brown Wind Partners, to the Australian Stock Exchange says construction will begin immediately.

The new turbines will be built by a Danish company and will sit on 80-metre high towers.

They are expected to be fully operational by the middle of 2008 and will generate 159 megawatts of power.

The company says the wind farm will be one of the largest in the world.

The announcement comes almost two weeks after Roaring 40s put its project near Saddleworth in the Clare Valley on hold claiming a lack of Federal Government support.

Great Lakes Offshore Wind Energy Project Could Surpass 700 MW

2006-06-24T03:38:00.000-07:00

Great Lakes Offshore Wind Energy Project Could Surpass 700 MW
by Jesse Broehl, Editor, RenewableEnergyAccess.com

June 5, 2006

Prince Edward County, Ontario [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] A new challenger has thrown its hat in the ring to be the first offshore wind project in North America. If the plan goes through, it could also be the largest single wind project on the continent.

"Recently instituted changes have created a regulatory climate for the development of renewable energy in Ontario that is the best it has ever been. This has provided Trillium Power with the confidence to move this unique project forward at this time. In return, the Trillium Power Wind 1 site will put Ontario, and Canada, on the world wind map in a very major way."

-- John Kourtoff, Trillium Power, president and CEO Last week, Toronto, Canada-based Trillium Power Energy Corporation announced the plan. The site, to be known as Trillium Power Wind 1, will consist of up to 142 of the latest multi-megawatt wind turbines and will have a total installed capacity of up to 710 MW -- enough clean, renewable power to satisfy the electricity needs of more than 200,000 homes.

News of the project comes amidst an increasingly caustic atmosphere in the U.S. where offshore wind has been stymied by local opposition and faced repeated legislative attacks from U.S. lawmakers. This has particularly been the case with the 420 MW Cape Wind project proposed off the coast of Massachusetts. Cape Wind was the first proposal for an offshore wind farm in North American but new proposals such as Trillium's bid may ultimately see construction first.

"The project, which is in very shallow waters 15 kilometers offshore from Prince Edward County, is unique for Ontario in that other wind power developments being planned or under construction are on hilltop or shoreline locations," said John Kourtoff, President and CEO of Trillium Power. "However, going offshore takes advantage of excellent wind conditions while considerably reducing the potential impact of the environmental footprint."

Kourtoff said the project has all of the attributes necessary for successful development: an excellent wind resource measured over 36 years, sufficient transmission, positive environmental qualities, an experienced engineering and development team, and solid financing and support.

Kourtoff also explained how a number of factors in Ontario have made this project possible. This includes the policy of the present provincial government that encourages the development of renewable energy in Ontario by entering into long purchase power agreements (PPA) and the policy of the present government to allow the registration of Crown Land for the development of wind generation, which up until 2004 was not possible.

The development of the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) has also been helpful through its strategic and long-term planning. Kourtoff said that with the advent of the OPA, once a long-term plan is decided, there is an entity able to enter into long-term PPAs with private sector generators.

"Recently instituted changes have created a regulatory climate for the development of renewable energy in Ontario that is the best it has ever been," said Kourtoff. "This has provided Trillium Power with the confidence to move this unique project forward at this time. In return, the Trillium Power Wind 1 site will put Ontario, and Canada, on the world wind map in a very major way."

The company expects the development of the Trillium Power Wind 1 site to create significant economic spin-offs in manufacturing, construction and services, both locally and throughout Ontario. In addition, its development will assist Ontario in improving its air quality while at the same time helping Canada meet its Kyoto reduction targets for greenhouse gases, treaty obligations for the reduction of mercury and other hazardous emissions as well as reducing smog-causing pollutants such as nitrous oxides and sulphur dioxides.

Trillium Power Energy Corporation, a privately owned company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, is focused on the development of unique renewable and alternative energy solutions. The Trillium Power management team has developed and operated waterpower facilities in Ontario since the 1980s and has been involved in other major installations around the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For further Information
Trillium Power Energy Corporation

ENERGY DEPARTMENT, WIND INDUSTRY JOIN TO CREATE

2006-06-24T03:21:00.000-07:00

ENERGY DEPARTMENT, WIND INDUSTRY JOIN TO CREATE
ACTION PLAN TO REALIZE NATIONAL VISION OF
20% ELECTRICITY FROM WIND

Kickoff Takes Place at WINDPOWER 2006 in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA – June 5, 2006 - The American Wind Energy Association, U.S. Department of Energy, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory today committed to develop an action plan focused on providing up to 20% of the nation’s electricity from clean, renewable wind energy, the potential of which was highlighted in the Advanced Energy Initiative released by President George W. Bush in February.

Today at the WINDPOWER 2006 Conference and Exhibition in Pittsburgh, experts in wind technology, energy policy, public outreach, utility operations, and project development gathered to begin the creation of the action plan. The process will solicit input from key stakeholders including environmental groups, utilities, policy planners, investors, educators, communities, and others, with the action plan being unveiled at the WINDPOWER 2007 Conference and Exhibition in Los Angeles, Calif., June 3-6, 2007.

“In his Advanced Energy Initiative, the President described his vision of changing the way we power our homes and businesses by increasing energy efficiency, alleviating price pressure on natural gas, lessening dependency on imported fuels, and fostering alternatives for power production, including wind energy,” said Andy Karsner, U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “I am pleased to join with AWEA and pledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy for this critical effort which will accelerate the use of the Nation’s vast wind energy resources.”

“Wind is an abundant and free domestic energy resource,” said Randall Swisher, Executive Director of the American Wind Energy Association. “Coupled with modern technology, wind energy displaces the need for fossil generation and reduces U.S. dependence on imported energy.

“As we have seen in Europe and with growing popularity in other nations of the world, wind power is proven, and can play a substantial role in powering America’s energy future. Wind energy works—for our economy, environment, and energy security.”

Pittsburgh Declaration (pdf)

Talk swirls of Great Lakes offshore windmills

2006-05-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Tilting at turbines: Talk swirls of Great Lakes offshore windmills TODD RICHMOND

ALGOMA, Wis. (AP) - Little red lighthouse. Beach boardwalks. The blue-green waters of Lake Michigan stretching to the horizon. Just another pretty-as-a-postcard day on the shores of this sleepy town of 5,700 about a half-hour east of Green Bay.

But changes could be in store for Algoma and other towns and cities that line the Great Lakes. Energy experts are set to meet in Madison and Toledo, Ohio, next month to talk about the prospects of implanting giant electricity-generating windmills in the Great Lakes.

Advocates say offshore wind turbines would be a power generation jackpot. Opponents are cringing, fearing the windmills' impact on the lakes' aesthetics, tourism and fishing.

"I'll fight this every way I can," said Algoma alderman Ken Taylor, chairman of the city's marina committee. "The beautiful view we have would be destroyed ... how many (tourists and fishermen) are going to come here if we have these things off our coastline?"

Offshore turbines would be a risky undertaking for any utility. To generate a sizable amount of power, a company would have to install rows of them, either anchoring them to the lakes' bottom in relatively shallow water or allowing them to float. Pricetags could stretch into the tens of millions of dollars.

The turbines would be huge, towering as high as 120 metres with blade spans wider than a football field, said Walt Musial, senior engineer and offshore programs leader for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy contractor. Musial is scheduled to make a presentation at a June 14 conference at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The payoff would come in increased energy production, Musial said. Winds over water are generally stronger, less turbulent and more consistent than on land. Major population and industrial centres such as Cleveland, Chicago, Gary, Ind., and Milwaukee sit on the Great Lakes' shores, reducing the need for long-distance transmission and providing an energy boost at the same time, he added.

"Offshore machines can make about twice as much as onshore," Musial said. "It's a potentially big resource for renewable energy. You want to generate the electricity close to where people are going to use it."

The concept isn't new. Several European countries, including Denmark and Great Britain, have developed wind farms in the North and Baltic seas, said John Dunlop, senior outreach representative with the American Wind Energy Association.

Houston-based Superior Renewable Energy plans to build a 170-turbine farm in the Gulf of Mexico about 16 kilometres off Padre Island. Another 50 turbines are planned off Galveston, Texas, and at least two other offshore projects have been proposed on the East Coast - one off Long Island and another off Cape Cod.

But the idea has been slow to catch on in the Great Lakes region.

Green Energy Ohio last fall built a wind-monitoring tower about five kilometres off Cleveland's Lake Erie shoreline to test the lake's potential for offshore turbines. But the state is looking toward land-based turbines, said Merle Madrid, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Development.

"Offshore siting, particularly in fresh water environments, contains too many technical unknowns at this time, though we continue to be engaged in the research," Madrid said.

Officials with both the Michigan and Wisconsin public service commissions say they haven't seen any proposals for offshore wind in the Great Lakes.

Still, a 2004 report commissioned by the Wisconsin Focus on Energy Program, a partnership between the state and utilities to promote renewable sources, to study Lake Michigan wind speeds and shallows found the southern coastline holds great promise.

Seventh Generation Energy Systems, a nonprofit engineering firm, built a $114,500-US tower three kilometres off Racine's Lake Michigan shoreline last August to monitor wind speeds for three years. The state chipped in $49,000 US for the project.

Seventh Generation executive director David Blecker said the firm has no interest in building offshore turbines, but would-be developers could use the wind-speed data.

"The Europeans have shown again and again it can make sense," Blecker said.

Anyone who attempts an offshore wind farm in the Great Lakes would face formidable hurdles. Aside from the cost of construction - the Padre Island project is expected to ring in at $1 billion to $2 billion US - developers also would have to navigate a web of federal and state permits.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over structures in the lakes, said Steven Metivier, a corps biologist in Buffalo, N.Y. Developers also would have to lease tracts of lake bottom from the states, which hold the underwater property rights, Metivier said. Plus, state utility regulators would have to sign off.

Largest U.S. Wind Energy Event Ever

2006-05-24T00:41:00.000-07:00

Largest U.S. Wind Energy Event Ever Will Bring Together Utility, National, and State Leaders
Press Release from American Wind Energy Association

May 22, 2006

WINDPOWER 2006 Conference & Exhibition Will Mark Wind Energy's Breakthrough Into Second-largest Source of New Power Generation in U.S., Present Plans for Advancement of Industry.
"These are heady times for the wind industry, with a record year in 2005, and 2006 looking even better."

- Randall Swisher, AWEA Executive Director From June 4 - 7, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) will bring together utility and business leaders, national and state policymakers, and renewable energy advocates at its largest conference and trade show ever, hosting more than 4,500 attendees at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

The WINDPOWER 2006 Conference & Exhibition will feature a spectacular Exhibition Hall with more than 280 companies demonstrating advanced products and technology, an awards banquet honoring over 20 individuals from across the nation for leadership in the development and promotion of wind energy, and plenary and educational sessions featuring state governors, U.S. administration leaders, and utility and wind industry executives tackling the industry's current challenges and presenting a vision for the future.

Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing energy sources in the world. In 2005, new wind farms were the second-largest source of new power generation in the U.S., after new natural gas power plants. In February, President George W. Bush asserted that wind energy could provide up to 20% of the nations electricity, up from less than 1% today.

"These are heady times for the wind industry, with a record year in 2005, and 2006 looking even better," said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. "The industry is working overtime to keep up with the exciting growth and demand. Clean, renewable, domestic wind power is an important part of the solution to the ever-increasing public calls for energy sources that reduce our dependence on imported fuels and work for our economy, environment, and energy security."

Christine Real de Azua
Assistant Director of Communications
American Wind Energy Association
Direct phone: (202) 383-2508
Fax: (202) 383-2505
Email: Christine@awea.org
Web: www.awea.org

Kansas's Largest Wind Energy Farm Dedicated to Power on the Prairie

2006-05-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

Kansas's Largest Wind Energy Farm Dedicated to Power on the Prairie

LATHAM, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 2006--Public officials and energy industry representatives joined hundreds of local schoolchildren and their families in central Kansas to dedicate on May 11, 2006 the state's newest wind energy farm, the Elk River Wind Power Project. The "Power on the Prairie" ceremony also included the announcement of $100,000 in funding for prairie chicken research at Kansas State University (KSU).

"The Elk River wind power plant represents a major step forward in the development of renewable energy in Kansas," said Raimund Grube, vice president of PPM WindPower. "The benefits of projects like Elk River are immense -- contributions to rural economies, jobs, and above all, clean, cost-competitive wind power."

Owned by Portland, Ore.-based PPM Energy (PPM), ScottishPower's (NYSE:SPI) competitive U.S. energy business, Elk River uses 100 GE 1.5 megawatt turbines to produce approximately 550,000 megawatt-hours of energy annually -- enough to power 42,000 homes.

The energy generated by Elk River is sold to Empire District Electric Company. "Our customers have enjoyed the benefit of the Elk River wind farm since we began receiving test energy last October," said Brad Beecher, vice president-energy supply, The Empire District Electric Company. "During the two and one-half months of 2005 when energy was available, Elk River provided our system about 75,000 megawatt-hours of power at a cost about 64 percent lower than we would have paid for purchased power from the market. That drove a reduction in costs of about $3.3 million. In the first quarter of 2006, a period when the plant was fully commercial, Elk River generated 142,595 megawatt-hours and contributed an estimated savings of about $4.2 million. The impact of Elk River has far exceeded our expectations and our customers and shareholders have enjoyed the financial benefits. We look forward to our continued relationship with PPM and the Elk River Wind Farm."

The impressive white wind turbines, standing in neat rows on cattle grazing land, take up less than two percent of the total land leased for the project.

"I am the fourth generation to ranch on this property," said Peter Ferrell, a local landowner. "My family has been here since 1888 and that weighs heavily on my decision to engage in practices that can be carried on generation after generation without depleting the resources. Both the grass and the wind will be here for generations."

Butler County Commissioner Mike Wheeler noted that many members of the next generation were in attendance and eager to learn. "I am excited to see the participation of more than 400 Butler County students today at the ceremony," said Wheeler. "They will be touring not only the towers, but also learning a little bit about the history of Beaumont. The Bluestem (Elementary) journalism class is capturing all the events with photography."

Dr. Robert Robel, a professor emeritus from KSU and an expert on prairie-chicken populations, praised the project parties for their cooperation. "This collaborative research effort is unique," said Robel. "Very seldom do you see developers, wildlife ecologists, federal agencies, state entities, and preservationists working together to examine a perceived problem. No matter what the outcome of the research effort, society will benefit from the scientific approach to the questions being addressed."

Greenlight Energy, the original developer of the Elk River Wind Farm, is pleased that the initial vision for the wind farm was fully realized when the project began generating power in December of 2005. "When we first began developing the project in 2002, we knew this was going to be a special project," said Matt Hantzmon, managing director of Greenlight Energy. "It was only through a team effort, which included the project landowners; Butler County, HMH Resources, and PPM Energy, among others, that we were able complete a project of this scale and quality."

Jeff Schlichting, president of HMH Energy Resources, Inc., summed up the significance of the day and of the project: "With the completion of the Elk River Wind Farm, Kansas became one of the top ten states in the US for renewable energy generation capacity. This project represents the culmination of efforts by many individuals and organizations, propelling Kansas into its rightful position of leadership in wind energy."

News media seeking sources may contact:

Jan Johnson, PPM Energy, 503-796-7070 / 503-799-6925

Amy Bass, Empire District Electric Co., 417-625-5114

Sandy Zieman, Butler County, 316-322-4300

Christine Real de Azua, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA),
202-383-2508

Project Sponsors Include:

-- Butler County
-- Communities of Beaumont and Latham
-- PPM Energy
-- Empire District Electric Company
-- GE Energy
-- Augusta Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Tourism Bureau
-- USD 205 (Bluestem/Haverhill School District
-- Friends of the Beaumont Water Tower
-- Greenlight Energy

Western Wind Energy Wins Key FERC Decision

2006-05-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

Western Wind Energy Wins Key FERC Decision
May 9, 2006

Coquitlam, British Columbia [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Western Wind Energy Corporation announced that the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a definitive decision in Western Wind's favor, allowing Western Wind to access a key transmission line.

"This order gives Western Wind an absolute right to build out its project right on schedule. Its goal was to deliver to the citizens of California, inexpensive, clean and reliable power, and deliver it as the company had expected."

-- Jeff Ciachurski, Western Wind Energy, CEO
The decision enables Western Wind to start work on its 120 megawatts (MW) power sales agreement with Southern California Edison. This agreement enables Western Wind to generate more than US $30 million per year in annual power sales, according to the company.

The FERC ordered the partners of the Sagebrush line, a 46-mile 230-kilovolt line, which runs straight through Western Wind's Windstar I project in Tehachapi, California, to interconnect and provide at least 50 MW, and up to 120 MW of transmission service to Western Wind's operating company in California. The two parties have 28 days to establish rates, terms and conditions.

Western Wind Energy had filed an action under Section 210 & 211 of the Federal Power Act, which allows a power provider to apply to the Commission for an order "requiring a transmission utility to provide interconnection and transmission services to the applicant."

"This order gives Western Wind an absolute right to build out its project right on schedule," said Jeff Ciachurski, CEO of Western Wind Energy. "Its goal was to deliver to the citizens of California, inexpensive, clean and reliable power, and deliver it as the company had expected. In addition, it's a great day for Western Wind's shareholders, who will now be able to enjoy the benefits of constructing a US $192 million state-of-the-art wind energy generating facility capable of delivering over US $600 million of electrical sales over a 20-year period."

Western Wind Energy is in a position to commence equipment procurement as soon as the interconnection agreement is finalized.

In other Western Wind Energy news, the company and Arizona Public Service have agreed to expand the terms of their current 15 MW agreement, to add an additional 25 MW of wind energy production, taking the total to 40 MW. If there is sufficient available capacity in the current transmission system, the agreement would go to 45 MW.

The added power will be generated from Western Wind's Kingman Steel Plant facility. The two companies have not yet agreed on final details on the extra capacity but Western Wind anticipates executing a formal agreement within the next 60 days.

Energy Department Signs Wind-to-Hydrogen Research Agreement

2006-05-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

08 May 2006

Energy Department Signs Wind-to-Hydrogen Research Agreement
Project will compare producing hydrogen from wind power, electric grid

Washington – The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Xcel Energy, an electric power and natural gas utility, have signed a cooperative agreement for an innovative "wind to hydrogen" research, development and demonstration project.

Researchers will analyze and compare hydrogen production from wind power and the electric grid, according to a May 8 DOE press release.

The hydrogen will be produced through electrolysis – the process of using electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms. NREL is DOE’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy-efficiency research and development.

"One unique feature of this system is the direct connection between the wind turbine and the electrolyzer, which will make the system more efficient," said Ben Kroposki, senior engineer at NREL's Center for Electric and Hydrogen Technologies and Systems.

The agreement supports the President Bush’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, which seeks to develop the hydrogen, fuel cell and infrastructure technologies needed to make it practical and cost-effective to use fuel cell vehicles by 2020.

The new wind-electrolysis system will be at NREL's National Wind Technology Center, where hydrogen will be produced, compressed and stored to be used as a vehicle fuel or to generate electricity.

The project will compare electrolyzer technologies and researchers will examine issues related to system efficiency, integration, compression, storage, cost and the use of a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas.

This partnership combines NREL's expertise in renewable energy and hydrogen with Xcel Energy's expertise in energy conversion, transmission, distribution and use. Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy plans to add 1,200 megawatts of wind energy capacity in Colorado, Minnesota and Texas by the end of 2007.

Xcel Energy will invest more than $1.25 million in the project; NREL and DOE will invest about $750,000.

For additional information on renewable energy resources, see Washington File articles on solar energy, hydrogen fuel cells, biomass and wind power.

For information on U.S. policy, see Energy Policy.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Pan-European Wind Energy Grid Proposed

2006-05-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

Pan-European Wind Energy Grid Proposed
May 10, 2006

Airtricity announced plans for an undersea power grid that would connect a host of wind projects, including a new proposal for a 10 GW project.

Photo: Bonus Energy

[RenewableEnergyAccess.com] As more wind energy projects go online in Europe, concerns remain that additional generation will require backup generation from other electricity production to balance out times when the wind doesn't blow. One of the world's leading wind energy developers believes it has an answer that could help avoid concerns over backing-up intermittent wind power while also offering a more efficient, dynamic electric grid.

"The Supergrid offers a unique opportunity to Member States to improve their security of energy supply. The power generated will be a common European rather than a national asset. Wind energy is a continental resource and thanks to the Supergrid it will be the common property of all the Member States."

-- statement from Airtricity Ireland-based Airtricity this week unveiled plans to create a pan European undersea energy grid, or so-called Supergrid, that would link a series of wind farms from as far ranging locations as the Mediterranean, up to the Bay of Biscay in the Atlantic and all the way up to the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

"The scale of this undertaking means that when fully operational Europe will have access to wind energy at all times because the wind will always be blowing somewhere on the grid," said Airtricity's Chief Executive, Eddie O'Connor.

The company will formally introduce the ambitious plan at a Parliamentary reception for MPs in Westminster today. In conjunction, the wind energy developer will also outline a proposal to build a Euro 22 billion, 10 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind energy project that would cover a wind expanse in the North Sea between the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

The company's Supergrid concept will play an important complementary role for the project that would greatly eclipse by size any current wind project, offshore or terrestrial. As many as eight million European homes could be powered by a project this size.

ABB Ltd. will be the project partner on the transmission side of the Supergrid. Trevor Gregory, Managing Director of ABB said they have established an advanced transmission technology called HVDC light which, among a number of applications, is used for demanding offshore applications. HVDC Light not only feeds electricity to platforms but it also connects and supports the integration of electrical networks.

Since the project will require the approval of the EU, and involves multiple countries across almost the entire span of the European continent, Airtricity pitched the plan as an energy proposal for the wider European Union, not to specific nations.

"The Supergrid offers a unique opportunity to Member States to improve their security of energy supply," said the company, in a statement. "The power generated will be a common European rather than a national asset. Wind energy is a continental resource and thanks to the Supergrid it will be the common property of all the Member States.

Airtricity has plenty of wind energy experience, operating, among others, the Arklow Bank wind farm, the first real-world test of GE Energy's large 3.6 MW offshore wind turbines. The company is currently expanding operations into Scotland, England, and parts of the U.S. It currently has several thousands of megawatts of capacity in the planning and construction stages.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

US wind energy on track for another record year

2006-05-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

US wind energy on track for another record year
Wednesday, 10 May 2006
The US wind energy industry is on track to installing a record-breaking 3,000MW this year the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said in its First Quarter Market Report.

Construction is under way on a number of facilities scheduled for completion in 2006. Over 400MW of new plants have already been brought online since January. More of these positive outcomes could be held up, however, by concern over potential effects on civilian or military radar. Action by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regional offices and the Department of Defense (DOD) has effectively halted development of several pending wind energy facilities and the potential exists for more such shutdowns. Installation of the vast majority of proposed projects is on schedule, but a total of at least 500MW due for completion this year and next is now under a de facto moratorium, according to initial AWEA estimates, and that number could grow if the issue is not swiftly and appropriately resolved as part of the project siting process.

The possibility of radar interference has been known for a long time, and a variety of solutions already exist: wind turbines and radars function successfully in areas at home and abroad where wind turbines are in operation (including on military bases such as Guantanamo Bay and Wyoming’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base). AWEA recognizes and respects the paramount importance of any concerns relating to security, and supports resolving legitimate problems as quickly as possible.

Pennsylvania Invests $10 Million for Clean Energy Projects

2006-05-13T23:22:00.000-07:00

Pennsylvania Invests $10 Million for Clean Energy Projects
May 12, 2006

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Governor Edward G. Rendell announced Pennsylvania will create jobs in the alternative energy industry and provide affordable, reliable energy for Commonwealth businesses and residents by investing $10 million in new clean energy projects.

Eligible Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) projects include solar energy, wind, low-impact hydropower, geothermal, methane gas, biomass, fuel cells, waste coal, integrated gasification combined cycle, recycled energy and energy recovery, energy efficiency and load management, and alternative fuels for transportation. "Pennsylvania is changing the way clean energy is produced and distributed," Governor Rendell said. "This $10 million investment will continue the Commonwealth's leadership in one of the most important issues of our time: energy security."

Governor Rendell made $5 million in grants available for the third round of Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) funding. PEDA has awarded $15 million in grants and loans for 41 clean energy projects that will leverage another $200 million in private investment. The projects will create 1,558 permanent and construction jobs. Research projects could net more than 300 full-time jobs.

The Governor also announced $5 million in available grants for the fourth round of funding under the Pennsylvania Energy Harvest Grant Program. Since 2003, this program has awarded $15.9 million and leveraged another $43.7 million in private funds for more than 100 clean energy projects.

Eligible PEDA projects may include solar energy; wind; low-impact hydropower; geothermal; biologically derived methane gas, including landfill gas; biomass; fuel cells; coal-mine methane; waste coal; integrated gasification combined cycle; demand management measures, including recycled energy and energy recovery, energy efficiency and load management; and clean, alternative fuels for transportation. PEDA project priorities include solar, distributed generation for critical public infrastructure and clean, alternative fuels for transportation.

Pennsylvania's commitment to wind production provides enough clean energy to power about 70,000 homes. Gamesa, the second largest wind energy company in the world, is investing $84 million in Pennsylvania for four manufacturing facilities and its North American headquarters. As many as 1,000 jobs will be created over five years.

Wind Farm to Be Built Off Texas Coast

2006-05-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

May 11, 2006, 6:27PM
Wind Farm to Be Built Off Texas Coast

By LYNN BREZOSKY Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — Texas officials announced plans Thursday for the nation's largest offshore wind farm, consisting of as many as 170 windmills out in the Gulf of Mexico.

Houston-based Superior Renewable Energy will build and operate the project, which will be situated within about 10 miles of Padre Island. It is expected to cost $1 billion to $2 billion and should be ready in five years.

Its 400-foot turbines would generate a total of 500 megawatts of electricity, or enough energy for 125,000 homes.

"The wind rush is on," Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said. "We want to be No. 1. We want to attract the businesses that build the turbines, that build the blades."

Some environmentalists said the spinning blades could kill countless rare birds that migrate through the area each year on their way to and from winter grounds in Mexico and Central America.

"You probably couldn't pick a worse location," said Walter Kittelberger, chairman of the Lower Laguna Madre Foundation, an environmental group named for the strip of water between the mainland and Padre Island.

John Calaway, Superior's chief executive, said the company would do everything possible to reduce the threat to migrating birds. "Of course there's going to be some mortality, but we don't think it will be significant," he said.

Patterson said the wind farm would be situated off a remote, unpopulated part of Padre Island National Seashore. People who are concerned about the farm obstructing the ocean view "shouldn't have a problem," he said. "There's nobody there to look at it."

The offshore farm is the second announced in less than a year for the Texas coast, joining 50 wind turbines planned off Galveston.

Jerome Collins of the Sierra Club said his and other groups support wind energy and hoped to work with enery producers to prevent bird deaths and protect the scenic landscape.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, the U.S. produces 9,149 megawatts of wind power, enough to power 2.3 million homes annually. The largest U.S. wind farm is the Stateline Wind Energy Center on the Oregon-Washington line, producing 300 megawatts of electricity.

The Texas announcement comes amid a bitter fight over a proposed 130-turbine wind farm off Cape Cod, Mass., where residents fear the turbines will be unsightly.

Officials hope NorthWestern deal will boost wind power

2006-04-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

Officials hope NorthWestern deal will boost wind power
By DIRK LAMMERS

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Australian company buying NorthWestern Corp. is one of the world's biggest players in wind farms, and officials hope that will translate to greater renewable energy opportunities in the region.

Sioux Falls-based NorthWestern announced Tuesday it has agreed to be acquired by Babcock & Brown Infrastructure of Sydney, Australia, in a cash deal worth $2.2 billion.

Bob Sahr, chairman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, met with company officials this past week to discuss the deal. Sahr said most of the questions focused on the company's commitment to the state and its utility customers, but he did ask whether there would be a connection between the utility and Babcock & Brown's other ventures in wind power and transmission lines.

"They indicated that they were intrigued by South Dakota's wind power potential, that they knew it was one of the best in the world, but they would evaluate it on a case-by-case basis and look for projects that would make sense," Sahr said.

Babcock & Brown officials made similar statements to Montana officials during a meeting in Helena.

Tristan Peniston-Bird, a spokesman for the company, said there are no existing plans to build wind farms across South Dakota, but such opportunities would be considered.

"It's not that they plan to or are, but certainly it's something they would certainly consider, whether it would be BBI directly or NorthWestern would draw on BBI's experience in doing so," Peniston-Bird said.

One of Babcock & Brown's wind projects sits on tribal land, and that's encouraging to Pat Spears, president of the Rosebud-based Intertribal Council On Utility Policy.

Babcock & Brown partnered with GE Energy Financial Services to invest in a wind farm on the Campo Indian Reservation near the California-Mexico border. The 25 turbines, which started turning in 2005, generate 50 megawatts of electricity for customers in nearby San Diego. The tribe makes money on its land-lease contract and royalties.

Spears, who helped put the first tribally owned wind station on Indian land in 2003, said he hopes the company will consider tribal ventures when looking at wind power development in South Dakota.

"You would hope that new investment and new ownership would explore all of their avenues for wind energy development, and certainly including those on tribal lands that we're working on," said Spears, a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe's single 750-kilowatt turbine at its casino south of Mission can power 220 homes, and it's currently looking to expand the project into a 30 megawatt wind farm near St. Francis.

The utility council owns a majority interest in NativeEnergy, a privately held American Indian energy company. NativeEnergy and the council hope to build a series of small 10 megawatt wind farms on reservations across the Dakotas and Nebraska to create new revenue streams for the tribes.

Spears said the biggest challenge for tribes is finding a way to get the electricity to potential customers.

"Transmission capacity is limited out of South Dakota and North Dakota," he said. "That is the issue to move it to the urban markets."

Spears said he's hoping to get tribes and states behind wind energy development and request the federal government to fund a good transmission study.

Babcock & Brown Infrastructure has a 16.5 percent interest in Babcock & Brown Wind Partners, which has stakes in 15 wind farms in Australia, Europe and the United States, including:

--Two wind farms in Nolan County, Texas, with 86 turbines producing 129 megawatts to customers of TXU Energy and Austin Energy

--An 80-turbine wind farm in New Mexico, generating 80 megawatts of electricity for energy customers in the state

--A 45-turbine farm near Lawton, Okla., which generates 74.25 megawatts for Western Farmers Electric Cooperative members

--A 41-turbine farm in northeastern Oregon that sends 41 megawatts of energy to PacifiCorp customers

Counties, cities seek wind bonds

2006-04-27T02:51:00.000-07:00

Published on Thursday, April 27, 2006.
Last modified on 4/27/2006 at 12:27 am

Counties, cities seek wind bonds
By NOELLE STRAUB
Gazette Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- More than 30 Montana cities and counties filed applications Wednesday for interest-free federal financing for wind energy projects, with Yellowstone and Cascade county commissioners coming to Washington to submit theirs and to lobby on rural issues.

The local governments submitted applications to the U.S. Treasury Department for a total of $37.2 million in renewable bonds for wind projects. A total of $800 million has been appropriated for the new program nationwide.

Yellowstone County Commissioner Bill Kennedy said the county requested slightly more than $4 million to build 18 wind turbines that would produce 4.5 megawatts of power.

That would be enough to power all of the county buildings, including MetraPark, the courthouse and the detention facility, he said. It costs $250,000 to pay for electricity at MetraPark annually, Kennedy said.

Cascade County Commission Chairwoman Peggy Beltrone said her county's application totaled $3.6 million that would finance 16 100-foot-tall towers that would produce 4 megawatts.

"Montana has one of the best wind resources in the nation, and yet we have had a slow start in wind energy," she said. "It will show people in Montana across these many jurisdictions ... that it can be done, that wind energy is possible. It's possible in our hometowns, possible in our home counties."

The pair met yesterday with Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who crafted the program, called Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, that passed Congress as part of the 2005 energy bill.

Baucus said he's confident that Montana will do well in the approval process.

"The legislation was written in a way so that smaller projects are at the head of the line," he said.

The program will run for two years under existing legislation, but Baucus said he is working to extend it for three more.

Claud Matney and Mike Costanti of Matney-Frantz Engineering in Bozeman handled all the applications and came to Washington to submit them. The company has been working on energy projects since the 1970s.

Kennedy and Beltrone came to Washington as part of the annual legislative fly-in of the National Association of Counties Rural Action Caucus, which Kennedy chairs this year.

Caucus members from across the country came to Capitol Hill to meet with more than 30 members of Congress and with domestic policy assistants at the White House on rural issues.

Kennedy said the issues they covered included Community Development Block Grants, funding for methamphetamine prevention and law enforcement, funding for a rural schools act, and payments that rural counties with large tracts of federal land receive in lieu of taxes they could collect if that land were private.

Beltrone said she was also in town to pick up an award for Cascade County for its wind energy marketing program.

Montana counties applying for the wind grants are Big Horn, Blaine, Carbon, Cascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Golden Valley, Hill, Judith, Basin, Liberty, Meagher, Musselshell, Park, Pondera, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Wheatland and Yellowstone.

Towns applying are Big Sandy, Big Timber, Chester, Chinook, Columbus, Conrad, Hardin, Harlem, Harlowton, Lavina, Lewistown, Livingston, Red Lodge, Roundup, Ryegate, Stanford and Three Forks.

India adds 1,702 MW wind energy capacity in FY06

2006-04-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

India adds 1,702 MW wind energy capacity in FY06

April 20, 2006

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India added 1,702 megawatts of wind energy capacity in the year to March 2006, taking its total capacity to 5,300 MW, an industry association said on Thursday.

With this, India now has the fourth largest capacity in the world only behind Germany, Spain and the United States, the Indian Wind Energy Association (INWEA) said in a statement.

With a capacity of around 59,000 MW at the end of 2005, wind energy accounts for around 1 percent of global electricity generation.

INWEA said India's growth was largely driven by increasing energy shortage and shorter gestation periods for installing wind energy plants.

The country boasts of equipment manufacturing capacity worth 2,000 MW and expects exports to grow exponentially as the global wind energy market is seen expanding to 25,000 MW by 2010.

Led by key listed wind energy companies such as Suzlon Energy and NEPC India, India is set to become the manufacturing hub for wind energy machines.

MidAmerican to boost wind energy

2006-04-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

MidAmerican to boost wind energy
Published: 04/21/2006 09:14 AM

By: Associated Press - Associated Press

DES MOINES, IA - Iowa's largest energy company plans to double its wind-generated electricity and has state approval to eventually nearly triple its output.

MidAmerican Energy Company, which accounted for most of Iowa's new wind capacity last year, received approval from the Iowa Utilities Board this week to add 545 megawatts of wind energy.

MidAmerican operates 360.5 megawatts of wind energy facilities in northern Iowa, and officials say the company will at least double that number in the coming years.

The state approved the plan on the condition that MidAmerican not raise its electricity rates in Iowa until 2010.

Iowa has more than 830 megawatts of wind energy capacity, ranking it third in the country behind California and Texas, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

In 2003, Gov. Tom Vilsack issued a challenge for Iowa to have 1,000 egawatts of renewable energy in Iowa by 2010. MidAmerican would operate more than 1,000 megawatts of wind, biomass and hydroelectric energy in Iowa if it adds the maximum 545 megawatts.

Vilsack said the expansion plan will have "a huge impact" on the state's energy industry.

A 545-megawatt wind project would result in the avoidance of up to 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide annually -- the equivalent of eliminating 279,000 vehicles, company officials said.

"We are again adding renewable energy ... in a way that makes sense for our customers, our company and the state," said Todd Raba, president of MidAmerican Energy.

Most of MidAmerican's electricity is generated by burning coal. But last year, the company completed a $386 million, 257-turbine project in two northern Iowa sites, increasing its total generation from renewable sources to 9 percent. Iowa law requires at least 2 percent come from renewable sources.

This year, the company plans to complete a 99-megawatt expansion in Carroll and Crawford counties in west central Iowa. MidAmerican officials said the location of other projects and the amount the company will invest has not been determined.

MidAmerican is based in Des Moines and provides electricity to 706,000 customers and natural gas to 687,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota.

| Wind Power Contract Secured for Prince Edward Island

2006-04-20T03:36:00.000-07:00

Wind Power Contract Secured for Prince Edward Island
April 19, 2006

Norway, Prince Edward Island (PEI) [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] With construction of the $18 million, 9-megawatt (MW) Norway Wind Park expected to begin this year and commissioned in the spring of 2007, Ventus Energy signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with PEI Energy Corp. to sell wind power.

"Private sector investments like these show the confidence that the private sector has in the growth potential for our economy, particularly in renewable energy. I look forward to this development and the positive spin-offs it will bring to our community."

-- Gail Shea, Transportation and Public Works Minister, PEI The Ventus Energy Norway Wind Park is to be built on the northwest tip of PEI, south of the Atlantic Wind Test Site at North Cape. The price for the 20-year term of this PPA is set at the feed-in tariff price established by the Government of PEI of $0.0775 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

A 12-month formal wind assessments study is completed and an environmental assessment study is well under way, expected to be completed this summer. Dr. Marina Silva and her team at the University of Prince Edward Island are completing the environmental work. The formal public meeting was held in June 2005 and terms of an interconnection agreement with Maritime Electric Corporation Limited are being finalized.

"We are delighted to make this announcement at this time. All of the hard work of the many talented people at Ventus Energy is beginning to pay off," said John Douglas, Ventus Energy's Chief Executive Officer. "The Norway Wind Park represents a substantial milestone in the development of Ventus Energy as an independent power producer. The Government of PEI has shown tremendous leadership in the renewable energy sector. We firmly believe that a fixed price tariff is the way to build a sustainable renewable energy industry in PEI," Douglas added.

"This investment by Ventus Energy is a great step forward for renewable energy development in West Prince," said Gail Shea, Transportation and Public Works Minister. "Private sector investments like these show the confidence that the private sector has in the growth potential for our economy, particularly in renewable energy. I look forward to this development and the positive spin-offs it will bring to our community," said Shea.

The 9 MW Norway Wind Park will generate an estimated 31,000 megawatt hours (MWh) per year of green power -- enough to power almost 5,000 PEI homes and displace the equivalent of nearly 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Ventus Energy is developing more than 5,000 MW of potential wind power projects on 25 sites in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. It has secured the rights to more than 17 million acres of land to conduct this wind energy development. Formal wind studies, interconnection and environmental assessments and other permitting activities are well underway at all sites. Ventus believes that this portfolio represents the largest portfolio of potential wind energy projects in Canada.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prince Edward Island Wind - Hydrogen Village

2006-04-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

click the link above to load 1.37 MB PDF file 27 page
presentation

Rules clarified for offshore wind power

2006-04-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

Thu 30 Mar 2006

Rules clarified for offshore wind power
LONDON (Reuters) - The offshore wind power industry got a boost on Thursday as the government clarified rules on financing connections to the mainland grid, the wind industry and the government said.

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks, ending months of uncertainty, said the cost of linking offshore wind turbines to the onshore grid should be financed through regulated charges levied by National Grid, mirroring arrangements for onshore connections.

Doubts about financing methods for offshore power lines, which are expected to cost billions of pounds, has hampered the growth of offshore wind, analysts say.

"This is an important step for Britain's offshore wind energy industry as the measures I am announcing will increase its viability by spreading grid connection costs over a number of years," said Wicks in a statement.

The government wants wind projects, especially off the coast of Scotland, to boost the use of green energy and help tackle climate change.

Earlier on Thursday the government said emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, rose last year, the third annual increase in a row.

"The industry is delighted that the Government has finally settled the regulatory framework for offshore transmission," said Richard Ford, Head of Grid and Technical Affairs at the British Wind Energy Association.

(c) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

This article: http://news.scotsman.com/latest_uk.cfm?id=491722006

Ontario's Commercial-scale Wind Project Well Under Way

2006-03-31T16:38:00.000-08:00

Ontario's Commercial-scale Wind Project Well Under Way
March 31, 2006

More than 25 Ontario area companies participated in the completion of the Melancthon I Wind Plant, which is online one month ahead of schedule.

Shelburne, Ontario [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Ontario is increasing its use of clean, renewable energy with the startup on March 4, 2006, of the 67.5 MW Melancthon I Wind Farm. The $126 million project is one of the first in a number of new wind farms in Ontario that will supply clean renewable energy to the electricity grid.

"It takes teamwork and combined passion, commitment, resources, and above all, perseverance from an extended team of stakeholders to move low-impact renewable energy projects forward from concept to completion."

-- John Keating, Canadian Hydro Developers Inc., CEO, in a statement on the website dated March 21, 2006. "Two years ago, Ontario only had 15 megawatts of wind power capacity. The McGuinty government has set the wheels in motion to bring online over 1300 megawatts [MW] of wind power capacity by the end of 2007, an 80-fold increase," said Energy Minister Donna Cansfield. "The government is continuing to deliver on its promise to support renewable energy as part of its overall plan to build a sustainable energy future for Ontario."

This first phase of the Melancthon I Wind Farm, located in Melancthon Township near Shelburne, is expected to provide enough power for 25,000 homes annually. Phase II of the project will provide an additional 132 MW of power, or enough to power 40,000 homes.

The startup of the Melancthon wind farm is one of several wind energy milestones occurring across the province. EPCOR's Kingsbridge I is a 39.6 MW Wind Power Project near Goderich that has 21 of 22 turbines in place, six of which are online and producing power. In addition, the Clean Power Fund's 99 MW Erie Shores Wind Farm is nearly half completed on the north shore of Lake Erie where 27 of the project's 66 turbines have been erected.

These three wind farms are some of the 18 new, renewable energy projects the province has supported to date. Combined, these will help Ontario reach its goal of generating five percent of its electricity capacity through renewable generation by 2007 and ten percent by 2010.

"We have achieved commercial operation ahead of schedule," said John Keating, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Hydro Developers Inc., about Melancthon I. In his March 21, 2006 statement on the website, Keating wrote, "It takes teamwork and combined passion, commitment, resources, and above all, perseverance from an extended team of stakeholders to move low-impact renewable energy projects forward from concept to completion. These "team players" include Canadian Hydro employees and directors, landowners, the surrounding community, consulting engineers, local contractors, equipment suppliers, as well as ongoing support from the federal, provincial and municipal governments."

The value of the area contracts from more than 25 area companies that were employed getting Melancthon I under way, and referred to as "notable milestones" by Keating, exceeded $15 million. He added that the annual average long-term generation is expected to be approximately 195 gigawatt hour (GWh).

"With the Melancthon I Wind Plant now in operation we are continuing to advance the planning and permitting aspects of the Melancthon II Wind Project," Keating concluded.

Wind Energy Demand Booming

2006-03-28T04:43:00.000-08:00

Wind Energy Demand Booming
Cost Dropping Below Conventional Sources Marks Key Milestone in U.S. Shift to Renewable Energy
by Lester R. Brown

March 27, 2006

When Austin Energy, the publicly owned utility in Austin, Texas, launched its GreenChoice program in 2000, customers opting for green electricity paid a premium. During the fall of 2005, climbing natural gas prices pulled conventional electricity costs above those of wind-generated electricity, the source of most green power. This crossing of the cost lines in Austin and several other communities is a milestone in the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy.

"A decade from now, there may be thousands of ranchers who will be earning more selling electricity than they do selling cattle."

- Lester R. Brown Austin Energy buys wind-generated electricity under 10-year, fixed-price contracts and passes this stable price on to its GreenChoice subscribers. This fixed-price energy product is quite attractive to Austin's 388 corporate GreenChoice customers, including Advanced Micro Devices, Dell, IBM, Samsung, and 3M. Advanced Micro Devices expects to save $4 million over the next decade through this arrangement. School districts are also signing up. Round Rock School District, for example, projects 10-year savings to local taxpayers at $2 million.

Facing a Texas-style stampede of consumers wanting to sign up for the current remaining supply of green electricity, Austin Energy has resorted to a GreenChoice raffle that will be held on March 23. All its customers-both residential and business-were invited to participate in the drawing.

A similar situation has unfolded in Colorado with Xcel Energy, which is the state's largest electricity supplier. Xcel's 33,000 Windsource customers, who until late 2005 were paying $6 more each month for their electricity, are now paying slightly less than those using conventional electricity, which comes mostly from natural gas and coal. To meet fast-growing demand, Xcel is currently soliciting proposals from wind developers for up to 775 megawatts of new wind power generation, enough to supply 232,000 Colorado homes with electricity.

Austin Energy and Xcel Energy are among the first utilities to pass on the falling cost of wind energy to their customers. In the short run, the price advantage of wind over conventional electricity may disappear as the surging demand for wind electricity from climate-conscious customers outruns the supply, driving up the price, and as natural gas prices fall from their late 2005 highs. Over the longer term, however, as reserves of natural gas are depleted, its price is projected to rise, giving a strong advantage to wind.

Interest in wind energy is rising as production costs fall. Although media attention focuses on communities with a not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) response to wind turbines, such as the large, off-shore wind farm planned off Cape Cod, in most of the country wind farms are enthusiastically welcomed. Here, it's the PIIMBY syndrome-put-it-in-my-backyard.

When Xcel announced it would develop several hundred megawatts of additional wind-generating capacity, it got the attention of ranching communities throughout wind-rich eastern Colorado. In tiny ranch-country towns like Grover, near the Wyoming border, ranchers welcomed a proposed 300-megawatt wind farm that would span some 30 ranches.

With a large, advanced-design wind turbine generating easily $100,000 worth of electricity per year, even a 3-percent royalty would earn ranchers $3,000 a year from leasing a quarter-acre of ranchland. And they can still run cattle on the land. If the proposed project is approved as expected, these 30 or so ranchers will have an average of seven turbines each, yielding roughly $21,000 a year in additional income. A decade from now, there may be thousands of ranchers who will be earning more selling electricity than they do selling cattle.

In upstate New York, dairy farmers in Lewis County near Lake Ontario warmly embraced the 195-turbine Maple Ridge Wind Farm, and the $5,000 to $10,000-annual royalty offered for each of the turbines on their land. Rural communities welcome wind farms because they provide income to farmers and ranchers, skilled jobs, cheap electricity, and additional tax revenue to upgrade schools and maintain roads.

The growing profitability of wind energy is attracting big-time players. Four years ago, General Electric purchased Enron Wind, one of Enron's few profitable segments, parlaying its advanced wind turbine design into a leading position in the world wind turbine market.

In mid-2005, Goldman Sachs purchased Zilkha Renewable Energy, a small wind farm development company. Now called Horizon Wind Energy, this wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs has under construction or in the planning stages 4,000 megawatts of wind-generated electricity, enough to supply electricity to 1.2 million homes.

AES, a leading international player in electricity generation, has used its purchase of SeaWest, another wind developer, to establish a strong position in the U.S. wind sector. It now has under development 1,800 megawatts of wind-generating capacity. Shell, one of the leading bidders for offshore wind rights in the United Kingdom, owns 315 megawatts of wind-generating capacity in the United States and is planning more. And BP is mapping out areas in the United States where it could build some 2,000 megawatts of wind-generating capacity.

Overall, U.S. wind-generating capacity expanded by 36 percent in 2005, reaching 9,149 megawatts. This year it could expand by 50 percent. At the end of 2005, there were commercial wind farms in 30 states.

Wind power generation would grow even faster if it were not constrained by the availability of turbines. General Electric, now supplying 60 percent of the U.S. wind turbine market, is sold out through 2007. Clipper Windpower, a startup turbine manufacturer, is planning to produce 20 of its 2.5-megawatt Liberty turbines per month by mid 2006 and a total of 250 turbines in 2007. Its production is also committed well into the future.

After years of industry uncertainty, when Congress allowed the wind production tax credit (PTC) to lapse several times, the 2005 PTC extension through 2007 has given investors renewed confidence in the future of wind power. The extension of the PTC, which is designed to offset subsidies to fossil fuels and nuclear power, is leading to record growth in the number of new wind farms planned.

Wind energy is emerging as a centerpiece of the new energy economy, because it is abundant, inexpensive, inexhaustible, widely distributed, clean, and climate-benign. Three of the 50 states-North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas-have enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy national electricity needs. The cost of wind-generated electricity has fallen from 38? per kilowatt-hour in the early 1980s to 4? to 6? today, offering an almost endless supply of cheap energy.

Beyond that, these wells will never go dry. No one can cut off the supply or raise the fuel cost. And wind can supply our energy needs without disrupting the earth's climate.

About the author...

Lester R. Brown, founder and President of Earth Policy Institute, has been described by the Washington Post as "one of the world's most influential thinkers" and as "the guru of the global environmental movement" by The Telegraph of Calcutta. The author of numerous books, including Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble where he develops a vision for an environmentally sustainable economy, chapters, articles, etc., he helped pioneer the concept of environmentally sustainable development. His principal research areas include food, population, water, climate change, and renewable energy. The recipient of scores of awards and honorary degrees, he is widely sought as a speaker. In 1974, he founded Worldwatch Institute, of which he was President for its first 26 years. As President, he launched the World Watch Papers, the Worldwatch/Norton books, the annual State of the World report, the bimonthly magazine World Watch, the annual Vital Signs, and the Institute's News Briefs.

The information and views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyAccess.com or the companies that advertise on its Web site and other publications.

Record Year for Global Wind Energy

2006-03-18T06:39:00.000-08:00

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Record Year for Global Wind Energy: "Record Year for Global Wind Energy
Global Wind Power Market Increased by 43 Percent in 2005
February 27, 2006

Brussels, Belgium [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] The global wind energy sector experienced another record year in 2005. According to the figures released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) for 2005, the installation of 11,769 megawatts (MW), which represents a 43.4% increase in annual additions to the global market, was up from 8,207 MW in the previous year. The total value of new generating equipment installed was more than Euro 12 billion, or US$14 billion.

"Wind energy offers more than just power: it has the potential to support economic development, improve the security of energy supply, mitigate hydrocarbon price volatility, create jobs and contribute to substantial CO2 reductions. Without political support, however, wind energy remains at a competitive disadvantage due to distortions in the world's electricity markets created by decades of massive financial, political and structural support to conventional technologies."

-- Arthouros Zervos, Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Chairman The total installed wind power capacity now stands at 59,322 MW worldwide, an increase of 25% compared to 2004.

"The overall picture confirms that the right political framework is crucial to sustain the growth of wind power around the world and to open new markets. Some 48 governments have already introduced laws and regulations to support the development of renewable energies, but this effort needs to be increased if the benefits of wind energy are to be reaped around the world," said Arthouros Zervos, Chairman of GWEC.

The countries with the highest total installed capacity are Germany (18,428 MW), Spain (10,027 MW), the U.S.A. (9,149 MW), India (4,430 MW) and Denmark (3,122). India has thereby overtaken Denmark as the fourth largest wind market in the world. A number of other countries, including Italy, the UK, the Netherlands, China, Japan and Portugal have reached the 1,000 MW mark of installed capacity.

In terms of new installed capacity in 2005, the U.S. was clearly leading with 2,431 MW, followed by Germany (1,808 MW), Spain (1,764 MW), India (1,430 MW), Portugal (500 MW) and China (498 MW). This development shows that new players such as Portugal and China are gaining ground.

Europe is still leading the market with more than 40,500 MW of installed capacity at the end of 2005, representing 69% of the global total. In 2005, the European wind capacity grew by 18%, providing nearly 3% of the EU's electricity consumption in an average wind year.

"The European market has already reached the 2010 target set by the European Commission of 40,000 MW -- five years ahead of time," said Christian Kjaer, the European Wind Energy Association's (EWEA) Policy Director. "Moreover, growth is now happening in a greater number of countries, including new markets such as Portugal and France. By 2010, wind energy alone will save enough greenhouse gas emissions to meet one third of the European Union's Kyoto obligation."

Despite the continuing growth in Europe, the general trend shows that the sector is gradually becoming less reliant on a few key markets, and other regions are starting to catch up with Europe. The growth in the European market in 2005 only accounted for about half of the total new capacity, down from nearly three-quarters in 2004.

Nearly a quarter of new capacity was installed in North America, where the total capacity increased by 37% in 2005, gaining momentum in both the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. wind energy industry broke earlier annual records of installed capacity by installing nearly 2,500 MW, which makes it the country with the most new wind power.

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), this is largely due to the current three-year window of stability in the federal incentive for wind energy, the production tax credit (PCT). "Thanks to the Congress's extending the wind energy production credit before it expired for the first time in the credit's history, the wind industry is looking forward to several record-breaking years in a row," said AWEA's Executive Director Randall Swisher. Previous years had experienced a constant up and down of the market, depending on whether the PTC had been renewed in time to create investor confidence.

The Canadian wind capacity increased by a staggering 53%. "Canada's wind energy industry is growing by leaps and bounds -- and that's great news for Canadians who, research shows, are strongly in favor of wind energy," said Robert Hornung, President of the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA). "2005 will be remembered as the year Canada first started to seriously exploit its massive wind energy potential."

Asia has also experienced strong growth of almost 50% of installed capacity, bringing the continent up to a total exceeding 7,135 MW. In 2005, the continent accounted for 20% of new installations. The strongest market here remains in India with more than 1,430 MW of new installed capacity, which takes its total figure up to 4,430 MW.

The Chinese market has been boosted in anticipation of the country's new Renewable Energy Law, which entered into force on 1 January 2006. As a result, nearly 500 MW of new capacity was installed in 2005, more than double the 2004 figure. This brings China up to 1,260 MW of capacity, thereby passing the 1,000 MW mark, which is often deemed critical for sustained market growth.

"Thanks to the Renewable Energy law, the Chinese market has grown substantially in 2005. According to the list of approved projects and those under construction, 2,000 MW of wind capacity could be installed by the end of 2006. The goal for wind power in China by the end of 2010 is 5,000 MW," said Li Junfeng of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association (CREIA).

The Australian market nearly doubled in 2005 with 328 MW of new installed capacity, bringing the total up to 708 MW. "The 2007 implementation of a state-based market mechanism and a commitment by state governments to establish an emissions trading scheme will provide financial incentives to continue this growth," said Dominique Lafontaine, CEO of AusWind.

The relatively young African market saw a steady continuation of its growth, with an installation figure double that of 2004. The main countries experiencing growth are Egypt (230 MW, up from 145 MW) and Morocco (64 MW, up from 54 MW).

"Wind energy offers more than just power: it has the potential to support economic development, improve the security of energy supply, mitigate hydrocarbon price volatility, create jobs and contribute to substantial CO2 reductions," said Zervos, Chairman of GWEC. "Without political support, however, wind energy remains at a competitive disadvantage due to distortions in the world's electricity markets created by decades of massive financial, political and structural support to conventional technologies."

Global wind energy capacity seen tripling by 2014

2006-03-18T06:24:00.000-08:00

Technology News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "Global wind energy capacity seen tripling by 2014
Tue Mar 7, 2006 3:09 PM GMT

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The global wind energy industry is expected to enjoy continued strong growth in coming years with total installed capacity seen more than tripling from current levels by 2014, an industry survey showed on Tuesday.

Over the next eight years, international installed capacity is expected to increase to about 210,000 megawatts from today's installed total of about 59,000 megawatts, a study by the German Wind Energy Institute (DEWI) showed.

The study, conducted on behalf of Hamburg Messe in the run-up to an industry fair in May, identified Germany, France, Spain and the United States as key future markets.

"The international wind energy market, which showed growth rates in 2005 of 16 percent in Europe, and as much as 73 percent outside of Europe, will continue to boom," the report said.

In the world's largest wind power market, Germany, the onshore market is expected to continue to grow, while the offshore market is seen subject to delays.

Total installed power by 2010 in Germany will be about 23,700 megawatts onshore and 1,300 megawatts offshore against current capacity of 18,428 megawatts, all on land, according to the survey.

One megawatt of wind power is enough to provide electricity for several hundred households.

Denmark's Vestas (VWS.CO: Quote, Profile, Research) is the market leader in the fast-growing industry for wind energy, and has been at the center of takeover speculation for several years.

Industrial conglomerate Siemens (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) and GE Wind, a subsidiary of General Electric (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) have been expanding their presence in the sector. Other players include Spain's Gamesa (GAM.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) and Germany's Enercon.

Although still generally considered higher than the cost of fuel-generated electric power, the cost of wind power continues to drop as larger multi-megawatt turbines are developed and improved.

Progressive Investor Releases Report, 'Investing in Wind Energy'

2006-03-18T06:18:00.000-08:00

Progressive Investor Releases Report, 'Investing in Wind Energy': "03/13/2006: Press Release from Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia
Progressive Investor Releases Report, 'Investing in Wind Energy'

(CSRwire) New York - Progressive Investor announces the release of its Special Report, "Investing in Wind Energy."

For over a decade, wind has been the world's fastest growing energy source on a percentage basis. The industry has been growing at 28% a year for the past five years, and if growth trends continue at this pace as is expected, wind capacity will double about every three or four years.

"In the three years since we produced our first report, Investing in Wind, we've seen the complexion of the industry change from a blossoming, mostly regional industry based in Europe, to a worldwide industry that is becoming increasingly corporate, and experiencing growing pains in the process," notes Rona Fried, Editor.

Whereas the industry used to be centered in Europe, and mostly in Germany, now 50 countries are actively installing turbines, employing 100,000 people. Wind turbine manfacturers have become truly global companies, operating worldwide.

The drivers for growth are government support, the advent of renewable energy certificates (RECs) and most notably, the influx of deep pocket, mainstream financial investors and wind park developers, from Goldman Sachs to Babcock & Brown, which are taking the industry to a completely new level.

Renewable energy project finance is rising dramatically, from US$10.8 billion in 2004 to $18.2 billion last year. The preponderance of deals are in wind (72%), with the U.S. leading the world with $3.9 billion invested in 2005.

With the heavy hitters moving in and buying up properties, wind park ownership is rapidly consolidating. A third of the world's wind capacity is now under the aegis of the top 20 wind farm owners.

Spanish utility Iberdrola and U.S.-based FPL Energy ended 2005 tied as the world leaders in wind farm ownership with 3400 MW in service, followed by Spanish Acciona Energia.

Even though the wind industry is growing significantly, our research shows it's not as straight forward an investment as it may seem from the surface. Is the wind industry a good place to park your money? And if so, do you invest in the turbine manufacturers or the wind farm developers? Which ones?

"Wind is more mature than other renewable energy sectors - it has a longer history and track record. Publicly traded wind companies have been growing very quickly and are feeling the growing pains now," says Paul Klegg, an equity analyst with Natexis Bleichroeder.

Commenting on the turbine shortage, currently a major problem for the industry, Mark Cox, Managing Director of New Energy Fund, says, "Wind has accelerated faster than the wildest dreams of the turbine makers. Because it requires such a huge capital investment, management hasn't added enough capacity in advance and now has to catch up."

The world wind turbine market is dominated by 10 major companies which control almost 100% of the market: Vestas (34%), Gamesa (18%), Enercon (15%), GE Wind (11%), Siemens (6%), Suzlon (4%), REpower (3%), Mitsubishi (2%), Ecotècnia (2%) and Nordex (2%).

Our analysts continue to believe the two largest wind turbine companies, Vestas (VWS.CO) and Gamesa (GAM.MC) remain good long term investments, along with the smaller companies that have room to grow: REpower (RPW.BE), Nordex (NDX.DE), and Clipper (CWP.L). On the wind farm developer side, they like such companies as Acciona (ANA.MC), Novera (NVE.L) and Boralex (BLX-A.TO).

Says David Shoenwald, President, New Alternatives Fund, "The companies I like best are independent utilities; they develop and own the wind farms and then, rather than selling them, they market the electricity. Canadian Hydro Developers (KHD.TO) is an example."

What does the future hold for wind? Offshore wind will be huge, but there will also be a place for small turbines. "I think we'll see a breakthough in the ability to store wind energy for later use over the next decade." predicts Gerard Reid, Portfolio Manager, Hornet RE Fund. "My vision is that everyone will have a small turbine on the roof of their house the way we used to have TV antennas."

This report is a succinct overview of the industry, the investing landscape, and the main players.

The sections are:

The State of the Wind Industry

Around the World with Wind Energy

Meet the Wind Turbine Leaders

Getting to Know the Wind Farm Developers

Wind Industry Growth Charts & Graphs

Future Trends for Wind Energy

Analyst Conversation: The Experts' View on Wind Investments

The contributing analysts are:

Paul Klegg, Equity Analyst, Natexis Bleichroeder
Mark Cox, Managing Director, New Energy Fund LP
David Shoenwald, President, New Alternatives Fund
Gerard Reid, Portfolio Manager, Hornet RE Fund

Progressive Investor is a monthly newsletter that guides investors and advisors toward sustainable investments. It covers all the renewable energy sectors, healthy lifestyle, green building, sustainable forest investing and much more. http://www.sustainablebusin ess.com/progressiveinvestor/index.cfm

Energy - Wind energy grows through on site turbines

2006-03-18T06:12:00.000-08:00

United Press International - Energy - Wind energy grows through on site turbines: "Energy
Wind energy grows through on site turbines
By MEREDITH MACKENZIE
UPI Correspondent

BOSTON, March 13 (UPI) -- When it comes to renewable energy diversification, smaller may be better. Wind power is making gains to diversify energy sources through small projects that are being done on-site facilities.

"We are the only ones putting wind turbines at facilities," said Henry duPont of Lorax Energy Systems LLC at last week's Northeast Sustainable Energy Association annual conference. "We put them up at water treatment plants, schools, prisons, and industrial buildings that use the energy on site."

What duPont's company does is place wind turbines behind the meter so the energy generated by the turbine displaces what is coming from the grid.

"Then you're not buying that energy at the meter, and you are saving the cost at the retail value," he said.

Large wind farms generate energy that is sold back to the system at a wholesale value, up to 15 cents less than retail. During windy periods and off-shift times at commercial facilities, the energy that is generated can be sold back to the utility. Lorax sells wind turbines rated from 100kW up to 1300kW.

Because of the inconsistent nature of wind power and the lack of control over the output, wind generators like this can't be used as a source of back-up power. But duPont says wind energy when used in small on-site projects is six to eight times more economic than solar power.

"It costs $1 million in wind investments to generate 2 million kW hours per year," he said. "But for the exact same amount of solar energy costs $2 million. If you want the most bang for your buck, invest in wind."

Another advantage duPont sees in small-scale wind turbine operations is public relations value.

"It's 20 stories high and it's screaming 'We generate green energy,'" he said.

He said one of his clients, a plastic parts manufacturer, actually saw a small increase in sales after putting up its turbine.

One of duPont's most successful clients in terms of positive public relations is the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 and their business agent, Martin E. Aikens. The $540,000 wind turbine constructed by the IBEW on its property served as a training tool to educate members in how to do the electrical work in renewable technology. The union chapter paid for half the cost of the turbine and received a grant for the rest.

"The thing will pay itself off in six years," said Aikens. "Everyone wants to know what's the payback, but if we can do it, anyone can do it."

The IBEW training facility in Dorchester, Mass., is now run on almost 30 percent wind energy. But the training experience is another real reason the union decided to take on the challenge of getting a wind turbine.

"The demand is starting," Aikens said. "But first you need the training."

The IBEW project is part of what Jonathan S. Edwards of SmartPower calls "iconic leadership."

"On-site generation is one of the best icons, you can find to tell the public it's real, it's here, it's working," he said.

Yet challenges remain. The nature of government incentives and subsidies is inconsistent.

"Federal production tax credits work on-again, off-again policy," said duPont. "It's not easy to operate in an environment like that."

For Aikens and the brotherhood of 103, it is the local bureaucracy that plagues them. The union wants to continue to train and to incorporate wind power into other facilities, but Aikens said permits for such projects are hard to obtain.

"Permits are tough; you have to get everyone to buy into it."

Aikens himself is sold.

"The price of oil isn't going down," he said. "You want to be energy independent? Let us build a couple more of these things."

Henry duPont believes though the wind industry is headed toward bigger turbines and large wind farms he is confident that wind power, weather farmed or generated on site is the future of renewable energy. He lowers his voice to divulge the best part of wind energy.

"This is just between us," he whispers. "But the wind even blows at night."

Contract for largest windmill powers wind energy

2006-03-18T06:06:00.000-08:00

Contract for largest windmill powers wind energy

www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-14 12:43:36

BEIJING, March 14 -- Shanghai Electric Power Generation Group has been awarded a clean energy contract by German-based Aerodyn Energiesysteme GmbH to jointly develop the largest windmill in China, in a move to boost the use of wind energy to try and resolve the country's soaring power demand.

The installed electric generation capacity of the windmill could reach 2,000 kilowatts while the length of a single blade is longer than 40 meters and the diameter of the wheel is approximately 80 meters, SEPGG said.

The first wind power generating unit with more than 70 percent of home-made parts will debut in January 2008. Its annual capacity is expected to be 200,000 to 300,000 kilowatts by the end of 2010, according to an official with the wind department at SEPGG.

The contract will also enable SEPGG, the flagship of Shanghai Electric Group Corporation Limited, one of the largest domestic conglomerates making electrical and mechanical equipment, to be the first home-grown firm to participate in the research and development of wind power equipment.

"The Chinese government is encouraging the development of renewable energy, especially wind energy, because China enjoys a large territory to take advantage of wind power," said Li Zhipeng, an energy analyst from Xiangcai Securities Co Ltd.

"Several projects have been approved since last year, which create a growing demand for wind energy generating equipment."

The company also accelerated its development in the wind power sector from this year as it signed a contract with British-based EU Energy Wind Ltd to introduce the technology of a 1,250-kilowatt windmill in January, which will start production early next year.

"However, as the wind power project needs more investment and a longer construction period, it is not expected to solve the energy shortage in the short term," he added.

Several big wind power plants are under construction mainly in Inner Mongolia, Yancheng City in Jiangsu Province, Qingdao in Shandong Province, and Gansu Province in northern China.

Although coal, hydropower and nuclear power are the three major energy sources used in China, accounting for more than 80 percent, wind energy is set to become China's third major power supply by 2020, with a likely installed capacity of 40 million kilowatts, according to China Renewable Energy Industries Association, Greenpeace and the European Wind Energy Association.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)

Indian firm taps China's appetite for green energy

2006-03-18T06:01:00.000-08:00

Indian firm taps China's appetite for green energy

Pallavi Aiyar

Suzlon holds ground-breaking ceremony for its factory in Chinese port city Tianjin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The factory is scheduled to begin operations in August
Tianjin facility to include a learning and development centre
The company has already two contracts in China
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BEIJING: While January's agreements on Sino-Indian cooperation in hydrocarbons have been grabbing the headlines of world-media, real collaboration has begun in another less high profile, but potentially significant area: that of renewable energy.

The Pune-based wind turbine manufacturer, Suzlon Energy, held a ground-breaking ceremony on Wednesday for its factory in the eastern Chinese port city of Tianjin. The $60 million investment that Suzlon is making in its China factory is the first by an Indian company in the Chinese energy sector and one of the largest by any Indian firms in China.

The demands of China's burgeoning economy have led to a gargantuan appetite for energy. The mainland recently overtook Japan to become the world's second-largest consumer of energy, after the United States. Coal, which, as in India, provides around 70 per cent of China's energy, needs to be phased out if the country is to meet its commitments to the Kyoto Climate Control Protocol.

Faced with a combination of soaring energy needs and endemic air pollution, China has made it a priority to aggressively develop renewable energy technologies. Since January a new law on renewable resources has come into effect aimed at ensuring that by 2020, 10-12 per cent of the country's total energy mix will come from renewable resources.

The goal is to have 130 GW of installed renewable capacity within the next 15 years. At present, China's renewable energy consumption accounts for only three per cent of the total.

The new law obliges grids to purchase the more expensive renewable energy at prices fixed by the government.

The extra costs will be borne by consumers as a result of slightly higher prices for power. In meeting its renewable energy goals the Chinese government is encouraging foreign investments and collaboration, a chance that India's Suzlon has pounced on.

Suzlon is not only India's leading manufacturer of wind turbines, it is the fifth largest such company in the world. "Given China's huge potential in wind and encouraged by the provisions of the new renewable energy law, we decided to enter this market,'' said Paulo Fernando Soares, Chief Representative Officer for Suzlon in China.

China's current installed wind energy capacity stands at some 1,260 MW, but according to government targets this must be scaled up to 5,000 MW by 2010 and 30,000 MW by 2020.

China's potential for on-shore wind energy is, in fact. a weighty 250 GW, compared to India's 45,000 MW. However, India already has an installed capacity of 4,500 MW.

The majority of renewable energy programmes in China, including wind, are now being set up in collaboration with European firms. For India, which started developing its wind energy market much earlier, this is a window of opportunity.

Foreign companies investing in renewables in the mainland are eligible for tax breaks and other benefits. However, there is a 70 per cent localisation clause.

Hence, Suzlon's decision to set up a manufacturing facility in China.

The factory, scheduled to begin operations in August, will manufacture rotor blades, generators and control panels and will have an annual capacity of 600 MW for all components.

Suzlon has already two contracts in China for 50 MW of equipment each, both to be installed in 2006, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shandong province.

According to Mr. Soares, Suzlon's plans for the Tianjin facility include a learning and development centre that will "facilitate the transfer of the company's experience and knowledge — and help in developing skilled and educated manpower in China."

© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu

SUZLON Wind Energy in Agreement to Acquire Belgium's Hansen Transmissions

2006-03-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

SUZLON Wind Energy in Agreement to Acquire Belgium's Hansen Transmissions
Press Release from Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation

March 17, 2006

The Hansen W4 series consists of planetary gear units for wind turbines in a power range that varies from 500 kW up to 5 MW.

Pune, India / Munich, Germany Suzlon Wind Energy signed a definitive agreement for the strategic acquisition of Hansen Transmissions. Hansen Transmissions is a major wind turbine gearbox manufacturer with state of the art manufacturing facilities in Edegem and Lommel in Belgium. Suzlon gains technological leadership from the integration of research and development, design and production to evolve the next generation of more reliable wind turbines.
In a statement made on this occasion, Mr Tulsi R Tanti, Chairman & Managing Director, Suzlon Energy, said, "The acquisition of Hansen gives us technological leadership and will make Suzlon a leading integrated wind turbine manufacturer in
the world. Although the company will be run as an independent business unit, the acquisition of Hansen will allow us to integrate gearbox technology into the total turbine solution enabling a more reliable and competitive product in the marketplace. We find Hansen's technology, products and production facilities to be of the highest quality. The company has an excellent management team and over a period of time we will work with them in developing supply chain synergies, expanding capacity in Belgium and development of additional capacity in new emerging markets in Asia. We would like to welcome the Hansen team across the World into Suzlon. Hansen's strong presence in the industrial gearbox market is also an important dimension of the business and we see a good opportunity to strengthen it further." Suzlon Energy Limited ("Suzlon") announced today that its subsidiary, AE - Rotor Holding BV based in Netherlands, has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Hansen Transmissions International NV ("Hansen"), based in Belgium, one of the largest wind energy and industrial gearbox manufacturers in the world, for EUR 465 million (USD 565 million) enterprise value, in an all cash transaction.

The transaction is subject to merger control approval and on completion will result in Suzlon acquiring shares of "Eve Holding", the holding company of Hansen from private equity firms Allianz Capital Partners GMBH and its affiliates and funds advised by Apax Partners Worldwide LLP.

Suzlon intends to fund the transaction using a combination of Suzlon's internal cash reserves and credit facilities. Acquisition financing for this transaction is being underwritten and syndicated by Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank AG and ICICI Bank. YES Bank is the sole financial advisor with Linklaters Oppenhoff & Radler, Cologne and Khaintan & Co. as legal counsel to Suzlon for this transaction. UBS Investment Bank is acting as financial advisor and Hengeler Mueller as the legal counsel to the sellers.

In a statement made on this occasion, Mr Tulsi R Tanti, Chairman & Managing Director, Suzlon Energy, said, "The acquisition of Hansen gives us technological leadership and will make Suzlon a leading integrated wind turbine manufacturer in
the world. Although the company will be run as an independent business unit, the acquisition of Hansen will allow us to integrate gearbox technology into the total turbine solution enabling a more reliable and competitive product in the marketplace. We find Hansen's technology, products and production facilities to be of the highest quality. The company has an excellent management team and over a period of time we will work with them in developing supply chain synergies, expanding capacity in Belgium and development of additional capacity in new emerging markets in Asia. We would like to welcome the Hansen team across the World into Suzlon. Hansen's strong presence in the industrial gearbox market is also an important dimension of the business and we see a good opportunity to strengthen it further."

Hansen Transmissions International NV ("Hansen"), headquartered in Belgium is a leading gearbox and drive train manufacturer with strong R&D capabilities and modern manufacturing facilities. Hansen has a focus on the fast growing wind turbine generation sector and is also active in other industrial segments of the gearbox market. The Company was founded in 1923 and its primary manufacturing facilities are in Belgium, with sales, assembly and service centres in the UK, US, South Africa and Australia. It currently employs 1200 engineering and management professionals spread across these establishments. Hansen's current manufacturing capabilities include 3,600 MW of wind turbine gearboxes and 3,000 units of industrial gearboxes per year.

Today, Hansen designs and manufactures its wind turbine gearboxes in association with the leading global wind turbine manufacturers and its product specifications range from outputs of 1.5MW - 3 MW, torques of 700-3500 kNm and weights of 14,000-22,000 kg. It has a proven track record in developing new products with the research and engineering capability needed for the new generation of larger wind turbines. Hansen's product range in the industrial gearbox segment consists of core standardized products covering various applications in the torque range of 6-800kNm. The Company provides customized products and drive package solutions to suit the customer's requirements. For the year ending March 2005, Hansen had total sales of Euro 213 million.

Commenting on the transaction, Mr Matts Lundgren, President and CEO, Hansen said, "The entire management team is very pleased with this opportunity. The deal has the ability to fuel further growth in Belgium and in Asia. At Hansen we will have business as usual, managing ourselves as an independent business unit, and we shall continue to strive to exceed customer expectations. We are appreciative of the trust and confidence shown by Suzlon on the management team's ability to grow the business."

Describing this as a significant milestone, Mr Girish R. Tanti, Director International Business Development and HR, Suzlon Energy, said, "Hansen is an efficiently run business and the quality of team and manpower has been most impressive. Hansen has a healthy order book position for the next two years and we expect the business to be managed in the same manner as the management has very ably done over the last couple of years. We are pleased to have emerged as the successful bidder."

Mr. Aditya Sanghi, Country Head-Investment Banking, YES Bank, said, "With this acquisition Suzlon has truly emerged as a global player with significant market presence, manufacturing base and R&D centres across North America, Europe, India China, South Korea and Australia. With a presence across the entire turbine technology chain, we see Suzlon becoming further cost competitive and providing an efficient and robust wind energy solution to its customers."

The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Further financial terms and conditions of the transaction will not be disclosed.

For further information on Hansen: visit http://www.hansentransmissions.com

About Suzlon Energy Ltd.

Suzlon Energy Limited is a global wind turbine manufacturer with operations in Australia, China, European Union, India, South Korea and the United States. Suzlon operates R&D centres in the Germany, Netherlands and India to leverage the region's leadership in the wind power arena. SEL is the world's 6th largest wind turbine manufacturer (BTM Consult World Market Update 2004) and the dominant player in the wind industry marketplace in India for the past eight years. Suzlon has installed over 1.5 GW of WTG capacity around the world including India and the United States with more coming up in Australia, China, Europe and Korea. Suzlon's International Business Headquarter is located in Denmark where Suzlon has established a wholly owned subsidiary, Suzlon Energy A/s, which in turn has country headquarters in Beijing - China, Chicago - USA and Melbourne - Australia.
Visit us at www.suzlon.com.

About Allianz Capital Partners GmbH:

Allianz Capital Partners GmbH (ACP), founded in 1998, is responsible for direct investments in the area of private equity within the Allianz Group. As an independent financial investor, ACP focuses particularly on providing individual financing solutions for unlisted companies, company shareholders and management teams for purposes of financing growth, acquisition finance and ownership restructuring.

About Apax Partners Worldwide LLP:

Apax Partners is one of the world's leading private equity investment groups. It operates across the United States, Europe and Israel and has more than 30 years of investing experience. Funds under the management or advice of Apax Partners total $20 billion around the world. These Funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. Apax Partners Funds invest in companies across its global sectors of Tech & Telecom, Retail & Consumer, Media, Healthcare and Financial & Business Services.

Disclaimer

This press release includes forward-looking statements and we have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in wind energy sector including those factors which may affect our business and the business of our associate companies, results of operation, financial condition and failure to integrate potential acquisitions, [liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Suzlon has made strategic investments], withdrawal of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Suzlon may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward looking statements, including our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.

Contact Information:

Hansen Transmissions:
Matts Lundgren,
President and CEO
Tel +32 34501256

Apax Partners:
Siobhan Loftus,
Director of Marketing
Tel: +44 20 7872 6495
Email: Siobhan.Loftus@apax.com

Allianz Capital Partners:
Antje Weykopf
Tel: +49 89 3800 17790
Email: Antje.Weykopf@Allianz.com

Suzlon Energy, Investor Relations:
Samir Shah
GM - Corporate Finance
Tel: +91 22 5639 3219

DOE, General Electric To Develop U.S. Offshore Wind Turbine

2006-03-18T05:40:00.000-08:00

DOE, General Electric To Develop U.S. Offshore Wind Turbine
March 17, 2006
Source: Clean Edge News

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has signed a $27 million contract with the General Electric Company (GE) to develop a new offshore wind power system over the next several years.

DOE will share about $8 million of the project’s cost, according to a March 9 DOE press release. The DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado will oversee the effort.

“Wind is one of our most important renewable energy resources and this work will allow us to use our resources more extensively and effectively,” said Douglas Faulkner, acting assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The project’s goal is to design, fabricate and test a multimegawatt- scale wind turbine that could produce clean, renewable electricity at a much-reduced cost. The wind turbine will be located offshore and is expected to produce electricity at a cost of 5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The NREL and GE-developed advanced wind system will include innovative foundations, construction techniques, rotor designs and electrical components designed for use in the ocean’s harsh environment.

There are now no offshore wind farms in the United States, but several projects are in the permitting process.

Preliminary studies indicate that with sufficient research and development support, offshore wind farms could be commercially competitive with existing energy sources and the U.S. offshore wind electric-generating capacity could grow significantly over the next two decades.

Wind Industry Report Shows Strong Growth in US

2006-03-18T05:17:00.000-08:00

Wind Industry Report Shows Strong Growth in US
March 16, 2006
Source: Clean Edge News

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) released its annual industry rankings of wind energy development in the United States.

The rankings, which include the leading states for wind energy development, the suppliers of wind energy turbines, and owners and purchasers of wind energy, provide a useful measure of the size and breadth of the American wind energy industry. The industry easily broke earlier records in 2005, installing over 2,400 megawatts (MW) or over $3 billion worth of new generating equipment in 22 states. The final tally of 2,431 MW boosted the cumulative U.S. installed wind power fleet by over 35%, bringing the industry's total generating capacity to 9,149 MW, enough to serve the equivalent of 2.3 million homes.

As President Bush stated recently on his Advanced Energy Initiative tour, “areas with good wind resources have the potential to supply up to 20 percent of the electricity consumption of the United States.”

The annual industry rankings tell the rest of the story, providing a standard reference point for the burgeoning growth of the wind industry in the U.S. Wind continues to be one of the fastest growing energy sources in the world and in the nation.

“Wind energy’s continuing expansion, as reflected in these rankings, provides fresh evidence that it is capable of contributing to the nation’s electricity supply near the level of conventional power sources,” said AWEA executive director Randall Swisher. “Wind energy is a clean, safe, domestic, abundant, and affordable energy source, and one of the best options we have for new power generation today.”

The rankings (as of December 31, 2005) include the following:

States with most wind energy installed, by capacity (MW):

#1 California - 2,150 MW

#2 Texas - 1,995 MW

#3 Iowa - 836 MW

#4 Minnesota - 744 MW

#5 Oklahoma – 475 MW

#6 New Mexico – 407 MW

#7 Washington – 390 MW

#8 Oregon – 338 MW

#9 Wyoming – 288 MW

#10 Kansas – 264 MW

As of the end of 2005, California was still the state with the most wind power capacity installed, but Texas gained fast last year, and is expected to overtake California in 2006. California, where the U.S. wind industry began, has been the state with the largest wind power capacity since electricity-generating wind turbines were first installed there in 1981.

Two large projects were installed in Oklahoma in 2005 – the 147-MW Weatherford Wind Energy Center and the 151-MW Blue Canyon II project. Wyoming, which was #5 on last year’s ranking, was overtaken not only by Oklahoma, but also New Mexico (which added 140 MW of wind power in 2005), Washington (added 149 MW), and Oregon (75 MW).

Largest wind farms operating in the U.S. (MW):

# 1 Stateline, Oregon/Washington - 300 MW

# 2 King Mountain, Texas - 278 MW

# 3 Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, Texas – 210 MW

# 4 New Mexico Wind Energy Center, New Mexico - 204 MW

# 5 Storm Lake, Iowa - 193 MW

Wind farms have been getting bigger to take advantage of some economies of scale. The Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor County, Tex., joined the ranks of the top five largest single wind farms in 2005. Leading owners of wind energy installations in the U.S. (MW):

#1 FPL Energy – 2,758 MW

#2 PPM Energy – 518 MW

#3 MidAmerican Energy – 360.5 MW

#4 Edison Mission Group – 316 MW

#5 Shell Wind Energy - 315 MW

Wind power could top hydro in China, expert says - Yahoo! News

2006-03-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

Wind power could top hydro in China, expert says - Yahoo! News: "Wind power could top hydro in China, expert says Tue Mar 7, 6:46 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - Wind turbines may one day replace hydropower as China's second-largest source of electricity, if the country continues with a drive to boost renewable generation, a Chinese energy expert said on Tuesday.

China has the potential to install up to 100 gigawatts of wind power, equivalent to nearly one fifth of its total current generating capacity, said Wang Weicheng, an energy professor at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University.
The turbines will likely provide the country with more energy than its nuclear stations in 20 to 30 years, and may become more important than China's large collection of hydropower dams by the middle of the century, he said.
'By 2020, wind power capacity is predicted to reach 30 gigawatts,' Wang told a meeting on the sidelines of China's annual parliament where he was reporting on renewable energy.
'Around the mid-21st century, wind power is very likely to take the place of hydropower as the second-largest source of electric power generation after coal,' he added, but did not say how he reached these forecasts.
In 2005, China got around 15 percent of its electricity from dams including the world's largest hydropower project, the Three Gorges Dam.
But that year it also added 500 megawatts of new wind power capacity, and leading wind turbine manufacturers are keen to build a presence in the market -- although China needs to focus on developing its own technology as well, Wang added.
'We can buy the facilities from those companies, but to develop our own brands...is more important,' he said. "

GE Energy Completes Record Year in Wind Energy Sales

2006-03-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

GE Energy Completes Record Year in Wind Energy Sales
February 28, 2006
Source: Clean Edge News

GE Energy delivered 1,346 wind turbines worldwide during 2005, completing the year with revenue exceeding $2 billion, more than a 200% increase over 2004's total, the company reported this week at the 2006 European Wind Energy Conference & Exhibition.

GE's 2005 wind revenue also was more than 400% higher than in 2002, GE's first year of wind operations, underscoring wind energy's continued growth in global popularity.

"We are seeing an incredible growth in demand for wind turbines as more countries seek to expand their renewable energy production to help reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and improve their energy security," said Robert Gleitz, who was appointed general manager for GE's wind business in the spring of 2005.

Wind energy is a key component of GE's corporate-wide ecomagination initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental needs.

"For example, in 2006 GE is expanding its line of wind turbines by launching its new multi-megawatt turbine platform in Europe, followed by a similar U.S. and Asia commercial roll-out in 2008," Gleitz said.

GE's multi-megawatt units build on the experience learned from the company's global fleet of over 4,000 megawatt-plus wind turbines. Evolving from GE's proven 1.5-megawatt and earlier "2.x"-megawatt series, GE's newest machines introduce a number of industry innovations, including a permanent magnet generator, a modular converter with full power conversion and advanced control technologies.

In the United States, GE delivered 1,005 wind turbines as the industry enjoyed its most productive year. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the U.S. industry broke its annual installed capacity record by adding 2,431 megawatts of turbines. GE's turbines accounted for about 62 percent of the U.S. total.

"The extension of the federal wind-energy production tax credit in 2005 helped trigger the record-breaking year and provided momentum that will carry over through 2007," said Gleitz, noting the company is already accepting orders for 2008.

Canada's Wind Power Industry Shatters Growth Records in 2005

2006-02-19T13:17:00.000-08:00

Canada's Wind Power Industry Shatters Growth Records in 2005
February 15, 2006

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Reflecting the brisk wind power business of its neighbor to the south, Canada's wind energy industry installed 239 MW of new wind energy capacity in 2005, shattering the previous annual installation record of 122 MW established in 2004, according to its main industry association, Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA).

"While the growth we are seeing in Canada is both rapid and significant, we cannot lose sight of the fact that wind energy continues to develop much more quickly in other countries. With Canada's unparalleled wind resource, we can still do more to maximize the environmental, economic and industrial development benefits associated with wind energy for Canada."

-- Robert Hornung, President of CanWEA As a result, Canada's total installed wind energy capacity grew by 54% in 2005 to 683 MW. This means that wind energy now produces enough electricity in Canada to power more than 240,000 homes. 2006 promises even more growth, with a minimum of 500 MW of new energy capacity slated to be installed across the country this year.

"While wind energy's environmental benefits are well known, its economic benefits are becoming more apparent with the rapid growth of the industry in Canada," said Robert Hornung, President of CanWEA. "Projects installed in 2005 represented more than $400 million worth of investment and we also saw investment in five new Canadian manufacturing facilities to produce wind turbine towers, blades and nacelles."

Wind energy projects installed in 2005 in Canada included the Pubnico Point Windfarm in Nova Scotia, the Mont Copper and Mont Miller Windfarms in Quebec, the St. Leon Windfarm in Manitoba and the Centennial Windfarm in Saskatchewan. The year 2006 will see wind energy projects being constructed in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. "With the vast majority of wind energy development taking place in rural areas, wind energy projects are also providing real and ongoing economic benefits to both rural landowners through lease payments and rural municipalities through increased tax revenues," said Hornung.

"2005 will be remembered as the start of Canada's wind energy boom as more than 3,000 MW of wind energy projects are now contracted and slated for construction in Canada over the next few years", says Hornung. "In fact, federal and provincial governments both put in place policies in 2005 that could facilitate the installation of a minimum of 8,000 MW of wind energy in Canada by 2015. This would make wind energy responsible for 16% of all electricity to be produced by new generating facilities to be constructed in Canada over the next decade."

Canada now ranks as the 14th largest producer of wind energy in the world, but it remains far behind global leaders such as Germany (18,100 MW), Spain (9,825 MW), the United States (8,957 MW), and India (4,225 MW), as well as smaller countries such as Denmark (3,129 MW), the Netherlands (1,219 MW), Portugal (1,000 MW), and Austria (716 MW).

"While the growth we are seeing in Canada is both rapid and significant, we cannot lose sight of the fact that wind energy continues to develop much more quickly in other countries," says Hornung. "With Canada's unparalleled wind resource, we can still do more to maximize the environmental, economic and industrial development benefits associated with wind energy for Canada."

Wind developers tout front range potential

2006-02-19T13:11:00.000-08:00

Wind developers tout front range potential

By Acantha staff
The Rocky Mountain Front - home to spectacular wildlife habitat and rugged ranchland - may also be the perfect setting for wind farms of the future, a panel of speakers told the Golden Triangle Pachyderm Club in Choteau recently.

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory ranks Montana as fifth in the nation in wind power potential. The Laboratory's wind power resources map for the state shows a bright band of blue, red, purple and pink along the east slope of the Rockies from the Canadian border south.

The DOE classifies wind power potential for the front range anywhere from "fair to outstanding" with most of the front range in the "good to excellent" range. The eastern two-thirds of Teton County is rated as "good" with the western third as "excellent and outstanding," particularly in the north-western corner of the county.

With this economic development potential in mind, the Pachyderm Club invited as guest speakers David L. Dumon, managing partner of Great Plains Wind & Energy Inc. of Somers; Bob Williams, vice president for regulatory with Montana Alberta Tie Ltd., of Calgary; Edward A. Sundberg, managing partner, GPS Group, L.L.C., of Roswell, Ga.; Mark D. Jacobson, senior development manager for Invenergy, L.L.C., of Pewaukee, Wisc.; and Harold Koegler, managing director for Hyperion Energy L.L.C. of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

According to the DOE, wind energy is the fastest-growing energy generation technology in the nation, expanding by 30 percent to 40 percent annually. The cost of producing electricity from wind power has dropped from 80 cents per kilowatt-hour in 1980 (in current dollars) to 4 to 6 cents now.

The DOE says that wind energy systems are now installed in 27 states. In Montana, as of 2005, there were three wind farms on-line on the Blackfeet Reservation in Glacier County, on the Martinsdale Hutterite Colony and, most recently, at the Invenergy Wind Farm at Judith Gap, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The AWEA also says that wind farms are in the planning stages at Poplar and in the Glasgow area.

Introducing the speakers, Pachyderm Club President Llew Jones of Conrad said the program was intended to provide information on electricity transmission line capability and wind energy potential in northcentral Montana.

Sundberg, giving background on wind energy issues, said, "I think it's safe to say that we're facing, nationally and even globally, a perfect storm of a lot of issues."

Sundberg's company provides "global project solutions, management and capital" and has U.S. offices in Atlanta, Boston and New York City and abroad in Geneva, Switzerland.

Sundberg said the Kyoto Treaty protocols are pressuring countries to reduce carbon emissions and to look at cleaner energy sources. Secondly, he said, the United States is trying for security purposes to diversify its energy portfolio and reduce its reliance on foreign oil. Thirdly, the costs of production and acquisition for both crude oil and natural gas have spiked in recent months.

With that backdrop, Sundberg said, a number of large Wall Street firms have seen the potential for wind energy and are purchasing wind energy developments, and many utilities are looking to develop wind energy resources.

The renewed interest in wind energy comes at a time when the technology used to convert wind energy to electricity - wind turbines - has been greatly improved and is much more efficient, resulting in much lower wind energy production costs, Sundberg said.

"Wind is now becoming extremely competitive," he said. "Montana has a tremendous, tremendous amount of wind. And I'm not referring to the Pachyderms in this room."

Sundberg said GPS Group L.L.C. has invested in wind energy on the Blackfeet Reservation and is still working there.

One issue facing Montana, he said, is the lack of a large enough transmission system to get energy produced here into the national grid and available for sale to consumers.

Williams, however, said his entrepreneur-owned company, wants to provide that critical link. Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. is building a 200-mile transmission line from northeast of Lethbridge, Alta., south to Great Falls.

Utility companies have looked at installing such a line in the past, but the economics have not penciled out, Williams said. His merchant-developer owned company, however, believes that investing in a transmission line that can provide services to yet-to-be-built wind farms will be a profitable venture in the future. This transmission line will encourage large-scale wind developments, Williams said.

The Canadian wind energy atlas supports his contention, he said. "The message that this picture conveys is that this land passes through some of the best wind resource in north America," he said.

He said the transmission line is going through the regulatory permitting process now, and his company plans to have it built by the end of the first quarter of 2007.

Koegler, who has been in the wind energy arena since 1984, said, "The wind in Montana is strong and constant and it's cold. All of that means good power."

"Wind energy is now efficient, it's priced properly and its worthy of taking note of," he said. "It's a non-polluting, renewable resource."

Like Williams, Koegler also said that to take advantage of Montana's wind generating potential, the state will have to have a way to transport the electricity to the consumers and companies that need to purchase it. He said he and other wind developers are working with government officials and programs to foster transmission line production.

Local economies can benefit when commercial wind farms are installed through an infusion of wage and materials dollars into the economy and can see ongoing benefits from property taxes and employment, Koegler said. Building a commercial wind farm capable of generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity with about 500 wind turbines would cost about $1.5 billion, he said. Of that, 20 percent would stay in the local economy in labor, materials and services - a whopping $300 million. "As you can see, not only will you be exporting power and the state will be making money from that through their normal revenue procedures, but you'll also be bringing new jobs and new money," he said.

Jacobson's company, Inven-ergy, has invested in Montana's wind energy, building the Invenergy wind farm at Judith Gap. The facility has 90 1.5-megawatt turbines and produces 135 megawatts of power. Each turbine could provide electricity to 300 to 400 homes. The Judith Gap plant was the largest of three wind farms that Invenergy invested in the west last year. The other two were in Colorado and Idaho.

Jacobson said six to 12 full-time operators and maintenance workers are employed at the Judith Gap farm.

"The market is improving," Jacobson said. Utilities want to buy this power because it provides a nice predictable price, a hedge against volatile natural gas prices, Jacobson said, adding that the federal production tax credit is also encouraging investment in wind energy.

Dumon, who hails from the Conrad area, said his experience has come through developing 15 wind farms in Texas. He and his partners formed their new company in January 2005 and are now looking at developing wind farms in the Northwest.

The topography that Great Plains Wind & Energy Inc. is looking for, west of Interstate 15, is the buttes and tabletop mesas of the Front. "These are ideal places to build wind farms," Dumon said.

He said his company is looking at a 5,000-acre to 8,000-acre wind farm on private property in Pondera and Toole counties and has three other projects in Montana on the drawing board.

Dumon's company plans to take out 20-year leases with the landowners with the option to renew the leases every 10 years twice. He said the impact of the project to the local communities and the state will be significant.

The Montana Wind Working Group, made up of industry, consumer and government representatives promoting wind energy development in the state, has developed an informal guide for landowners considering leasing their property wind developers.

The manual says, "If you're interested in offering your property as a site for a wind farm, you need to think about how you'll make money from the project. If you're serious, after reading this [the guide], hire a professional to help you negotiate with wind developers."

The guide is available on the state Web site at: http://deq.mt.gov/energy/Renewable/MtWindWorkGroup.asp.

30m ScottishPower wind deal

2006-02-19T13:03:00.000-08:00

Fri 17 Feb 2006

£30m ScottishPower wind deal
JOHN BOWKER DEPUTY CITY EDITOR
SCOTTISHPOWER yesterday showed its long-term commitment to renewable energy by agreeing a £30 million, 15-year deal to buy electricity from a wind farm in Huntly.

The utility said it had agreed the deal with the Englefield Renewable Fund which owns the site. The farm is expected to be completed by February 2007.

The news cements the company's position as the UK's biggest provider of wind energy, bringing its total output to 271mW - enough to heat 150,000 homes. The group aims to have 1,000mW in operation by 2010 - when the government hopes to have 10 per cent of all UK energy coming from renewable resources. The group's strategy of investing in wind farms has been endorsed by new chief executive Philip Bowman, who joined the company following the sacking of Ian Russell in January. It emerged this week that Bowman - who last headed Allied Domecq - has been awarded nearly £700,000 worth of shares as an incentive to join the company.

The award is dependent on the meeting of certain performance targets, and will vest in three years. The conditions will be measured in relation to financial performance, customer service and returns for shareholders. Eight other senior employees were helped to top up their shareholdings yesterday, as part of the group's employee share-ownership plan.

The long-term award to Bowman is further evidence that ScottishPower believes it can cling on to its independence in the coming months, following the rejection of a 570p-a-share offer from German group E.ON last November. Many analysts had thought that Bowman had been employed to tout the business to prospective new owners, although he has strongly denied this is the case. E.ON will be free to bid again in May under Takeover Panel rules.

However, news that he is in line for a £700,000 bonus is unlikely to please customers, who were told last week that their gas bills will be hiked by 15 per cent from 1 March - their fifth rise since 2004. The latest rise takes the average gas bill for customers in central Scotland to £692 a year, meaning Bowman could decide to use his bonus to heat 1,000 homes.

Hydropower giant to invest in wind power

2006-02-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

Hydropower giant to invest in wind power: "Hydropower giant to invest in wind power
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-02-18 16:42
China's hydropower giant, China Three Gorges Project Corporation, plans to develop wind power in Yancheng, East China's Jiangsu Province.
The project has been authorized by the National Development and Reform Commission. The corporation set up Yangtze New Energy Development Company to implement the 200,000-kW project. Preparation for the project is expected to be completed within the year.
China boasts rich wind energy, much more than the hydropower, said Li Yong'an, general manager of the cooperation. According to the company's statistics, China has a wind power reserve of 253 million kW onshore and 750 million kW offshore, as compared with a hydropower reserve of only 400 million kW.
The country's installed capacity of windmill generators, however, was estimated at 12 million kW at the end of 2005, leaving a great potential to yet be tapped, Li said.
The corporation thus mapped out a strategic plan to develop clean energy including wind power. By 2020, the corporation is expected to have 85 million kW of installed capacity including 4 million kW of wind power installed capacity, according to the corporation's strategy."

EPA : Global Warming : News and Events : Science and Policy News

2006-01-31T08:35:00.000-08:00

EPA : Global Warming : News and Events : Science and Policy News

see link for extensive global warming policy items & news from the US EPA

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | New Mexico Bill Aims to Export Renewable Energy

2006-01-27T14:33:00.000-08:00

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | New Mexico Bill Aims to Export Renewable Energy: "New Mexico Bill Aims to Export Renewable Energy
January 26, 2006

Conifer, Colorado [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] A bill under consideration in New Mexico could create the essential groundwork for the state to become a large-scale net-exporter of renewable energy produced from the state's abundant natural resources.

"A Renewable Energy Transmission Authority would give New Mexico a tremendous competitive advantage in exporting its huge and inexhaustible wind energy resource to other states throughout the West."

-- Interwest Energy Alliance According to The Interwest Energy Alliance, Senator Jose Campos (D-Santa Rosa) introduced legislation (HB 111) creating a New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority to export some of the state's vast clean energy resources in wind, solar and biomass energy. Senator Michael Sanchez (D-Belen) has introduced a companion bill, SB 317.

Governor Bill Richardson has called for the development of 4,000 to 6,000 MW of wind energy in the state, along with 700 to 1,300 MW of solar and biomass energy. Most of this clean energy would be developed for export, since New Mexico requires only 3,000-4,000 MW of capacity for its own needs. Large capacity electric transmission lines could export the energy to nearby metropolitan areas in other states.

"Senator Campos' bill would help make Governor Richardson's vision a profitable reality for New Mexico," said the Interwest Energy Alliance, which added that the bill "would open the door for unprecedented new local economic development opportunities throughout rural parts of the state."

Warren Byrne of Foresight Wind Energy, LLC, a San Francisco-based wind project developer said there are also a number of other proposals to develop long-haul high-voltage transmission lines to bring wind resources from the interior West to power markets in Arizona and the West Coast.

"New Mexico's wind resource is world-class, but without the transmission to deliver this clean energy to markets, New Mexico could be left out of the booming market for clean energy," Byrne said.

The demand for renewable energy from California alone is growing rapidly, given its aggressive 20-percent renewable energy standard and the California Energy Commission's recent decision to prohibit imports of new coal-fired electricity from other states.

"A Renewable Energy Transmission Authority would give New Mexico a tremendous competitive advantage in exporting its huge and inexhaustible wind energy resource to other states throughout the West," said the Interwest Energy Alliance.

Greenwind Power Raises 11.6 Million Dollars for Alberta Wind Energy Projects

2006-01-27T14:29:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE Greenwind Power Raises 11.6 Million Dollars for Alberta Wind Energy Projects: "Greenwind Power Raises 11.6 Million Dollars for Alberta Wind Energy Projects

VANCOUVER, BC -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/26/2006 -- Greenwind Power Corp and Greenwind Power (Canada) Corp, a wholly owned subsidiary of Greenwind Power Corp USA ("Greenwind" or the "Company") (OTC: GWDP) are pleased to announce they have raised 11.6 million dollars towards securing transmission rights with the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) for power to be generated by three wind farms being developed in South West Alberta.

Greenwind and its partner, Energy Logics of Vancouver are involved in 7 wind energy projects in South West Alberta to provide in excess of 600 megawatts (MW) of potential wind energy production.

"The long term objective is to position the Company as a strong business leader in the renewable energy sector," stated Glenn Collick, president of Greenwind. The Company has secured long-term leases on all projects which are at various development stages from wind monitoring to full approvals from the Electric Utilities Board of Alberta (EUB).

Energy Logics is a Canadian alternative energy financing specialist providing equity and debt solutions for innovative alternative energy project developers.

"Integral to the development of a wind farm is the ability to move the generated power to the markets that require it," says Ron Knoedler, project manager for Greenwind. This past year the AESO committed to spending $80 million on upgrades to the southwest Alberta transmission system in order to satisfy the growing development of wind farms in the region. With the investment of the $11.6 million, Greenwind has reserved transmission capacity for the Yagos Wind Energy Inc. and the Riverside Wind Energy Inc.100 MW wind farms. In addition, Greenwind has attained a small interest in a third wind farm project that has also reserved transmission capacity on the grid.

Glenn Collick, President

This Press Release may contain, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are based on management's expectations and beliefs, and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from the results implied herein.

Distributed by Filing Services Canada and retransmitted by Market Wire

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For information please contact:
Earl Hope
(604) 484-3704
Toll Free: 1-866-789-WIND (9463)
Email Contact
Email Contact
www.greenwindpower.com

PO Box 12, 595 Howe Street
Suite 902 (Vancouver, BC V6C 2T5
Telephone: (604) 484-3701
Fax: (604) 484-3791
(Toll Free: 1-866-789-WIND (9463)
Email: Email Contact
(Website: www.greenwindpower.com)

SOURCE: Greenwind Power Corp. USA

Wind Energy Blows Hard

2006-01-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

CarbonFree News: "Wind Energy Blows Hard

Wind Energy Blows Hard

The U.S. wind energy industry easily broke earlier annual installed capacity records in 2005, installing nearly 2,500 megawatts (MW) or over $3 billion worth of new generating equipment in 22 states, according to the Washington, D.C.-based American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Instead of the slow year that has previously followed boom years for the industry, 2006 is expected to be even bigger, with installations topping 3,000 MW.
The final tally of 2,431 MW boosted the cumulative U.S. installed wind power fleet by over 35%, bringing the industry's total generating capacity to 9,149 MW(1). The previous record capacity figure was set in 2001 when 1,697 MW of new capacity was installed. There are now commercial wind turbine installations in 30 states. The figure was just shy of an expected 2,500 MW because several projects were subject to weather-related delays.

Wind energy facilities now installed in the U.S., AWEA said, will produce as much electricity annually as 2.3 million average American households use(2), and will displace emissions of more than 15 million tons of carbon dioxide (the leading greenhouse gas) annually.

"Thanks to Congress's extending the wind energy production credit before it expired for the first time in the credit's history, the wind industry is looking forward to several record-breaking years in a row," said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. "Companies can now plan for growth, create jobs, and provide more clean power to customers nationwide. We are finally beginning to tap into wind energy's enormous potential."

The growth in wind power construction comes at a time when customers across the country are facing electricity and natural gas rate hikes due to the natural gas supply shortage, with 2005-2006 winter gas prices peaking as high as $15/thousand cubic foot (mcf). Monthly average prices range from $6- 13/mcf, compared to last year's monthly average prices of $5-7/mcf. Wind power, which generates energy without using fuel, provides a hedge against rising energy costs because wind energy production is immune from fuel price spikes.

AWEA estimates that an installed capacity of 9,149 MW of wind power will save over half a billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/day) in 2006(3), alleviating a portion of the supply pressure that is now facing the natural gas industry and is driving prices upward. The U.S. currently burns about 13 Bcf/day for electricity generation, which means during 2006, wind power will be reducing natural gas use for power generation by approximately 5%.

Other highlights include:

- California is still the state with the most wind power installed, with 2,150 MW, but Texas is gaining fast with 1,995 MW installed and more proposed for 2006. Iowa remains in third place with 836 MW installed. Minnesota is in fourth with 744 MW, and Oklahoma moves into fifth place with 475 MW.

- GE Energy turbines accounted for nearly 60% of the new capacity in 2005. Vestas turbines accounted for nearly 30%. Mitsubishi was the third largest wind turbine supplier to the U.S. market, supplying about 8% of the new capacity. Suzlon and Gamesa round out the top five.

- FPL Energy was the project developer responsible for adding the most new wind power capacity, with over 500 MW of new capacity added to its fleet. PPM Energy was in second place, adding 394 MW(4). Horizon Wind Energy added 220 MW(5); Invenergy added 200 MW; and enXco added 150 MW.

- The wind farms completed in 2005, AWEA said, will generate approximately $5 million in payments to landowners annually(6) and create skilled, long-term jobs in areas where such employment is scarce, as well as short-term construction jobs and associated economic activity.

http://www.awea.org

Subscribe to the CarbonFree weekly newsletter

Wind energy can help save America's environment

2006-01-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

FarmWeek: "Perspective -- Wind energy can help save America's environment
Friday, January 27, 2006

The winds of change are blowing through the United States, starting in Massachusetts. For too long, acid rain has showered its shores and beaches, and residents of Cape Cod and nearby islands have inhaled toxic air from dirty power plants.

The people of Massachusetts know firsthand the drastic effects of an oil spill — the 100,000-gallon spill in Buzzard’s Bay in 2003 soiled coastlines, closed shellfish beds, and killed nesting shorebirds and seals.

We are all feeling the pain of our country’s reliance on foreign oil. Offshore wind will be an important step toward putting all that to an end, and that is why Greenpeace strongly supports America’s first offshore wind farm.

For 30 years, Greenpeace has worked to protect the world’s oceans. We successfully campaigned to end dumping of radioactive and industrial wastes at sea, helped create a moratorium on commercial whaling, and have played a crucial role in the development of other laws and policies that safeguard our oceans.

It is with this background that we began our work in support of offshore wind in Europe and now in the United States.

The Cape Wind project is undergoing a comprehensive and thorough review process that looks at all aspects of the proposal. A draft environmental-impact statement was released late last year, two years in the making and more than 4,000 pages long.

Initial analysis found that the environmental, public health, and economic benefits of Cape Wind far exceed any minor short-term environmental costs that may be associated with the project.

Let me say unequivocally that if Greenpeace had any concerns that this project would have long-term consequences for the marine ecosystem of Nantucket Sound, we would be the first to oppose it.

We have opposed wind farms both on and offshore in the past, and we will continue to do so when projects are ill-sited or improper in size and scope.

Cape Wind, however, is the right project, in the right place, at the right time.

Unlike opponents of Cape Wind, Greenpeace has firsthand experience with offshore wind. In the United Kingdom (UK), where Greenpeace worked to develop the country’s first offshore wind farms, initial fears that the projects would lower property values, decrease tourism, or harm the environment were completely unfounded.

In fact, because of broad public support, the UK now plans to build additional offshore wind farms that will supply one in six UK households with energy from this clean renewable resource. Europe is proof of the benefits created by offshore wind; now that opportunity is coming to Massachusetts.

The wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound would provide 75 percent of the cape and islands’ energy without emitting asthma-causing pollution, spilling oil in the water, or producing any of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

In addition to protecting the environment, the wind farm will benefit the cape’s economy by creating jobs and attracting tourists.

Now Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who opposes Cape Wind, is trying to push aside air quality safeguards to allow power plants to burn oil if there is a natural gas shortage this winter.

Nobody would be talking about lowering health standards in the state if Cape Wind were up and running, yet the governor continues to oppose the project.

The opponents of Cape Wind would have you believe that to protect the environment, we need to oppose the wind farm.

In fact, the opposite is true. Global warming poses significant risks for the area.

From more frequent and severe red tides to rising sea levels and more intense storms, a warming planet is a big problem for the same beachfront homeowners who oppose Cape Wind.

The environment that is so important to our way of life is in jeopardy, and projects like Cape Wind are the solution.

John Passacantando is executive director of Greenpeace USA { www.greenpeaceusa.org} . Readers may write him at Greenpeace USA, 702 H St., Washington, DC 20001.

Company to spend millions on wind turbines - 2006-01-27

2006-01-27T14:03:00.000-08:00

Company to spend millions on wind turbines - 2006-01-27: "Company to spend millions on wind turbines
Irish renewable energy group Airtricity Holdings Ltd., which bought an Austin company in December, will spend more than $300 million on turbines to accommodate increasing demand for wind energy in the United States, The Irish Times reported Friday.

Airtricity says it will buy 250 turbines from Japan's Mitsubishi Power Systems Inc. over the next year and has an option to purchase another 200 turbines in 2008 from Mitsubishi, according to The Irish Times.
The turbines will be used to supply wind farms in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado as well as other wind farms owned by Renewable Generation Inc., an Austin wind energy company that Airtricity bought last month for about $10 million, according to The Irish Times.
In June, Airtricity said it would invest at least $1.5 billion in the U.S. market over five years, beginning with a $270 million investment in wind farms in Texas, New York and Idaho.
Airtricity's U.S. headquarters is in Chicago. "

Wind energy continues fast growth in Germany

2006-01-27T13:57:00.000-08:00

New Europe Display News

Wind energy continues fast growth in Germany
Wind energy continued its fast growth in Germany last year but could slow in the coming years, the Federal Association for Wind Power said last Tuesday. Germany had 17,574 high-tech windmills operating at the end of 2005, said the association in a statement. This was 11 percent more than at the end of the previous year. The windmills, which received billions of Euro in state subsidies, generated six percent of German electricity at the end of 2004, said the association. “Growth of wind energy is expected to slow in the coming three years mainly because many of the best land sites in Germany for generating wind power are already in use,” said the statement. “Attention is now turning to the possibility of building huge, offshore wind energy parks in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.”

Iowa remains among top wind-energy producing state's in 2005

2006-01-27T13:53:00.000-08:00

Sioux City Journal: Iowa remains among top wind-energy producing state's in 2005: "Iowa remains among top wind-energy producing state's in 2005
01/27/2006 012:01:43 PM

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The addition of new wind turbines helped keep Iowa among the leading wind-energy producing state's in the country in 2005.

Iowa installed 201.65 megawatts of new wind energy last year, statistics from the American Wind Energy Association showed. Nationwide, more than 2,400 megawatts were installed.

One megawatt of wind power can provide enough power for up to 300 homes.

Randall Swisher, executive director of the wind association, said utilities are turning to wind energy because, in part, it's less expensive than burning oil or corn.

"The thing that is different today than five years ago, not only is gas no longer the automatic default but also wind is playing a larger role in the thinking of electric utilities," Swisher said.

MidAmerican Energy accounted for most of Iowa's new wind capacity in 2005, completing a $386 million, 257-turbine project in two northern Iowa sites. The projects have no impact on customers' electricity rates.

Iowa law requires that utilities get 2 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. Gov. Tom Vilsack has set a goal for Iowa utilities to produce 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2010.

Most of MidAmerican's electricity is generated by burning coal. The Des Moines-based company has 360.5 megawatts of capacity at its northern Iowa sites, increasing its total generation from renewable sources to 9 percent.

MidAmerican has 122 turbines in northwest Iowa and 135 turbines in north-central Iowa.

Only California and Texas have more wind energy capacity than Iowa, the wind association said.

The growth in wind projects follows renewal of a federal tax policy in 2004 that supports the wind industry. The tax credit provides a 1.5 cent- per-kilowatt-hour tax credit for electricity generated from wind turbines.

On the Net: American Wind Energy Association: http://www.awea.org/

MidAmerican Energy: http://www.midamericanenergy.com/

Whole Foods Market Buys 100% into Wind Power

2006-01-20T23:13:00.000-08:00

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Whole Foods Market Buys 100% into Wind Power: "Whole Foods Market Buys 100% into Wind Power
January 12, 2006

Whole Foods Market Buys 100% into Wind Power
January 12, 2006

Austin, Texas [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] What Whole Foods Market calls the "largest wind energy credit purchase in the history of the United States and Canada" may well be true, with 100 percent of the company's electricity used in all of its stores, facilities, bake houses, distribution centers, regional offices and national headquarters in the U.S. and Canada to be supplied by the purchase of wind energy credits.

"Whole Foods Market's commitment to wind power is providing an outstanding example of environmental leadership."

-- Kurt Johnson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Partnership director Further, the natural and organic foods supermarket claims it is the only Fortune 500 Company to date to do so. Whole Foods Market selected Boulder, Colorado-based Renewable Choice Energy as its exclusive supplier of renewable energy credits.

"Whole Foods Market has made the largest-ever corporate purchase of renewable energy credits in the nation," said Kurt Johnson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Partnership director. "Whole Foods Market's commitment to wind power is providing an outstanding example of environmental leadership."

Tom Gray, Deputy Director of American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said, "The record-breaking purchase of wind power by Whole Foods shows how easy it is to support the development of a clean, safe, domestic, renewable source of electricity like wind with the simple power of the pocketbook. In making this decision, Whole Foods has joined a growing list of corporations, utilities, universities, and private citizens who are actively supporting development of wind energy through their power purchasing decisions."

To help evaluate options and facilitate the purchasing process, Whole Foods Market involved the Washington, DC-based nonprofit environmental think tank, World Resources Institute (WRI). Since 2000, WRI has been working with a number of Fortune 500 companies to increase their use of renewable energy. "Whole Foods Market's historic purchase has set a new benchmark for the industry," said Jonathan Lash, WRI president.

As of December 9, 2005, Whole Foods Market purchased more than 458,000 MWh of renewable energy credits from wind farms. This purchase will avoid more than 700 million pounds of carbon dioxide pollution this year. To have the same environmental impact, more than 60,000 cars would have to be taken off the road or more than 90,000 acres of trees would have to be planted.

With the Whole Foods Market's motto being "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet", it follows that the company would choose renewable energy. "Whole Foods Market is a leader in the natural and organic foods movement, and that involves caring about our communities and respecting our environment," said Michael Besancon, Whole Foods Market Southern Pacific regional president and Green Mission task force leader. "This purchase of wind energy credits is a natural extension of that leadership and is integral to our core values."