wind

Idaho building its largest wind complex to date

Idaho is building what will be the state's largest wind project to date near land once traversed by Lewis and Clark, and Sacagawea.

As part of the groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday for the 183-megawatt Idaho Wind Partners project, Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter and others signed the giant blade of a wind turbine. Most of the land being used for the Idaho project consists of both active and idle farmland across Magic Valley, part of which is considered a piece of the iconic Oregon Trail.

"The renewable energy industry is breathing new life into the … Read more

Urban Green Energy pitches green chic of small-wind turbine

To Urban Green Energy CEO Nick Blitterswyk, small-wind turbines are becoming one of the many gadgets consumers crave.

The New York City-based company next month plans to make available a one-kilowatt version of its Eddy small-wind turbine, which will cost $6,600 before installation. With good wind conditions, the grid-connected turbine can generate at least 1,500 kilowatt-hours a year, offsetting most homes' total electricity use, Blitterswyk said.

Eddy is one of many vertical axis turbines vying for attention among consumers and businesses looking for on-site power options. Urban Green Energy's wind turbines have a design that makes them … Read more

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Norway oil giant floats idea for bobbing windmills

A group of scientists and engineers in Norway are testing a flotation device that could support offshore wind turbines so that they don't have to be built on shoals.

StatoilHydro, a division of the oil giant Statoil, said Thursday its Hywind floating wind turbine installed about 10 kilometers off the coast of Karmoy, Norway, in June 2009 is a success.

As a result, the company is planning to test an entire farm of Hywind turbines in Norway, and is looking to install more test farms in rough-water areas like Scotland and Maine.

The Hywind turbine is not a completely … Read more

Cape Wind agrees to reduce cost of offshore wind

Striking a deal with the state's attorney general, the developers of Cape Wind have agreed to cut the price of electricity from the proposed offshore wind farm in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley on Friday said that her office had negotiated a 10 percent reduction in the price Cape Wind will charge to utility National Grid for electricity. Over the course of the proposed 15-year contract, the reduction will save $456 million, according to Coakley's office.

The deal highlights how cost remains a large barrier to building offshore wind farms in the U.S. Added construction expenditures … Read more

U.S. wind energy popular, but lacks investment

Despite public approval, U.S. wind energy investment is slowing down instead of growing, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

An overwhelming majority of Americans support a renewable electricity standard, and wind energy investment in particular, according to a poll of 600 likely voters conducted in March by Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies and Bennett, Petts & Normington.

Specifically, 89 percent of Americans said increasing the amount of energy the U.S. gets from wind is a good idea. Broken down by ideology, 84 percent of Republicans, 93 percent of Democrats, and 88 percent of independents support increasing the … Read more

Massive Calif. wind farm gets $1.2 billion in financing

Terra-Gen Power announced Wednesday it's garnered $1.2 billion in financing to build what could be the largest wind energy project in the U.S.

The 3,000-megawatt Alta Wind Energy Center when completed would actually be a series of several massive wind farms located near Tehachapi, Calif., a city in Kern County about 116 miles north of Los Angeles.

Terra-Gen is a renewable-energy company that develops wind, solar, and geothermal projects for producing electricity. Its first phase of this Alta Wind Energy Center, called Alta Project I, already has financing. Its construction began in March and consists of … Read more

European offshore wind setting records in 2010

Offshore wind installations and connections in Europe are at a record high.

For the first half of 2010, over 118 new offshore wind turbines totaling 333 megawatts worth of capacity became operational in Europe. For comparison, a total of 577 megawatts worth were installed for the entire year of 2009. In addition to those turbines up and running, another 151 turbines have been installed and await grid connection, according to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

Europe now has 948 offshore wind turbines offering a total capacity of 2,396 megawatts in operation.

Of those offshore wind projects connected to the grid in the first half of 2010, EWEA estimates that E.ON Climate and Renewables developed 64 percent of them, while Siemens supplied 55 percent of the turbines.

Of course, Siemens, a major wind turbine supplier, will soon face more competition. GE announced in March that it plans to put $450 million into developing its wind turbine business in Europe over the next 10 years.

Within days of the EWEA report, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced it's forming the Offshore Wind Development Coalition (OffshoreWindDC), a coalition made up of wind developers and supportive organizations whose sole purpose will be to educate the public on the pros and cons of offshore wind, and promote its installation.

They have a good reason to develop a lobby group.

While the residents of the European Union seem to have been sold on the idea that offshore wind can be a significant contributor to their pledge to get 20 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2020, the U.S. public has yet to embrace it despite predictions of a positive impact.… Read more

REN21: More than half of new power in U.S., EU is green

More than half of all new electricity capacity added in the United States and Europe last year was from renewable power such as wind and solar, a body backed by the International Energy Agency and the UN reported.

Last year was also a record year for the amount of new green power added to the grid, partly a result of shifting deployment and manufacture to emerging economies including Brazil, India and China, from flagging developed countries.

"In 2009, China produced 40 percent of the world's solar PV supply, 30 percent of the world's wind turbines, up from … Read more