Eliminate your electricity bills with a homemade windmill!

The Columbia,Missouri, City Council unanimously approved an annual energy purchase from a wind farm in northern Iowa in early February. The purchase of 60 megawatt hours per year from the Crystal Lake Wind Energy Center is enough to power roughly 6,000 homes. It will increase Columbia’s reliance on renewable energy sources by an estimated 2.6 percent, putting the city’s total at 8 percent. In 2011, 5.4 percent of all electricity consumed in Columbia was generated by renewable resources, according to a report by Columbia Water and Light.

Renewable energy from Minnesota Power’s Bison 1 wind project is now flowing to the power grid, the utility has announced. This represents the completion of the 15-turbine second phase of the Bison 1 project. The first phase of the 82 MW Bison 1 project was completed about a year ago. Midway through the construction of the first phase, which consists of 16 turbines rated at 2.3 MW, Minnesota Power decided to deploy upgraded 3 MW Siemens turbines featuring direct-drive power units. The second phase of Bison 1 will deliver more wind energy for approximately the same cost as in the first phase of the project, according to Minnesota Power. Work is well under way on Minnesota Power’s Bison 2 and Bison 3 wind farms, located adjacent to the Bison 1 installation in Oliver and Morton counties. Bison 2 and 3 will each consist of 35 Siemens 3 MW direct-drive turbines, and together, they will supply an additional 210 MW of renewable energy.

Mexico’s wind power sector is playing an expanding role in the global development of that renewable energy source, having just achieved the milestone of 1,000 megawatts of installed generating capacity, a sector leader said recently. The president of the Mexican Wind Energy Association, or AMDEE, Leopoldo Rodriguez, said that figure is significant because it represents 2 percent of the country’s total power generating capacity. Rodriguez noted that as recently as the close of 2011 Mexico’s total wind power generating capacity stood at just 519 MW but that it has climbed rapidly due to the installation of new turbines in recent months and now is sufficient to provide electricity to a city of some 2 million inhabitants

California now gets about 5 percent of its electricity from wind power, according to data released in early February by the California Wind Energy Association.
The majority of California’s electricity – 42 percent – comes from natural gas, followed by nuclear power and hydropower. According to 2010 figures from the California Energy Commission, wind made up 4.7 percent of the state’s electricity mix and solar was 0.3 percent.But in 2011, wind projects that generate 921 megawatts – enough electricity for more than 400,000 homes – were installed across the state, which the wind association says should put it above the long-sought-after 5 percent threshold. California has set an ambitious goal of getting 33 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, and utilities are increasingly signing contracts for renewable projects. In California, the vast majority of wind turbines are clustered in three regions: the Altamont Pass between Livermore and Tracy, Tehachapi near Bakersfield and the San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs. While solar panels are visible on homes across the state, massive wind farms tucked away in windy mountain passes that many Californians never see produce much more energy.

The Federal government announced in late January plans to auction off leases to allow companies to build offshore wind farms off the coasts of Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware. At a meeting in Baltimore, federal officials said a new National Environmental Policy Act assessment found that there would be no significant environmental or socioeconomic impacts from issuing wind energy leases in designated areas off the mid-Atlantic Coast.

In 2011, Illinois topped the nation in the number of new wind turbines installed with 404 and ranked No. 2 behind California in the total amount of the turbines’ power capacity, according to a report by the American Wind Energy Association. Winergy Drive Systems Corp. of Elgin, one of 28 companies in Illinois that manufacture components for the wind industry, has grown to more than 200 employees from seven when it started operating 11 years ago, CEO Terry Royer said. Eighty percent of Winergy’s growth has happened in the past four years, largely because of the federal government’s stimulus package, which provided $2.3 billion in tax credits for advanced energy manufacturing.

Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), has signed five 20-year power purchase agreements that combined will add 358 MW to its wind portfolio. It will purchase wind energy from three wind farms – Canadian Hills Wind Project, High Majestic Wind II and Flat Ridge 2 Wind Energy. The Canadian Hills Wind Project located in Oklahoma is being developed by Apex Wind Energy Holdings. Through three contracts SWEPCO will purchase up to 201 MW of the estimated 300 MW the wind farm will produce. NextEra Resources will deliver SWEPCO up to 79.6 MW from phase two of its High Majestic Wind facility in the Texas Panhandle.

A wind turbine development planned for southern Somerset County, Pa. received a financial boost in January with the announcement of a $12.7 million grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. The Twin Ridges Wind Farm is an Everpower Wind Holdings Inc. project planned for Northampton, Southampton, Larimer and Greenville townships.

The state board that certifies construction plans for new energy facilities has approved an agreement that authorizes a 91-turbine wind farm in north-central Ohio. The agreement approved in January by the Ohio Power Siting Board allows Black Fork Wind Energy to construct the farm on 14,800 acres along the Crawford and Richland county line. The board says the company plans to begin construction in March and be operating by December. Officials say the farm will be capable of generating 200 megawatts of electricity, enough to power tens of thousands of homes.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced in mid January that it has agreed to purchase power from four wind farms in Kansas, Illinois and Iowa that have a combined capacity of 535 MW. Today, TVA has activated a wind energy portfolio totaling 950 MW, including five operating wind farms in the Midwest with a combined 542 wind turbines.

The Lander County, Nevada, School District is the latest to go green after installing new wind turbines.
In December, nine turbines were installed at Eleanor Lemaire Elementary School in Battle Mountain and the Austin K-12 School.
The turbines can generate up to 360 kilowatts of electricity which will help cut the school district’s monthly energy bill.
Lander County School District will also get a large rebate from NV Energy’s Renewable Generations Program to help offset installation costs.

Edison Mission Group, an Edison International (EIX) subsidiary, has initiated commercial operation of the 55 megawatts Pinnacle Wind Farm situated at NewPage on Green Mountain, near the Maryland-West Virginia border.The wind farm comprises 23 wind turbines and has the capacity to generate enough electricity that would fulfill the needs of about 14,000 homes. The company plans to sell two-thirds of the power generated to Maryland Department of General Services (“DGS”) and the balance one-third to the University of Maryland Systems.

A Connecticut-based energy plant design and construction company has been awarded an $18 million contract for a wind turbine project in Elder, West Carroll and East Carroll townships. The news was part of an announcement in January that Gamma Renewable Power LLC of Rocky Hill, Conn., has been awarded the contract to design and build 15 two-megawatt turbines for the Patton Wind Farm in northern Cambria County.

There is little to no evidence that wind turbines pose a risk to the health of residents living near them, a panel of independent scientists and doctors found in a report commissioned by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The panel concluded that there is no rigorous research showing that churning turbines or the resulting flickering light and vibrations produce dizziness, nausea, depression, or anxiety – a set of symptoms that critics call “wind turbine syndrome.’’ Proponents of wind energy said the report should make it easier for wind projects to get the go-ahead in Massachusetts.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer says the state is now producing 395 megawatts of installed wind generation capacity. In mid January the new 9.6 megawatt Gordon Butte wind farm went on-line near Martinsdale, and near Shelby, work is underway on Nature-Ener’s new 189 megawatt wind farm.The Gordon Butte wind farm, was developed by Oversight Resources, a Bozeman based developer. It went fully operational on January 4, and has six GE wind turbines installed.
“Big and small, Montana wind farms are developing and increasing the amount of clean and green energy produced from our world class wind resource,” said Schweitzer. Montana had just 1 MW of wind power online as recently as 2005, but that number will soon grow to 575.

The Columbia, Missouri Water and Light Department has drawn up a contract with a Florida-based renewable energy provider to purchase wind energy from Iowa. If approved by the City Council,the city would enter into a 20-year deal with NextEra Energy Resources LLC to split with the University of Missouri 21 megawatts of wind power from the Crystal Lake III Wind Energy Center in Hancock County,Iowa. Connie Kacprowicz, a Water and Light spokeswoman, said a benefit of using wind energy is that it can be generated in periods of inclement weather. Omaha, Neb.-based Free Power Co. is in the process of installing enough solar panels in the city to annually generate 12,000 megawatt hours of electricity by October. This combined with the solar gives us a nice mix of resources,” Kacprowicz said.

The USDA has launched a new energy website at www.usda.gov/energy dedicated to providing information and statistics related to the agency’s energy efficiency and renewable energy data. Included in the site’s offerings are three new instruments—the USDA Renewable Energy Investment Map, the Renewable Energy Tool and an Energy Matrix—designed to allow users to view USDA energy investments, analyze biofuels and bioenergy data and to provide interested parties with information related to the USDA’s various energy programs.
Renewable energy project developers may also find the site beneficial. The Renewable Energy Tool will focus initially on transportation fuels and will provide information related to the entire supply chain of renewable production, including land use for producing energy crops, cost of crop production, competition for biomass, blending terminals and fuel stations, according to the USDA. The tool will also provide information on USDA financial assistance opportunities and state and federal policies related to renewable energy. The site continues to be developed, however, and not all of the data is currently available on the website. Additional information offered on the site includes a breakdown of the USDA’s investments in anaerobic digesters, flex-fuel pumps and wood-to-energy projects.

Sonoma County (Ca.) has entered into a one-year agreement with a Southern California company to use 100 percent renewable power at seven facilities in Santa Rosa and Petaluma, the county announced in mid January. A mix of electricity generated by 85 percent wind and 15 percent biomass will power the facilities throughout 2012, according to the one-year direct access agreement with 3 Phases Renewables of Manhattan Beach.The company, founded in 1994 by Michael Mazur, has been a renewable Energy Service Provider since 2000.

California regulators have approved five power purchase agreements that could boost the state’s renewable energy capacity by 1,088 megawatts (MW) and produce 2,927 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy.The projects, two for wind and three for solar, are divided among the state’s biggest utilities – Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric – all of which are required to source 33 percent of their energy from renewables by 2020. The state recently reported that in 2010 the utilities passed the 16 percent mark.

While energy from wind turbines currently accounts for less than one percent of total power generated in Japan, a new breakthrough in design provides ample reason to ramp up production. Called the ‘Windlens,’ Yuji Ohya, a professor of renewable energy dynamics and applied mechanics, and his team at Kyushu University have created a series of turbines that could make the cost of wind power less than coal and nuclear energy. With a promise to generate two to three times the power of traditional models, the new turbine designs exemplify the potential for a cleaner energy future in Japan and around the world, removed from the dangers of nuclear power plants.

If you want to get a preview of what an electric power utility of the future looks like, take a look at the old Florida Power and Light, which has reinvented itself as Nextera (NEE). With 20% of its power coming from wind and solar, it is the largest renewable utility in the country. It has invested $10 billion in wind alone in the last ten years, and management believes that solar is ready for a leap of the same magnitude.

North Dakota is expected to add hundreds of megawatts of wind energy this year, while development has slowed to a near stop in South Dakota. The difference seems to be the availability of high-voltage power lines to ship the power to cities that need it. South Dakota has more than 30,000 megawatts of proposed wind energy projects in the queue, according to the American Wind Energy Association, but a state association director said he’s received no indication from developers that they’re ready to start building new wind farms. “As far as large projects going forward today, there’s not much in the hopper,” said Ron Rebenitsch, executive director of the South Dakota Wind Energy Association. South Dakota more than doubled its wind power capacity in 2010 by adding 396 megawatts — enough to power nearly 120,000 homes.

MidAmerican Energy Co.announced in early January that it will build 176 wind turbines with a generating capacity of 407.1 megawatts in Marshall, Tama, Guthrie, Audubon and Adair counties in Iowa by the end of this year.
The project was approved in 2009 by the Iowa Utilities Board as part of a 1,000-megawatt request made by MidAmerican. Combined with the 593.4-megawatt wind project it completed last year in Adair, Adams and Cass counties, MidAmerican will have 2,284 megawatts of wind-generated electricity capacity by the end of 2012, the most of any investor-owned utilities in the United States.

A wind farm in the eastern thumb area of Michigan started commercial operations in January, providing some 90 megawatts of energy according to Exelon Power. The completion of the project means Exelon has about 212 megawatts of wind power online in the state, making it the largest generator of wind power in Michigan in terms of megawatts generated.

A partnership between Western Illinois University and Illinois State University will provide classroom materials on wind energy for interested middle and high schools beginning in 2013.
Western’s Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs and Department of Engineering Technology and Illinois State’s Center for Renewable Energy and College of Education are part of the new Illinois Wind for Schools program.

The wind turbine market has experienced significant growth over the last five years and is expected to continue its momentum, reaching approximately US $96 billion by 2016 with a CAGR of 12% over the next five years for annual installations. Concerns over climate change, crude oil prices, and increasing energy demand are generating global interest in renewable resources to meet the world’s energy needs. Wind is a clean, abundant, rapidly growing energy source. The business of generating electricity from wind is set to expand as China, the US, and other countries seek cleaner, more sustainable ways to create electricity.

Some remote and inaccessible border areas in Jammu and Kashmir will soon get electricity thanks to solar and wind energy. This is being done under the Remote Village Electrification Programme (RVEP) to be commissioned by the Science and Technology department of the state. ‘The project will provide electricity to remote inaccessible areas, border areas and some remote hospitals as these are not connected with National Power Grid,’ Minister for Science Technology Aga Syed Ruhullah said.

A plan to make wind turbines in mid-Michigan could create hundreds of new jobs.
Clean energy industry leaders along with U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow met at the Dowding Industries at its Astraeus Wind Energy Plant in Eaton Rapids Monday. They met to talk about clean energy and jobs. They’re hoping to take manufacturing to a whole new level.
“I don’t think anybody in this room understands how big this is, not only to Eaton Rapids, not only to Michigan, but the United States,” said Jeff Metts, President of Dowding Industries.
Astreaus Wind Energy is talking about the plan to bring an all new foundry facility for clean energy and wind turbines to Eaton Rapids. The Dowding plant already has made great strides.
“It’s a brand new technology. There’s nothing like it in the world,” said Metts.
They house the only machine in the world that creates the casting for wind turbines in only 4 and half hours. Now, they’re bringing on board URV USA, a company that would cast the actual parts for wind turbines just 100 feet away.
Senator Debbie Stabenow says this could mean nearly 280 jobs initially and thousands more in the future. The jobs will be in construction, engineering, and skill trades.

Members of Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission gave tentative approval in early August to a 19-turbine wind farm in rural Hancock County, but the project faces some obstacles before a final vote next month.
After hashing out details for several hours at a meeting in Bangor, LURC officials were mostly satisfied with the proposal from Blue Sky East LLC, a subsidiary of First Wind, the largest developer of wind farms in Maine.

Pending additional review of some concerns over how the project would affect environmental scenery in the area, final approval is expected at LURC’s meeting in September.

Blue Sky East has proposed erecting 19 turbines, each 476 feet tall and capable of producing 1.8 megawatts, on Heifer Hill and Bull Hill in Township 16 just east of Eastbrook.

Suzlon Energy Ltd. recently announced it is ramping up project execution capabilities in India to meet rising demand for wind energy in the country and is looking to acquire small technology companies to add value to its business.

Suzlon Energy is India’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, with about 50% of the country’s market share, and about 10% of the global wind energy market along with its German unit, REpower Systems SE.

A tough economic environment hurt sales volumes in its largest markets in Europe and the U.S., where it is yet to fully recover. Suzlon shifted focus to growth in India’s wind energy markets, a strategy that paid off with two consecutive profitable quarters after about two years of losses.

The number of wind turbines in China, excluding Chinese Taiwan, reached nearly 34,500 at the end of 2010, more than 85 percent of which were produced by Chinese companies.

Qin Haiyan, secretary-general of the Chinese Wind Energy Association under the China Renewable Energy Society, said that China is fully capable of producing wind turbines, and the percentage of domestic parts is rising fast. In addition, the country’s wind power equipment supply chain is being gradually improved.

During the 11th Five-Year Plan period from 2006 to 2010, China’s wind power industry made great improvements on imported wind turbines to adapt them to certain particular national conditions, such as low wind speed, low temperature and high altitude. Meanwhile, China also caught up with developed countries in the development of large-scale wind turbines. At present, four Chinese wind turbine makers are listed among the world’s top 10, and Chinese wind power equipment is becoming increasingly popular abroad.

Henrik Stiesdal, now chief technology officer of Siemens Wind Power, salvaged the parts that would be retooled to fashion his first wind turbine. This wind-power pioneer’s early “Danish concept” designs went on to energise Vestas’ transformation from a farm machinery manufacturer into the largest wind turbine maker in the world. In 1978 Stiesdal’s father read in the local newspaper about a group of students at a nearby teachers’ college who were attempting to erect a 2MW wind turbine. The two drove out to see it. The experience was formative for Stiesdal, convincing him to attempt to engineer and build one of his own. His first homemade windmill was 12 meters tall with a 9 meter diameter rotor. Stiesdal says “The only thing you really had to make from scratch were the blades — which were eventually made of wood — and the rest could be salvaged from other industries.”

It’s been a little over a year since the University of Delaware’s joint-venture wind turbine started spinning in Lewes.

And except for the first three months of operation in June, July and August 2010, power generated exceeded use at the Lewes Campus, said Jeremy Firestone, director of the Center for Carbon-free Power Integration and a professor at the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment.

Minnesota Power will add a third phase to its wind energy generation in North Dakota under a proposal submitted this week to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The Duluth-based utility plans on building a 105-megawatt, $157 million wind farm in Oliver and Morton counties in central North Dakota, one of the most wind-rich locations in the region.

The wind farm, to be called Bison 3, will include 35 giant turbines and will be located near Minnesota Power’s already operating Bison 1 and already planned Bison 2 projects.

California’s wind power market will be a hot topic at the WINDPOWER conference this year, and many of the speakers will focus on the business opportunities. 600 MW of wind turbines are currently under construction. “The renaissance of California’s wind power market will be a hot topic at WINDPOWER this year, and many of the speakers will focus on the business opportunities there, as well as benefits to ratepayers and communities,” said Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. Companies of all sizes will be making deals to build and develop more wind farm power, joined by government officials, utilities, investors, and economic development promoters.

According to the American Wind Energy Association’s First Quarter Market Report, capacity installed and placed under construction in the first three months of 2011 is enough to power 1.4 million homes. Projects spread across 12 states have added 1,118 MW, bringing the national total to 41,400 MW. Across 26 states, 850 MW of new construction was initiated over the last three months.

Illinois, Idaho and Nebraska rank among the top five states for installed capacity in 2011. This progress is notable, as these states haven’t always succeeded at taking full advantage of the vast resources at their disposal. These three states also experienced some of the fastest recent growth, with Nebraska, at 38 percent growth, just ahead of Idaho at 33.6% and Illinois at 11.7 percent.

Minnesota and Washington continue to add to already impressive portfolios. Despite ranking fourth among all states in installed capacity, Minnesota enjoyed a remarkable 13.3 percent of additional capacity. Washington added 151 MW. Wind capacity in Hawaii grew by 47.5 percent.

A Utah company has unveiled a working prototype of a transmission the inventor says could transform the nation’s wind energy industry. VMT Technologies’ Universal Transmission could improve wind turbine efficiency by 5 to 10 percent, said VMT inventor Gary Lee. Moreover,the Universal Transmission can handle higher torque, which renders it more reliable than transmissions widely used in wind turbines throughout the world, he said.

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), 1,100 megawatts of new wind energy capacity was installed across the United States in the first quarter of 2011 alone. To top that off, the industry went into the second quarter with another 5,600 megawatts under construction, which the AWEA points out is nearly twice the number of megawatts that the industry reported at this time in both 2009 and 2010. Of the 5,600 MW currently under construction, one third is located in Oregon, Washington and California, indicating that the west coast states and their wind energy policies have helped drive development forward.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), after receiving a record number of applications for its wind incentive program for homeowners, farmers, businesses and municipalities, has expanded the funding availability for another six months and added another $1.4 million in incentive dollars.

NYSERDA has offered this program in different programs since 2008 in an effort to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. This current version is on track to be the most popular ever. Thirty-three applications have been received since the program was announced in October, more than any similar period in the past.

The program helps qualified property owners install wind turbines to generate electricity, which diversifies New York’s energy sources and expands the use of clean, renewable energy in the state. It will provide funding to support approximately 30 percent of the purchase and installation costs.

Rising global temperatures will not significantly affect wind energy production in the United States concludes a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. But warmer temperatures could make wind energy somewhat more plentiful say two Indiana University (IU) Bloomington scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

“There are a lot of myths out there about the stability of wind patterns,” said study coauthor Rebecca Barthelmie, a professor of Atmospheric Science at IU. Industry and government want more information about the long-term viability of wind as a power source before making decisions to expand its use, she said. Barthelmie and Principal Investigator Sara Pryor, IU’s provost professor of Atmospheric Science, applied several regional climate models to assess potential future wind patterns in America’s lower 48 states.

They found warmer atmospheric temperatures will do little to reduce the amount of available wind or wind consistency–essentially wind speeds for each hour of the day–in major wind corridors that principally could be used to produce wind energy

Lobbyists for wind energy companies stood in shocked disbelief Thursday after the Idaho Senate narrowly killed a measure to extend a sales tax rebate for alternative energy. The expected deal had been hashed out between lawmakers, utilities and wind developers in closed-door negotiations that dominated the final month of the 2011 Legislature.

The 18-17 vote killed what would have given alternative energy developers — including geothermal, digester gas and irrigation-canal hydroelectric projects — a 6 percent break on energy production equipment through 2014. Also, the action affects 18 wind projects in their advanced stages that would have sought to qualify for the tax break, which now expires June 30.

Sempra Energy announced in April that it has signed a 20-year contract to sell Maui Electric Co. 21 megawatts of wind energy from a wind farm to be completed by the end of next year. The power will be generated at its Sempra’s Auwahi Wind project, and the contract will be administered by its subsidiary Sempra Generation

The company planning to build what could be the nation’s first offshore wind farm has received some needed permits for the project from New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection. Fishermen’s Energy of Cape May wants to build the wind farm about 2.5 miles off Atlantic City. It plans to erect six wind turbines that would produce up to 25 megawatts, capable of powering about 10,000 homes.

The first utility-scale wind project in the Oklahoma Panhandle got a boost in early April, with news that a California turbine designer has acquired a share of the project. DeWind Co. announced that it had acquired the rights to the first 160 megawatts of a 370-megawatt wind project being developed by Guymon’s Novus Windpower LLC.

Oregon added more wind power in 2010 and ended the year tied with Washington as fifth among states in total wind power installed. Only Texas, Iowa, California and Minnesota rank higher. According to the American Wind Energy Association, wind power grew by 15 percent. Nationwide, there is enough wind-generated electricity to cover the energy needs of 10 million American homes.

Black Hills Corp. has filed a proposal with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to own 50% of an approximate 29 MW wind turbine project as a part of its plan to meet the state of Colorado’s renewable portfolio standard.The mandate requires investor-owned utilities to acquire 30% of their energy from renewable resources by 2020. Black Hills Energy also proposes to purchase the energy and renewable energy credits from EUI Development LLC, the owner of the other 50% of the project.If approved by the Colorado PUC, the wind project will be constructed in Huerfano County, Colo., and is expected to be completed in 2012. The project would include 16 Vestas wind turbines, components of which will be manufactured in Pueblo and at other Vestas facilities in Colorado.

The first-of-its-kind wind-assessment buoy planned for Lake Michigan waters is on a company’s drawing board.

The $3.7 million project, spearheaded by Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center, received federal approval from the Department of Energy in March, and MAREC put a down payment on construction of the floating buoy/research platform.

State and federal officials are preparing to offer the first lease of a commercial wind power site off the coast of Delaware.

Officials said that no potential competitors to NRG Bluewater Wind Delaware LLC have emerged, and that they will move forward with a noncompetitive leasing process.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the decision marks a milestone for the nation’s energy future, but he noted that several steps remain before a lease can be issued, including environmental reviews. Bluewater has proposed building a wind farm about 12 miles east of Dewey Beach and selling the power generated to Delmarva Power, the state’s largest utility.

Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) signed a first-of-its-kind federal contract with the State Department to provide solar and wind energy to the US government. The long-term power purchase agreement with Constellation will provide about 120,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of clean energy annually to federal government facilities. The energy will come from a $50 million solar project Constellation is planning for 40 acres in New Jersey. UNICOR, a federal prison industries service will build the panels – the project should be complete by mid-2012.

The first commercial wind project on Oahu is officially up and running. The $140 million wind farm opened in March with a dedication ceremony on the island’s North shore in Kahuku. Gov. Neil Abercrombie says the wind farm will help the state meet a self-imposed mandate to generate 40 percent of Hawaii’s energy needs through renewable sources by 2030. The wind turbines are able to produce enough electricity to power 7,700 homes annually.

Arkansas governor Mike Beebe said recently that domestic energy expansion is at the top of his agenda and that it should be at the forefront of the national conversation. Speaking about the benefits of using wind power at an industry gathering, Beebe said using renewable, domestic energy sources is good for the environment, creates jobs and protects national security by moving away from foreign oil. Beebe, who is chairman of the National Governors Association Natural Resources Committee, said states should not sit idly by until Congress takes action on the issue. “While we’re waiting for additional activities, I think it’s incumbent on the states to go ahead and do what they can to push this agenda,” he said. “I am absolutely convinced that from the standpoint of national public policy, domestic energy is something that ought to be at the forefront of what everyone’s talking about.”

Starr Commonwealth, a nonprofit treatment and recovery center for troubled youth near Albion, Mich., has joined with seven companies in a bid to develop a 200-megawatt hybrid wind and solar project, which would be the largest such project in the Midwest, if not in the world. The bid was submitted in response to a DTE Energy Co. request for proposal (RFP) for large-scale renewable energy generation.

Two new videos produced by Seimans in conjunction with Cannon Power Group demonstrate how a wind farm can benefit the local community. The videos are based on its Windy Point/Windy Flats (WP/WF) wind farm project in Goldendale, Washington with the first video focusing on the economic benefits of wind energy and the second video focusing on how to finance a wind energy project. In the first video, Golendale residents tell the story of how the formerly struggling town has new life due to the wind farm. Like many small towns in America, the younger generation has had to leave home to find good paying jobs. But with the growth of renewable energy, such as wind power, the economic equation has been improved through the creation of new jobs.

Japan ranked 18th in the global rankings for new wind power installations in 2010, creating 221,000 kw of renewable energy capacity compared with 16.5 million kw by China, the world’s front-runner, according to a recent study by an international trade association. Japan’s total wind-power generating capacity grew about 10 percent from the previous year against 22.5 percent globally as many countries rushed to develop alternative energy sources to fight climate change and reduce their reliance on oil, the Global Wind Energy Council said.

Developers are pulling plans to put a wind farm in an area of western Ohio known for its cross-tipped churches. NextEra Energy Resources, a Florida-based development company, said that it will look to build elsewhere in the area after residents of Mercer County complained that the dozens of wind turbines would block views of the region’s celebrated Roman Catholic church spires, according to The Lima News.

Maryland’s first wind turbine blade manufacturer could be running in two years, spitting out three 130-foot long turbine blades daily from a plant in Salisbury. AC Wind plans to spend upward of $10 million retrofitting a former US Marine boat plant to begin molding fiberglass wind turbine blades, company executives told the Associated Press in an interview in early March.

Wind energy turbine maker Suzlon has bagged an order from Caparo Energy India to set up wind turbines to develop 1,000-Mw power projects by March 2013. The total deal value is estimated at $1.28 billion. Around 500 Mw of the capacity is expected to be commissioned progressively by March 2012, Suzlon said.

Onsted (Michigan) Community Schools has tapped into energy-saving measures with the recent installation of a solar panel and wind turbine. The school district received nearly $57,500 in grant funding from Energy Works Michigan for the solar panel and wind turbine package, set up near the high school parking lots. The balance of the $76,100 project was covered with funds from the school’s capital projects budget. Superintendent Mark Haag said the district started pursuing the energy conservation project in the summer of 2009. He said the installation will help educate and prepare students for college and careers in “green economy” fields.

Aerospace engineering expert Michael “Miki” Amitay, associate professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in January received a $250,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to continue his work on smarter blades for wind turbines. Amitay has developed a new technology to help dramatically lessen the impact of low and gusty winds on wind turbines. His solution involves incorporating small synthetic jet actuators into wind turbine blades. These actuators can produce puffs of air that alter the flow of air around the blade. Sensors built into the blade can sense how the air is flowing around the blade, and how much vibration-induced strain the blade is experiencing. These sensors automatically activate the actuators, in real time.

An Oregon company is seeking regulatory approval to construct North Carolina’s first commercial wind farm in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties in the northeastern corner of the state. Iberdrola Renewables wants to build 150 wind turbines capable of generating 300 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 55,000 or more homes – on flat agricultural land in the region.

The global wind turbine market is a consolidated market in which the top ten companies account for approximately 80% of the total market. The European wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, from Denmark, dominated the global market in 2009, with 12.8% of market share on the basis of installed capacity. It has an installed capacity of 4,921.3 MW. GE Energy ranked at number two with 12% market share and 4,606.6 MW of installed capacity. The rapid development in the Asian economies such as China and India has attracted major players in the wind turbine manufacturing industry. The companies in the industry have started to invest in these countries for the development of wind energy.

Energy efficiency will be the main sector in the coming years, though the renewable sector (wind energy, solar power) will equally increase, especially in China, with good opportunities also for Western industries. Positive signs of recovery of the global clean energy market will continue to be seen also in 2011, according to forecasts by Kachan & Co., a US consulting firm that specializes in green technologies.

Northern Oregon is set to host the world’s largest wind farm, now that the U.S. Department of Energy has decided to provide Caithness Energy’s Shepherds Flat project with a $1.3 billion loan guarantee. Once constructed near Arlington, Oregon, the farm will feature nearly 340 wind turbines that can generate 845 megawatts of power.

Idaho Winds LLC, representing eight local wind farms, has petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve its unconventional plan to sell renewable energy credits in California. In its Dec. 15 request, Idaho Winds proposed to sell wind energy and related renewable energy credits to a third party. The catch was Idaho Winds would instantly buy the power back, leaving just the credits, which the third party would sell to a California utility.

California, along with most Western states, has a law requiring that renewable sources provide a certain percentage of the state’s energy needs. With every unit of renewable energy it buys or produces, a utility receives a renewable energy credit. At least 20 percent of California’s energy needed to come from renewable sources this year, with that percentage jumping to a full third by 2020.

The Obama administration has filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization over support China provides its wind-energy manufacturers, acting on a petition brought by the United Steelworkers union. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said that China’s Special Fund for Wind Power Manufacturing requires recipients of aid to use Chinese-made parts and amounts to a subsidy, both of which violate WTO rules.

Large offshore wind objects could harness about more than 4,000 GW of electricity according to a massive report on wind energy out this week from the US Department of Energy. The DOE notes that while the United States has not built any offshore wind projects about 20 projects representing more than 2,000 MW of capacity are in the planning and permitting process. Most of these activities are in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, although projects are being considered along the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Coast. The deep waters off the West Coast, however, pose a technology challenge for the near term.

Researchers from Ames National Laboratory and the University of Colorado have compiled evidence that wind turbines sited on farmlands may actually help certain crops thrive even when weather conditions are less than ideal. If further study does reveal a definite connection, it marks a real turnaround in our approach to energy production, from a high-risk destructive venture to a more moderate activity that can enhance the surrounding environment instead of laying waste to it.

Wind-turbine manufacturer Vestas announced December 21 it has landed contracts to build 83 new turbines. The towers for at least 55 of the turbines will be built at the Vestas manufacturing plant in Pueblo, company spokesman Andrew Longeteig said.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced in October a conditional commitment to provide a partial guarantee for a $1.3 billion loan in support of Caithness Energy’s 845-MW Shepherd’s Flat project in eastern Oregon. The $1.3 billion loan is expected to be funded by a group of institutional investors and commercial banks led by Citi, as lender-applicant and joint lead arranger, and three other joint lead arrangers: the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., RBS Securities and WestLB Securities, Inc.

The Canadian market for small wind energy systems is growing rapidly according to a new market study conducted for the Canadian Wind Energy Association. The market survey shows that annual sales for small wind energy systems in Canada have grown by 55 per cent over the past two years, despite the global economic downturn. At the same time, Canadian small wind manufacturing capacity has grown, with Canadian firms now representing over half of the world’s manufacturers of mid-size turbines. Small wind systems are used to power homes, farms, small businesses and off-grid communities.

Clipper Windpower will provide a 2.5 megawatt wind turbine for research at the University of Minnesota. The company has joined a research consortium that will develop a turbine at the university’s UMore Park site in Rosemount, Minnesota.

CNN Money reports a new report from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) says the 5 percent drop in American energy usage during 2009 is the largest annual drop on record. But wind energy production alone rose more than one-third during the same period.

Colorado has created a regulatory environment that makes it attractive to develop wind farms and other renewable energy projects within its borders. In the past several years, Colorado has developed and implemented numerous policies that promote the development of wind and other renewable energy resources, including an aggressive Renewable Energy Standard and an ambitious Energy Efficiency Resource Standard. Colorado House Bill 1001 was signed into law by Governor Bill Ritter in March of 2010 establishing a new Renewable Energy Standard for Colorado, obligating retail electric service providers to generate a portion of their electricity from renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. In 2015, the Renewable Energy Standard in Colorado moves to 20 percent, and in 2020, the Renewable Energy Standard in Colorado jumps to 30 percent.

SolarCity will install six new solar power systems on Rabobank branch locations throughout California. Solar installations are already under way at Rabobank’s Atascadero, Castroville, El Centro, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach and Salinas branch locations. The systems will total 200 kilowatts of new solar capacity and are expected to offset an estimated 50 percent of Rabobank’s energy use at the six sites.

The American Wind Energy Association has been fighting to counter a recent column in The Wall Street Journal that challenged a key selling point of wind — that it reduces carbon emissions. The industry also is defending its federal subsidies, arguing that they are actually less than those received by oil and gas companies.

We’ve been under attack by the fossil fuel industry for the last six months,” Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association,told reporters in a July interview.

After years of planning and bitter debate, Maryland’s first commercial wind energy project is taking shape in rugged Garrett County — just as a new legal challenge arises that could alter or even halt the $140 million venture in its tracks. At last something is happening,” says Marvin White Sr. The 62-year-old Oakland man says he’s been waiting nine years to see turbines go up, since leasing part of his farmland for four of the machines. The rent supplements his disability income, he says, and pays the taxes on his property. “It helped me keep this place.”

Matia Vanderbilt, though, believes this wind project and another one just starting construction on another part of the same ridge will damage wildlife, water resources and scenic views — while posing a threat to nearby residents’ health and safety.

The blades on a new wind turbine in Lebanon ,Ct. aren’t turning yet, but when they do the turbine will begin to pump electricity into the middle school. Lebanon is one of four municipalities selected from dozens by the Clean EnergyFund to test the potential of wind energy in the state, and the town is tying the facility into the school curriculum as a teaching tool.

Google plans to become carbon neutral at the same time promote green energy by entering into a 20-year agreement to buy power from an Iowa wind farm. The farm, part of NextEra Energy Resources in Story and Hardin counties, will sell Google 114 megawatts of renewable power. Google says that the energy it will buy is enough to power several of its data centers.

In reality, Google will not directly power its server farms with NextEra Energy. The move is a bid to boost renewable energy and secure NextEra Energy’s future by helping it grow, Google says. The wind energy Google buys, it explains, will be sold back to the regional grid. That in turn reduces,by 114 megawatts,the amount of non-renewable energy created to maintain the regional power grid.

Terra-Gen Power announced on July 22 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.

Southern California Edison already signed a long-term power of purchase agreement for 1,550 megawatts worth of generated power annually with the company in 2006. This project will go in part toward fulfilling that deal.

The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) has received a contract worth $26 million to supply wind turbine products and services to China’s Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Company, one of the world’s top five wind power equipment manufacturers.

The agreement reinforces Timken’s position as a leader in the sector, providing a customer-focused breadth of bearings and gearbox systems for multi-megawatt wind turbines. The company’s product offering also includes a full complement of seals, lubrication and online condition monitoring and support services for the life of the equipment.

Rhode Island and Massachusetts have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which says that the states will work together to coordinate the development of offshore wind projects in Rhode Island Sound. The development of this wind project will take place in federal waters in a 400 square mile area which starts 12 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard and extends 20 miles westward into Rhode Island Sound. The states will be leasing the project through the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), formerly known as Minerals Management Service (MMS).

Urban Green Energy, a globally known company for small-sized vertical axis wind turbines, has installed a 4-kW wind turbine at Valley Baptist Church premises in Illinois.

The vertical design of the wind turbine allows it to generate wind energy disregarding the wind direction and makes it convenient to use in places where the wind direction changes often.

The wind turbine is mounted on a 23 foot tall tower near the altar of the church and is expected to reduce the carbon generated, and power bills of the church considerably, and will enable the church to sell back the superfluous power generated to the grid while allowing it to propagate the use of green energy in Chicagoland area.

Minnesota Power is installing 33 turbines for the 76-megawatt Bison Wind I project on 12 square miles of farmland near New Salem, N.D.The $178 million Bison I project will see the first 16 turbines completed by the end of 2010, with the next 17-turbine phase to be completed a year later.

A US start-up company has designed a wind turbine combined with a gas-driven turbo motor that can be used to turn the turbine when the wind is not blowing, which is on average 70 per cent of the time.

Colorado-based Hybrid Turbines use a ground-level turbo compressor to compress air that then drives a turbo motor directly connected to the wind turbine.

Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri signed new wind farm legislation into law in June, keeping the proposed Block Island wind farm in play for another round before the Public Utilities Commission.

“Today, we are taking another step forward in our efforts to be the first state in the nation to construct an offshore wind farm,” said Carcieri. “We are setting a new course for renewable energy which will reduce our reliance on foreign oil, protect our environment and grow a new, green industry which will provide thousands of good-paying jobs for our citizens in the years to come. This was a collaborative effort and I extend my appreciation and thanks to the leadership of the General Assembly … as well as the many industry experts and Block Island residents for their hard work and commitment to see this project through.”

Progress Energy Carolinas is partnering with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Department of Marine Sciences on a new study to fully map and model North Carolina’s viable offshore wind resources. The study is expected to be the most comprehensive analysis to date on the state’s capability to support electricity generation from offshore wind energy.

The three-year research study will measure wind speeds in areas for which there is currently no data, create a refined wind resource map, and develop an atmospheric modeling system to enable improved wind forecasting capabilities. It does not include the installation of utility-scale wind turbines.

Progress Energy is investing $300,000 of research and development funding in this project, matching $300,000 in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding administered by the N.C. Energy Office in the N.C. Department of Commerce. The total cost of the study is expected to be around $1 million, and the remaining funds will come from federal grants and other private sponsors. Harvey Seim, a professor in UNC’s Department of Marine Sciences, will lead the university’s involvement in the study.

Canadian pipeline company Enbridge Inc. (ENB, ENB.T) said in June it will invest US$500 million in a 250-megawatt wind power project in Colorado. Calgary-based Enbridge will own and operate the Cedar Point Wind Energy Project located 80 miles east of Denver

A group of regional electrical utilities in April approved a $356 million power line project for western Kansas that will allow further development of wind power in the state. The Southwest Power Pool an association of utilities in parts of nine states, including most of Kansas, approved construction of a 200-mile, double-circuit 345-kilovolt line between Spearville and Wichita.

A German company plans to build a wind energy plant and bring 215 new jobs to Gainesville, Georgia. ZF Group, an automotive industry supplier, said Friday the plant will make wind turbine gearboxes for systems that convert wind energy into electricity. The company said it will invest $90 million in the project.

The plant will be built in the Gainesville Business Park, near an existing ZF facility that makes axle drives and transmissions for passenger vehicles and heavy construction equipment. That facility has been in operation for about 20 years, state officials said.

REpower Systems AG has concluded a contract with Al Yel Elektrik, a subsidiary of Akuo Energy SAS, for the delivery of 44 wind turbines for a Turkish project. The turbines of the REpower 3.XM series, of which each one has a rated power of 3.37 megawatts (MW) and a hub height of 80 meters, are destined for the Geycek wind farm in Kirsehir province East of Ankara. This is the first time the Hamburg-based manufacturer of wind turbines supplies turbines to Turkey. REpower will subsequently be in charge of service and maintenance for the turbines over the first 12 years of operation.

General Electric Co., the world’s second-biggest maker of wind turbines, plans to introduce a 4 megawatt gearless wind turbine for offshore use in 2012 in a challenge to market leader Siemens AG of Germany.

Government incentives and pricing pressure for onshore models amid the economic slowdown make the offshore market more attractive, Mete Maltepe, global sales leader for wind energy at GE,said.