EU-DIGEST

Maine offers wind-power rebates

The Maine Public Utilities Commission is offering a new incentive for residents and business owners to turn to wind for their energy needs. The PUC's Efficiency Maine program is offering rebates of up to $2,000 for qualified residential wind energy systems. Non-residential systems that meet program requirements could be eligible for rebates of up to $4,000. PUC Chairwoman Sharon Reishus says the new program will give help to those who want to take the next step toward energy independence.

Labels: Alternative Energy, US, Windpower

The Future of Wind Power: Perspectives on Global Wind

A lack of policy leadership is still the most important single factor holding back the development of the wind industry in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, according to a recent survey of more than 1000 readers of Renewable Energy World magazine from throughout (greater) Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The group also identified the current high prices for conventional electric power and gas as key drivers behind the growth in wind power.

Poor policy leadership was cited by respondents as the single largest barrier faced by the wind industry – despite the fact that many of those replying came from EU countries which are subject to renewables targets. Both EU member countries and those replying from nations with no similar renewable energy targets, such as Algeria and Libya, believe that national governments are doing too little to encourage the development of wind power, suggesting that even where targets have been set they are viewed as inadequate by renewable energy experts. Some 63% of the respondents are directly involved in the wind sector. Of that group, over a quarter are project developers, while others work with utilities, own or operate wind farms, or are involved in turbine manufacture or R&D. Almost 95% of respondents agree that European Union renewable energy targets are helping drive forward the wind industry overall, whilst a similar number agree that a national renewable energy policy is an important factor in the growth of the wind industry in their own country.Slightly more than half of those polled agree or strongly agree that a current threat to the development of wind is the promise of carbon-free nuclear power (whether or not respondents agree this promise is well founded). However, almost half disagree, believing wind power does not face a threat from nuclear, either because the two technologies are established and independent, or that wind power has inherent advantages.

Labels: Alternative Energy, Windpower

Turkey to become a leader in wind energy

Turkey is preparing to play its part in providing alternative energy supplies. As the country begins to involve itself in wind energy investments, it has also decided to produce inland wind turbines, reported the Anatolia News Agency. Turkey to become a leader in wind energy Model Enerji, which was founded during the first half of 2008 by a team of veterans from Turkey's energy sector, was the first company founded in Turkey to manufacture megawatt-class wind turbines. Istanbul-based Model Enerji plans to manufacture the 1.65-megawatt turbines, which utilize a doubly fed induction generator drive train, at a factory to be established in Ankara’s industrial zone. The investing company has purchased 38,000 square meters of land, said Nurettin Özdebir, chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Industry, or ASO. "We aim to be a leader in the sector by designing the most suitable turbines for various regions based on their local wind exposures. We one day hope to place ourselves among world-renowned wind energy brands," said Güç İçelli, company partner and deputy director.

Labels: Alternative Energy, Windpower

UK - Bring on energy revolution - by Gloria McShan

Nervous retailers, panicky bankers, gloomy estate agents - amid the continuing global stock-market turmoil, many investors are running scared. But is renewable energy one of the sectors with brighter financial prospects, due to EU and UK climate change targets?Mark Dowdall, of North-east land and property development company The Banks Group, believes renewables are where “the wise money is going” and says his company’s sustainable energy interests are helping offset a lean period in the property sector. Since in 2007 less than 5% of the UK’s electricity came from renewables, there is a mountain to climb even to meet 2020 EU goals. However, even more than investment, he flagged up the planning process as a critical area for the Government to address.

For example, protests against wind farms often held up projects for several years. “We’re pussyfooting around,” he added. Government targets make renewable energy an attractive sector.

Labels: Alternative Energy, Britain, EU, Windpower

New Energy Economy: Energy Economy Emerging in the USA - by Lester R.Brown

As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, and as concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging in the United States. The old energy economy, fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas, is being replaced by one powered by wind, solar, and geothermal energy. The transition is moving at a pace and on a scale that we could not have imagined even a year ago. Consider Texas. Long the leading oil-producing state, it is now also the leading generator of electricity from wind, having overtaken California two years ago. Texas now has nearly 6,000 megawatts of wind-generating capacity online and a staggering 39,000 megawatts in the construction and planning stages. When all this is completed, Texas will have 45,000 megawatts of wind-generating capacity (think 45 coal-fired power plants). This will more than satisfy the residential needs of the state’s 24 million people, enabling Texas to feed electricity to nearby states such as Louisiana and Mississippi.

After Texas and California, the other leaders among the 30 states with commercial-scale wind farms are Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, and Colorado. And other states are emerging as wind superpowers. Clipper Windpower and BP are teaming up to build the 5,050-megawatt Titan wind farm, the world’s largest, in eastern South Dakota. Already under development, Titan will generate five times as much electricity as the state’s 780,000 residents currently use. This project includes building a transmission line along an abandoned rail line across Iowa, feeding electricity into Illinois and the country’s industrial heartland.

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Labels: Alternative Energy Resources, Offshore Wind Energy, US, Windpower

A Few Snags, but Hopes Are Still High for Offshore Wind in Texas - by Kate Galbraith

While the race to develop offshore wind energy is heating up in the Northeast, things have hit a few speed bumps in the waters off Texas — already the nation’s leader in on-land wind power production. Wind Energy Systems Technology (W.E.S.T.), a company that holds all five offshore wind leases in state waters in the Gulf of Mexico, is still looking for $311 million to build a 62-turbine farm nine miles off of Galveston, in 50-foot depths. It recently lost two potential investors — Lehman Brothers and Wachovia — which foundered amid the recent financial turmoil. And the wind boom in the mesas of west Texas has so far served to reduce interest in offshore wind in the Gulf, according to Jerry Patterson, Texas’s land commissioner. Offshore wind projects have not yet been developed in the United States, mainly because it is far more expensive than onshore wind.

Labels: Alternative Energy, Texas, Windpower

Alternative energy - Windpower - U.S. wind power grew 45 percent in 2007: AWEA - by Bernie Woodall

U.S. wind power grew by 45 percent in 2007, blowing away past annual growth marks, industry group American Wind Energy Association said.

Utilities seeking green alternatives, some in states requiring more renewable power, helped wind power account for $9 billion invested and 30 percent of all new U.S. power generation in 2007, the AWEA said in its annual year-end report. In 2006, wind power grew by 20 percent. when about $4 billion was spent in the industry. The AWEA said this year's new wind power installation will be about the same as in 2007. Growing fast has its pains, and one is that growth in 2008 will be limited by a shortage of wind turbines. The AWEA said wind turbines are sold out for the year, a condition it says will ease as more manufacturers enter the burgeoning market.

The 5,244 megawatts of new wind turbines installed in 2007 can power about 1.5 million U.S. homes. Installed U.S. wind power capacity by the end of 2007 was 16,818 megawatts.For the first time, wind power accounts for more than 1 percent of overall U.S. electricity production and can power about 4.5 million homes, the AWEA said.

Labels: USA, Windpower

Siemens eyes to invest in Turkish wind energy market

Europe's largest engineering conglomerate, Siemens, has taken steps to increase its position in the Turkish renewable energy market. Siemens Turkey CEO Hüseyin Gelis and Wolfgang Dehen, a board member and the company's energy division CEO, expressed their strong will to invest in the Turkish wind energy business in particular at a roundtable with members of the press in İstanbul on Tuesday. "We see a huge market of opportunities in Turkey's energy sector. And we strongly wish to invest in this market!" Dehen said. "Turkey is among the world's top five fastest growing countries and is currently the 17th most important economic power of the world, with the potential to move up to 15th place in 2008," Dehen said, explaining that these growth rates will naturally be reflected by a rapidly increasing demand for energy in the future.

Labels: Alternative Energy, EU, Siemens, Turkey, Windpower

Germany - Nordex enters into a contract for 215 MW with Eolia in Spain

Nordex Ibérica has entered into a frame contract with Spanish investor and developer Eolia Renovables, Madrid, for the delivery of up to 86 N90 and N100 (2,500 MW) multi-megawatt turbines, equivalent to total capacity of 215 megawatts (MW). The turbines are to be used in projects which Eolia is developing in the provinces of Castilla y León and Catalonia. Deliveries are to be completed by 2010.

Eolia Renovables will be completing wind farms with a capacity of around 1,000 MW by 2010. The company invests in 43 projects of electricity generation from renewable sources

Labels: Alternative Energy, Germany, Windpower

Alternative Energy -Texas - Oil derricks yield to giant wind turbines

Once the oil capital of North America, Texas is rapidly turning into the capital of wind power. The wind turbines that recently went up on Louis Brooks' ranch are twice as high as the Statue of Liberty, with blades that span as wide as the wingspan of a jumbo jet. More important, from his point of view, he is paid $500 a month to permit 78 of them on his land, with 76 more on the way. Texas, once the oil capital of North America, is rapidly turning into the capital of wind power. After breakneck growth in the last three years, Texas has reached the point that more than 3 percent of its electricity, sufficient to supply power to 1 million homes, comes from wind turbines. Texans are even turning tapped-out oil fields into wind farms, and no less an oilman than Boone Pickens is getting into alternative energy.

Labels: Alternative Energy, Texas, Windpower

Wind Power - Europe has embraced commercial wind energy - by Wendy Williams

Getting energy from the wind IS nothing new. Indeed, the idea is as old as the invention of a sail to move boats. The Romans used windmills to grind grain, and the Dutch used them to keep back the sea. Early ranches in America commonly used windmills to pump water and even, in the early 20th century, to generate electricity.Support for wind power is growing in the US Congress. When the Cape Wind project in MA first was proposed in 2001, few elected officials knew much about wind energy. Today, however, wind turbines are much more accepted. Among the states where they are most common—Texas, California, Minnesota and Iowa—support for wind energy is very strong. The growth of the industry has been promoted by the federal government in the form of tax credits. But many agree that more could be done. Al Benson, a natural-gas expert formerly with the U.S. Department of Energy, worries that America may be losing its edge in energy technology. “We need to encourage investment in new ideas,” he warns. “We need to try new things.” The lack of a long-term federal policy encouraging wind power has meant that manufacturing projects are moving to China, says Randall Swisher, head of the American Wind Energy Association. He notes that one important wind-turbine company has six factories in China—and none in the U.S.

Europe has embraced commercial wind energy. Some examples: • Denmark produces 20% of its electric power from wind and plans to double that figure over the next few decades. • In Germany, nearly 19,000 wind turbines cover the country, generating 5% of its electricity. It will start building hundreds of new turbines in the North and Baltic seas next year. • Britain hopes to build 7000 wind turbines—enough to power all the nation’s houses—by 2020.

Labels: Alternative Energy Resources, EU, US, Windpower

Ex-president to utilize wind power at Walker's Point, Maine-by Anne Gleason

Recently, a 33-foot-tall windmill was installed to generate electricity for the oceanfront home of former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara. The Bushes decided to buy and install a windmill after being approached by Southwest Windpower, a nationwide company that manufactures wind turbines, said Jim Appleby, personal aide to the former president. "After looking at the specifications, the pros and the cons, they decided that they'd give it a try," he said. The wind turbine, a Skystream 3.7 model, is capable of generating electricity once wind speed reaches 8 mph, said Bob Greig, president of All Season Home Improvement Co. in Augusta, which installed the windmill.

Labels: Environment: climate change, George Bush Sr., Windpower

Wind Power's a Breeze in Europe - by Mark Scott

After years of playing second fiddle to mainstream power sources, Europe's renewable energy sector is now going from strength to strength. Lucrative government subsidies, an EU-wide goal to reduce CO2 emissions 20% by 2020, and growing public support for the fight against climate change have turned this new industry into a force to be reckoned with.

Wind power is leading the push into renewables, helping to place Europe ahead of other regionsin the race to capitalize on the green power revolution. According to Barcelona-based consultancy Emerging Energy Research (EER), the European wind turbine market—including construction—will surge by two-thirds between 2006 and 2015 to an annual total of $15 billion.

Labels: Alternative Energy, EU, Windpower

Legal Turbulence in Germany: Who Owns the Wind? - by Sebastian Knauer

With a growing number of wind power stations in Germany, a new kind of legal case is rearing its ugly head. The crime: stealing wind.

A court in Leipzig that is currently hearing a case involving a dispute between the operators of two wind turbine facilities. Who owns the wind?

Labels: EU, Windpower

European wind power companies grow in U.S. - by Alan Siebel

New worries about the environment, technology advances and tax break extensions are empowering European wind energy companies to try their luck in the United States.

The U.S. has led the world in installing new wind turbines for the past two years, but it still ranks behind Germany and slightly below Spain in wind power production, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.

Labels: Alternative Energy Resources, European technology, Windpower

Wind power capacity in EU up 19 percent

Wind power capacity in the European Union increased by 19 percent in 2006, the wind energy industry's federation announced Thursday. The European Wind Energy Association said the industry in the 27-nation EU is now worth $11.7 billion and accounts in an average year for 3.3 percent of EU electricity consumption. The association said Germany and Spain continue to lead in the field in the environment-friendly sector, but that more EU nations were increasing investment in the technology.

"The figures clearly confirm that a second wave of European countries is investing in wind power," said Christian Kjaer, the association's chief executive.

Labels: Windpower