Nordex 37 MW Order in Spain - Sant Antoni - Eolia Renovables

Nordex has obtained an order from Eolia Renovables to supply 15 N100/2500 wind turbines. Eolia is one of the leading independent European generators of power from renewable sources. The company is calling in the turbines from a master agreement signed with Nordex in 2007. In addition to delivery of the machines, the order also includes turnkey installation of the wind farm. Furthermore, Eolia Renovables is taking advantage of the Nordex Premium Service.

The 37.5 megawatt wind farm “Sant Antoni” is being built in the Spanish region of Catalonia. Nordex plans to complete the infrastructure work and foundation construction by autumn so that the turbines can be set up in the course of this year. The annual energy yield is expected to be around 93,000 megawatt hours.

“Sant Antoni” is the first N100/2500 project in Spain and one of the largest Nordex wind farms there. “Caramonte”, with 22 N90/2500 machines, also ranks among the largest Nordex projects in Spain and belongs to Eolia as well.
www.nordex-online.com

Wind Energy Foundation: Darlene Snow appointed Executive Director

Darlene Snow has been appointed Executive Director of the Wind Energy Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based organization founded in 2010 to educate the public about the benefits of wind power.

Bringing to the Foundation over 20 years of experience leading public education campaigns at several of the world's largest communications firms, Snow most recently headed up the Industry Affairs and Energy practices at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, where she created a number of award-winning campaigns as a senior vice president in the firm's Washington office.

Prior to Ogilvy, Snow led the technology practice at Edelman Los Angeles during the dot-com boom, working with a number of leading technology and Internet companies.

The Wind Energy Foundation is focusing in its first year on U.S. education programs, Snow said,. However, its scope is global, and the campaigns will ultimately be geared to reach an international audience. In addition to supporting research projects and wind education programs, the Foundation is a partner in WindMade™, a new labeling program for companies, facilities, and soon, products that source at least 25 percent of their electricity from wind energy.

"I am tremendously excited to take this opportunity to share the compelling story of how wind power is good for America," said Snow. "Having produced 35 percent of our nation's new electricity generating capacity during the last few years, wind energy is now a major player in the energy industry and enjoys tremendous public support, especially in communities powered by wind. What's exciting about the Foundation's education-centered mission is that the facts best tell wind's story. By educating the public on those facts and supporting research that will enable an ever-increasing body of information to come to light, the Wind Energy Foundation will provide an invaluable service—not only to wind energy—but to America and every country seeking to diversify into clean energy."

Virtually each stop along Snow's career has helped to make her an ideal fit for the executive director post. As a private consultant, Snow led several national initiatives for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste. Earlier, she served as a national spokesperson on recycling and resource recovery programs at the National Solid Wastes Management Association. Snow began her career at Gershman, Brickner & Bratton (GBB), an environmental consulting firm specializing in solid waste project development. She has a B.S. degree in Environmental Resource Management from the Pennsylvania State University, where she served as president of the university EcoAction chapter.

"Darlene Snow brings a stellar combination of experience, skills and talents to the Wind Energy Foundation. As Executive Director, she will lead our campaign to educate America about the extraordinary benefits wind energy brings to the American people: homegrown and reliable electricity, jobs and economic development in every corner of the country, and a tremendous hedge against volatile fuel costs," said Don Furman, vice president of external affairs Iberdrola Renewables and chairman of the Foundation's board of directors.
http://windenergyfoundation.org/

Nordex wins 150 MW Blaiken Project in Sweden - Skellefteå Kraft, Fortum

Nordex has won the largest order awarded for an onshore wind project in Sweden to date: as of summer 2012 the turbine manufacturer will be building “Blaiken”, a 150 MW wind farm. The customers are Skellefteå Kraft, a leading energy supplier in Sweden and Fortum, one of the largest power utilities in Europe, based in Finland. Skellefteå Kraft and Fortum have placed a firm order for 60 turbines for “Blaiken” thus accelerating the originally intended call-off schedule of themaster agreement entered into last year. The N100/2500 machines will be fitted with Nordex’ new anti-icing system for rotor blades.

The successful development of the anti-icing system was a key criterion for the order. Nordex designed this system especially for sites where there is a risk of ice forming on the rotor blade. This can result in substantial production losses. An integrated heating system now prevents icing, thereby maximising the yield.

In autumn 2010 Nordex installed the first N100/2500 turbines with anti-icing in “Jokkmokksliden”, the forerunner project to “Blaiken”. The wind turbine manufacturer tested and optimised the system on the basis of three prototypes and one reference machine. “The cost-benefit ratio of anti-icing persuaded us to have all the turbines equipped with this innovative system,” says Risto Andsten,Vice President Renewable Energy, Fortum.

“Our new anti-icing system is the result of collaboration between different functions within our company, and we are pleased to now see the system put into commercial operation on one of thelargest projects in Europe. We are now able to offer an attractive option for all customers planning projects at locations with ice and frost,” says Lars Bondo Krogsgaard, Chief Sales Officer at Nordex SE.
http://www.nordex-online.com/

Vestas wins 102 MW Tehachapi Project from Brookfield and Coram

Vestas has received a 102 MW order for 34 V90-3.0 MW turbines for a wind-energy project in Tehachapi, California, USA, owned by Brookfield Renewable Power (“Brookfield”) and Coram California Development Management, LLC (“CCDM”).

The contract includes delivery and commissioning along with a two-year service and maintenance agreement. Delivery is scheduled for the second half of 2011 and commissioning is expected in late 2011.

“We look forward to working with Brookfield and Coram to bring cost-effective, predictable and clean wind energy to California,” said Martha Wyrsch, President of Vestas Americas. “The V90-3.0 MW is designed to operate in areas of medium-to-high winds, so it is the ideal turbine for this site.”

This project will provide direct and indirect economic benefits to Kern County with long-term jobs and property-tax revenues generated from the turbines.

“This high-quality wind-power project complements our strategy of expanding our renewable power presence in California,” said Kim Osmars, COO of Brookfield Renewable Power’s U.S. Operations. “This order represents an important project milestone, and completion of the facility is expected to bring Brookfield’s North American wind portfolio to more than 600 megawatts of installed capacity by the end of 2011.”

Brookfield recently began construction of the Granite Reliable Wind Project in New Hampshire, which is using 33 V90-3.0 MW turbines from Vestas.

Once this California project is finished, Vestas will have 1,255 MW of its industry-leading wind turbines throughout the state.

“Coram has been working on this development for several years and is proud to be working with Brookfield and Vestas to finally bring it to market,” said Brian O’Sullivan, President of CCDM. “We look forward to doing future projects with both Brookfield and Vestas.”
www.vestas.com

Offshore Wind delivers Green Growth in UK

Growth of up to 10% per year with up to 230,000 jobs in 2050 New economic analysis released today by the Carbon Trust reveals that the global offshore wind sector is set to grow by up to 10 per cent per year and the Carbon Trust expects the UK to capture around a 10% share of the global offshore wind market, which is estimated to be worth up to £170bn/year1 by 2050. The new analysis also concludes the sector could be employing up to 230,000 people in the UK by 2050. The research examined the potential of offshore wind to drive green growth in the UK, based on global deployment levels of up to 1150GW by 2050. It looked in detail at jobs and revenues by industry sector, including turbines, foundations, collection & transmission, installation and the operation and maintenance of offshore windfarms. It found that offshore wind could represent a gross contribution to UK GDP generated by business of up to £10bn2 a year, or £100bn cumulatively between 2010 and 2050. By 2050, the greatest contribution for the UK will be created by the operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms, followed by turbine manufacture and installation. The new data also concludes that offshore wind could create up to 230,000 jobs in the UK by 2050. Exports from the UK offers significant growth potential, generating up to 80 per cent of total jobs out to 2050. Benj Sykes, director of Innovations at the Carbon Trust, commented: “This analysis confirms that offshore wind is a strategically important economic asset for the UK that can deliver long term growth and energy security. The economic prize for the UK economy is vast and we have to grab it now. We are in an excellent position to be a global market leader. If we seize this green growth opportunity, the UK will benefit from hundreds of thousands of new jobs, a booming new export market and billions of pounds of business benefits.” The table below outlines the potential gross contribution to UK GDP generated by the offshore wind sector, based on a scenario of 1150GW deployed globally by 2050 broken-down into each of the five major component areas. This is based on assumptions about the feasibility of exporting from the UK to different geographies and about how much supply chain capability develops in the UK. http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/

45 MW Order for Nordex - Idaho project / CG Power Solutions

Nordex USA, Inc. continues its run of good news into 2011 by announcing a new order from CG Power Solutions USA, Inc. (formerly MSE Power Systems), the US subsidiary of Crompton Greaves Ltd., which is a global leader in power transmission and distribution headquartered in India.

The 45 MW project in Power County – Nordex’ first project in Idaho – will use 18 of Nordex’ N100 2.5 MW turbines, and the contract includes delivery, installation, commissioning and testing of the turbines along with a maintenance and service agreement. This is CG’s first project as a developer and investor into a wind project in the United States, extending its activities beyond its widely recognized role as a substation, transmission engineering and EPC contractor. CG has completed grid interconnection for nearly 25% of all wind power installed in the USA.

“We are especially pleased that CG Power selected our turbines for this wind project,” said Ralf Sigrist, President & CEO of Nordex USA. “They bring their unique expertise and reputation as one of the top companies worldwide in transmission infrastructure to this project. We also look forward to possible future collaboration for mutual benefit and for the benefit of our customers and operators.”

This is the third order Nordex has received since the dedication of its new nacelle production plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas at the end of October. The fact that the turbines will be supplied from this facility is a key attraction for CG Power Solutions, which is committed to maximizing domestic content. Mark Scher, President of CG Power Solutions USA Inc, commented, “We have been very impressed by the Nordex manufacturing facilities and their commitment to quality at every step. We are eager to get started utilizing this utility scale turbine, which offers a unique fit for this Idaho project.”

The Power County project is construction-ready, and delivery of turbines will begin in mid-May with construction scheduled to be completed by September 2011. The site is in southeast Idaho, approximately 10 miles south of American Falls and approximately 20 miles southwest of Pocatello.

Wind Farm Projects in Turkey: Nordex Wins Large Contracts

Nordex has obtained the order for the turnkey installation of a wind farm in Turkey. Nordex is building the “Akres” project with 18 N90/2500 machines for Karesi Enerji, a subsidiary of the Turkish transformer manufacturer Best. In addition to this, the wind farm operator Dost Enerji has ordered six N90/2500 turbines for the extension of “Yuntdag”.

The “Akres” site is located near the city of Akhisar in the west of Turkey. Thanks to very good wind conditions, the capacity factor stands at around 42 percent. The turbines are able to produce 170 gigawatt hours of clean energy a year and supply some 90,000 Turkish households. The 45 MW wind farm is to be handed over to Karesi Enerji in summer 2011.

“Turnkey projects number among Nordex’s core competences worldwide. Now we can show what our project management is capable of in Turkey, too”, says Ayhan Gök, Nordex CEO in Turkey.

The order for the extension of the “Yuntdag” wind farm underlines Dost Enerji’s confidence in Nordex. “Yuntdag” (17 N90/2500s) had marked the start of Nordex’s entry into the Turkish market in 2007. The six machines to be added to the farm in summer 2011 provide an energy yield of 59 gigawatt hours per annum. http://www.nordex-online.com

Top Green Power Suppliers in the US

The U.S. Department of Energy last night recognized six leading organizations for their leadership in advancing green power production and distribution during the 10th annual Green Power Leadership Awards in Portland, Ore. Across the nation, responsible companies and consumers voluntarily purchase renewable energy through local suppliers to help reduce America's dependence on foreign energy sources and expand an industry that is creating thousands of new jobs each year. DOE encourages the growth of these programs nationwide by selecting exemplary programs to receive Green Power Leadership Awards. This year's winners include 3Degrees, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, SolarCity and SunRun – recognized by DOE as the Non-Utility Green Power Suppliers of the Year – and La Plata Electric Association and Portland General Electric – recognized as the Utility Green Power Programs of the Year.
Green Power programs are designed to provide consumers with the opportunity to purchase clean energy options from environmentally preferred sources. Winning organizations are evaluated on criteria such as: resources and technologies used, total annual renewable energy sales, number of customers served, market impact, amount of green power supplied, and overall value provided to customer participants. Through the combination of utility green pricing and competitive markets, green power is available in almost every state.

According to the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory:
- About 860 utilities offer green power programs in the U.S.
- Annual sales from utility green power programs have more than doubled since 2005
- Annual green power market sales increased by 17 percent in 2009, with a compound annual growth rate of 37 percent since 2005
- Nearly 1.4 million customers purchased green power in 2009 through a green power program, competitive marketer program or a renewable energy certificates marketer.

The Utility Green Power Programs of the Year recognizes utilities that are leaders in developing and implementing voluntary green power programs to serve their customers. This category is open to all utilities (municipal, rural electric cooperative, or investor-owned utility) offering voluntary renewable energy programs to their customers.

The Non-Utility Green Power Suppliers of the Year recognizes leading non-utility providers (e.g., marketer or other entity) that supply renewable energy to residential or nonresidential consumers who make voluntary purchases of renewable energy.

Green Power Network Leaders
3Degrees (San Francisco, CA) – This company has partnered with more than 900 organizations to reduce climate change and accelerate a low-carbon, renewable energy economy through Green-e® Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates and Verified Emission Reduction projects worldwide. 3Degrees also partners with utilities to offer residential and business customers a voluntary green power option, which 5.1 million have chosen. Its green power programs achieve an average participation rate of 6 percent, nearly three times the national average.

Bonneville Environmental Foundation (Portland, OR) – This foundation is a non-profit supplier of green power that re-invests the profits from their green power products in renewable energy development. Since 2000, the foundation and its partners have supported more than 3 million MWh of renewable energy generation nationwide. In 2009, the foundation installed 55 solar projects at U.S. schools and community buildings, and worked with Portland Public Schools to create the first "Net Zero Classroom" design integrated with solar photovoltaic systems.

SolarCity (Foster City, CA) – This is one of the nation's largest solar and energy efficiency service providers that has completed more than 9,000 projects since 2006. SolarCity is the nation's only company to offer solar design, financing, installation and monitoring to businesses and homeowners from a single source. The company's innovations include the solar lease, the community purchase program, the combination of solar power and electric vehicle charging infrastructure and the integration of solar power and energy efficiency audits and retrofits.

SunRun (San Francisco, CA) - Developed more than 5,000 home solar installations in five states that can produce more than 25 megawatts of electricity annually from residential solar photovoltaic systems and is growing 500 percent annually. SunRun partners with 20 leading local solar installers, which employ more than 2,500 local, green-collar workers.

Portland General Electric (Portland, OR) - An investor-owned utility serving more than 817,000 customers and 52 Oregon cities. In 2009, more than 10 percent of the utility's customers voluntarily signed up to participate in the Renewable Power Program, which saw sales of 740 million kilowatt-hours last year. Because of the excellent customer participation rate, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory ranked the program No. 1 for the number of renewable power customers in its annual survey. Portland General Electric received Green Power Leadership Awards in 2006 and 2008.

La Plata Electric Association (Durango, CO) – This rural electric cooperative, which serves more than 30,000 member-owners in rural communities of Southwest Colorado, purchases Green-e Certified or equivalent renewable energy and its attributes from wind-generating facilities across the western United States through its power supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission. Since LaPlata's members are voluntarily purchasing 25,500 of the 100-kWh blocks of green power available — more than 25 percent of the renewable energy sold by Tri-State — it is now the leader in green power sales among all of Tri-State's 44 cooperatives.

For more information on the Green Power Leadership Awards and the award recipients, visit The Green Power Network website at: http://greenpower.energy.gov/awards/awards10.html

Vestas Technology R&D Opens New Engineering Site in Louisville, Colorado

Vestas, the world's leader in producing high-tech wind power systems, announced today that it will open an Engineering Site in Louisville, Colo., to support Vestas Global and enhance Vestas' wind power production capabilities throughout North America. Vestas will move 46 employees into 47,675 square feet of space on Centennial Parkway, Louisville starting today, and will expand this team to include up to 125 highly skilled engineers within a year's time.

The Vestas Engineering Site will enhance Vestas' ability to integrate product development by placing it close to the company's three factories – a blades' factory in Windsor, a nacelles-assembly factory in Brighton and towers' factory Pueblo, thereby better servicing and meeting the needs of Vestas' North American customers.

"Vestas has made a deep commitment to Colorado, which is evidenced in our factories and the establishment of the Engineering Site. We are extremely committed to Colorado, and we look forward to a long, successful relationship here," said Finn Madsen, President Vestas
Technology R&D. "By co-locating engineering and design competencies with the production cluster in Colorado, the proximity of Technology R&D to manufacturing creates significant efficiencies that can be passed along as a direct benefit to our customers."

Vestas decided to build its North American production facilities in Colorado because of the state's central location, extensive transportation infrastructure and rail system, existing manufacturing base and skilled workforce.

The Vestas' Engineering Site will focus specifically on increasing wind turbine efficiency and lowering energy costs to ensure that wind is cost effective for our customers. The Site will work to improve technology for existing turbines and develop the wind power systems of
the future. http://www.vestas.com

Wind Power Outlook 2010 - by AWEA

Wind energy is ready today–ready to support hundreds of thousands of jobs, avoid carbon emissions on a large scale, and strengthen America’s energy security. A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) study has found that, for an investment costing the
average American household less than a can of soda a month, wind power could generate 20% of the nation’s electricity by 2030–as much as nuclear power today.

Download AWEA Wind Power Outlook 2010:
http://awea.org/pubs/documents/Outlook_2010.pdf

Allianz and Nordex cooperate to develop Wind Power in France

Allianz has acquired two more wind farms from Nordex France

Nordex AG is further improving its position as one of the leading project developers on the French market: Allianz Specialised Investments, part of the alternative asset investment activities of the Allianz Group, has purchased the wind farms “Barbes d´Or” (12.5 MW) and “Joyeuses” (10 MW), planned and erected by Nordex. The total projects are equipped with Nordex N90/2500 turbines with 100 metre hub heights and are located in central France near to Issoudun.

In April this year Allianz already acquired the 12.5 MW “Les Cent Jalois” wind farm (12.5 MW) in the region of Aisne in northern France. This marked the start of the collaboration between Allianz and Nordex France. “We are pleased about this partnership. Allianz has now decided three times in favour of our N90/2500 technology, which has proved such an all-round success”, said Carsten Pedersen, COO Sales and marketing at Nordex.

With 334 MW on grid, Nordex is one of the three largest project developers in France. Overall, today Nordex France has a portfolio of 1,000 MW in different stages of development.

David Jones, CEO of Allianz Specialised Investments, said: "We are pleased to have acquired these two wind farms from Nordex and thereby increase our activities in France. We now have four operational wind farms in this key wind energy market. These latest investments also take our operational asset base in Europe to over 300 MW.”
http://www.nordex-online.com/

Nordex delivering a further 36 multi-MW turbines to Turkey

Bilgin Enerji financing third N90/2500 wind farm as planned

Nordex’s Turkish business is con-tinuing to gain momentum: After the award of a contract for 115 MW last summer, finance has now also been obtained for the next project. Accordingly, Nordex will be supplying the power station operator Bilgin Enerji with 36 N90/2500 turbines for the “Soma” project as of January. With a total volume of 90 MW, Bilgin will be calling this package down under the 210 MW master contract signed in spring 2008 in line with plans. The Turkish company has additionally also booked a premium service package.

Nordex will be assembling the “Soma” wind farm in the province of Manisa in western Turkey. The 36 turbines will be distributed over a large mountainous terrain. With a combined notional annual yield of over 300 gigawatt/hours they will be able to supply more than 150,000 Turkish households with electricity, simultaneously saving emissions of around 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

“Soma” is the third firm contract received from Bilgin. At the begin-ning of September, the “Mazi III” wind farm (22.5 MW) went on line and Nordex is already commencing the delivery of 36 turbines for “Bergama” (90 MW), the first project under the master contract. “Bergama” and “Soma” figure amongst the two largest wind power projects in Turkey to date. “Today, with the signature of the firm contract for the `Soma´ wind farm with Nordex, we have strength-ened our leading position as an investor in the Turkish renewable energy sector”, says Tolga Bilgin, Vice President of Bilgin Energy.

With contracts for a total of 300 MW, Nordex is one of the leading wind power companies in Turkey. “We have our fingers directly on the pulse of the market via our branch in Istanbul, which we estab-lished in April. This is proving to be a strategic advantage for us as Turkey has plans to extend its wind power capacity substantially. With new licenses about to be awarded, we are already in talks with potential customers,” says Carsten Pedersen, COO Sales and Marketing at Nordex.
http://www.nordex-online.com

Wind Turbine at Home ? Test the wind speed with your iPhone !

Check the Wind on your iPhone with the new Windspire me! App

Mariah Power and digital design firm, Create with Context, are launching the Windspire me! app for the iPhone. The new app will let you measure the wind speed with your iPhone and tell you what you can power with a Windspire or how much CO2 you can save from the environment.

To get on the notification list when the free app is available in the iTunes store please click here.

US Wind Power Installations Up in Q3 2009: AWEA Report

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reported today in its third quarter (Q3) market report that the U.S. wind energy industry installed 1,649 megawatts (MW) of new power generating capacity in the third quarter—an amount higher than either the 2nd quarter of 2009 or the 3rd quarter of 2008—bringing the total capacity added this year to date to over 5,800 MW. AWEA also reported that wind turbine manufacturing still lags below 2008 levels, in both production and new announcements.

"Wind power installations are up, and that is good news for America's economy, environment, and energy security," said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. "But manufacturing, which has the potential to employ many more Americans in good, clean energy jobs, remains uncertain. A firm, long-term national commitment to renewable energy is still needed for the U.S. to become a wind turbine manufacturing powerhouse and create hundreds of thousands of jobs."

Since the early July announcement of rules to implement the stimulus bill, the wind industry has seen over 1,600 MW (enough to serve the equivalent of 480,000 average households) of completed projects, and over 1,700 MW of construction starts. These projects equate to about $6.5 billion in new investment. AWEA does not expect the fourth quarter of 2009 to be as strong as the fourth quarter of 2008 since the 5,000 MW now under construction is nearly 38% lower than the over 8,000 MW under construction at this time last year.

The total wind power capacity now operating in the U.S. is over 31,000 MW, generating enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 9 million homes, avoiding the emissions of 57 million tons of carbon annually and reducing expected carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 2.5%.

The state posting the fastest growth rate in the third quarter was Arizona, which installed its first utility-scale project. Pennsylvania ranked 2nd in growth with 29%, followed by Illinois with 22%, Wyoming with 21%, and New Mexico with 20%.

Additional report highlights:
The top five states in additions for new capacity added in the third quarter are:
* Texas - 436 MW
* Oregon - 251 MW
* Illinois - 201 MW
* Colorado - 174 MW
* Wyoming - 170 MW

The top five states in total operating wind capacity are:
* Texas - 8,797 MW
* Iowa - 3,053 MW
* California - 2,787 MW
* Minnesota - 1,805 MW
* Oregon - 1,659 MW

AWEA will hold a webcast to present and discuss the findings of the Q3 market report on Wednesday, October 21, at 12:00pm EST. To register for the webcast go to www1.gotomeeting.com/register/727161720.

The full Q3 market report is available on the AWEA website at www.awea.org/publications/reports/3Q09.pdf.

Vestas ramps up Services teams, 150 new jobs

Vestas announced the opening of a brand new office in Randers, Denmark, to host its Spare Parts & Repair teams. Furthermore, locations for the leadership team are also being set up in Bristol, UK, together with sections of engineering, customer service and platform management. In Q4 2009, a gearbox service centre will open in Spain, and in Q1 2010, a second one will follow in Colorado, USA.

Since January 2009, Vestas has had a dedicated organisation for servicing its customers. Today, Vestas Spare Parts & Repair has a staff of 230, with the vast majority located in Randers, Denmark. By the end of 2010, an additional 150 people will have joined the Vestas Spare Parts & Repair.

"We are making these radical changes and large investments so that we can further improve the customer experience. These developments mark the continued focus on bringing service to world-class standards," Phil Jones, President of Vestas Spare Parts & Repair explains.

The entire warehouse and distribution network in Spare Parts & Repair will service the seven Vestas Sales Business Units, and the objectives are to be consolidated into one global, world-class network in 2010.

Wind turbine at home: Wind Energy FAQ

The American Wind Energy Association provides a complete FAQ for homeowners.

Will a small wind turbine save me money?
The wind turbine typically lowers your electricity bill by 50 to 90 percent. It is not uncommon for wind turbine owners with total-electric homes to have monthly utility bills of only $8 to $15 for nine months of the year. In northern parts of the country where less air conditioning is used the bills can be very low year-round. The amount of money a small wind turbine saves you in the long run will depend upon its cost, the amount of electricity you use, the average wind speed at your site, and other factors.

How much does a wind system cost?
A small turbine can cost anywhere from $6,000 to $22,000 installed, depending upon size, application and service agreements with the manufacturer.

How would I have a wind turbine installed at my home?
Most dealers offer either complete turnkey (ready-to-operate) installations or the option to purchase direct from the factory and install the system yourself. The first option offers more customer support from the company. Self-installation offers significant savings and a hands-on understanding of the turbine. Prospective owners can discuss the options available with manufacturers to decide which method best suits their budget and technical skills.

What are the companies that sell wind turbines?
http://www.awea.org/smallwind/smsyslst.html

Read the complete Wind Energy FAQ on http://www.awea.org/faq/rsdntqa.html

US Wind energy industry installs 1,200 MW in Q2

Manufacturing slowdown seen; industry calls for strong near-term renewable energy targets to keep US in worldwide lead

The U.S. wind energy industry installed 1,210 megawatts (MW) of new power generating capacity in the second quarter, bringing the total added this year to just over 4,000 MW – an amount larger than the 2,900 MW added in the first six months of 2008, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said today in its second quarter (Q2) market report.

While the number of completed wind farm installations was solid, AWEA said it is seeing a reduced number of orders and lower level of activity in manufacturing of wind turbines and their components, a development it termed troubling in view of the fact that the U.S. industry was previously on track for much larger growth and the global wind power industry is continuing to expand.

“The numbers are in, and while they show the industry has been swimming upstream, adding some 4,000 MW over the past six months, the fact is that we could be delivering so much more,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “Our challenge now is to seize the historic opportunity before us to unleash this entrepreneurial force and build up an entire new industry here in the U.S. that will create jobs, avoid carbon, and strengthen our energy security. To achieve that, Congress and the Administration must pass a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) with strong early targets.”

During the second quarter, the U.S. wind energy industry completed a total of 1,210 MW in 10 states, enough to power the equivalent of about 350,000 homes. These new installations nudge total U.S. wind power generating capacity to 29,440 MW, according to the report. The U.S. wind power generating fleet now offsets an average of 54 million tons of carbon annually, reducing carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 2% or the equivalent of taking 9 million cars off the road.

The state posting the fastest growth in the 2nd quarter was Missouri, where wind power installations expanded by 90%.

“Missourians know that in order for us to grow our state’s economy and create the jobs of the twenty-first century, we must embrace new technology and advances like the ones presented to us through renewable wind energy,” said Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. “So I’m proud that the American Wind Energy Association’s quarterly report shows no state has capitalized on these growth opportunities more aggressively over the last three months than Missouri has. But that isn’t enough. Missouri will continue to look for ways to enhance our energy supply and independence by using common-sense and cost effective expansions of clean, renewable wind power.”

Pennsylvania and South Dakota ranked second and third in terms of growth rate in the second quarter, expanding by 28% and 21% respectively.

Vestas receives orders for 75 MW for wind energy projects in China

Vestas has received two new orders from a large Chinese Independent Power Producer (IPP), totalling 75 MW. The first order consists of seven units of the V90-1.8 MW wind turbine and six units of the V90-2.0 MW wind turbine for a project in the Shandong province. The second order is for 25 units of the V80-2.0 MW wind turbine for a project in the Guangdong province.

At the customer’s request, details about the projects’ ownership cannot be disclosed.
The contracts include delivery, installation and commissioning of the wind turbines, a VestasOnline® Business SCADA solution and a two-year service and maintenance agreement.

“We are proud to partner with this progressive IPP, and we are eager to build upon and develop this partnership,” said Lars A. Andersen, President of Vestas China. “Vestas will do our utmost to ensure that this relationship is long-lasting and mutually beneficial. We are excited to continue to share our 30 years of industry experience with this large customer and providing them with our knowledge, expertise and support.”

Vestas has a long history with both provinces and will remain committed to their development and growth. In 1986, Vestas installed China’s first wind turbines in the Shandong province.
http://www.vestas.com

Home Wind Turbine - Things you need to know

Home wind turbine has become a widely popular energy saving system around the world today, Find out how you can turn wind as energy when you build your own wind turbine today!

The characteristic of a home wind turbine is specially designed to be environmentally friendly and costs saving. With the existence of harmful greenhouse gases in our environment today, it is recommended to have one of these great systems to reduce the amount of pollutants being produced into the environment.

Looking into more benefits of a home wind turbine, its features also include generating free supply of electricity from natural wind energy, as such; you can save over 80% of your electrical bills every month. In other words, if you are interested in saving money, one of the most effective ways to save money is by switching to alternative sources of creating electricity with a home wind turbine.

Things You Need To Know:

1. Wind Flow
A home wind turbine requires wind at a constant rate to operate efficiently. Check the yearly average amount of wind flow in your area.
If you are staying in the U.S, you can acquire the windflow data from the American Wind Energy Association website at awea.org.

2. Watch Out Obstructions Surrounding Your House
Research for tall obstructions around the surrounding of your house. This is important as they may hinder the wind flow towards your house.

Besides man-made objects, look out for huge trees that get in the way of the wind flow to your house. Remember, your home wind turbine needs as much wind flow in order for it to perform well.

3. Check If Home Wind Turbines Are Allowed In Your Area
Check with your local CC&Rs and local zoning if it is alright to have a home wind turbine installed beside or behind your house.

Base on the huge amount of searches on the internet, an increasing amount of homeowners are interested to use home wind turbines to power their homes today. This real and practical approach to save costs and protect the environment has grown enormously popular, cheap and practical.

A home wind turbine is very affordable, especially when you do-it-yourself. The estimated cost to build your very own home wind turbine is around a hundred dollars.

There are many installation guides available for building your own DIY home wind turbines on the internet. You may want to check out the guides available at http://www.greenearth4energy.com. There, you can find top guides on how to build a solar panel, a home wind turbine and a solar water heater altogether.

Alternative, you may want to get your home wind turbine installation guide directly here: http://www.earthenergyguide.com

DOE to invest up to US$33.5m in wind energy projects

DOE announced on May 12 that it plans to provide Massachusetts with $25 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate the development of the state's Wind Technology Testing Center. Conveniently located in Boston Harbor, the new center will be the first commercial facility in the nation for large wind turbine blades. It will allow for the testing of blades longer than 50 meters to help reduce cost, improve technical advancements, and speed deployment of the next generation of wind turbines. DOE selected Massachusetts for the facility in June 2007, pledging $2 million to support the project. The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust also committed $13.2 million in grants and loans to develop the facility, and the state is now concluding the final design for the testing center. With the injection of Recovery Act funds, construction can begin in September and will be complete by the end of next year, creating hundreds of new jobs in the area. See the DOE press release.

DOE also announced on May 6 that it will invest up to $8.5 million in 53 new wind energy projects in 24 states, plus the District of Columbia. Funded with fiscal year 2009 appropriations, the projects will support the goals outlined in DOE's 20% Wind Energy by 2030 report, which found that the United States has enough wind resources to generate 20% of the country's electrical needs. The report also identified several challenges to this goal, including the need for investment in a national transmission system; larger electric load balance areas and better regional planning; reduction in wind turbine capital costs; improvement of turbine performance; resolution of siting and environmental issues; and workforce development.

The awards include four topic areas: market acceptance, environmental impact, workforce development, and distributed wind technology. Awards for two other topic areas—supporting wind turbine research and testing and transmission analysis; planning and assessments—will be announced at a later date. The awards went to colleges and universities, organizations, companies, and state governments in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, as well as Washington, D.C. See the DOE press release for a list of all of the awardees: http://www.energy.gov/news2009/7381.htm