Wind Energy News

Article Explores the Cost of Wind Energy
Unlike other forms of power, calculating the cost of power generated from wind energy is not exactly a simple or straightforward matter, reports The Montana Standard. The reason is that wind power is intermittent, available only when the wind is blowing. And while this fact complicates the process of determining wind energy's cost, “ Montana utility managers and regulators must determine the true cost of acquiring and managing this additional power, if we're going to have more wind on our system and more wind-power projects in the state,” says the article's author. Read the full story.

South Dakota Approves Tax Incentives for Wind
South Dakota has announced new tax incentives for wind energy facilities and the transmission lines that serve them. House Bill 1320, approved by Governor Mike Rounds on March 14, waives all state and local property taxes for wind energy facilities with a capacity of at least five megawatts. Instead, the owners of the facilities have to pay a tax of $3 per kilowatt of capacity plus 2% of the gross receipts of the wind facility. The wind facility developers can also earn rebates for up to half the cost of underground distribution lines, substations, and transmission lines built to support the wind power facility. The rebates can equal 90% of the taxes paid for the first five years and 50% of the taxes paid for the following five years. The remaining tax proceeds will be divided among the state and the county and local governments where the wind facility is located. See the governor's announcement of the bill signing and the full text of the bill, House Bill 1320.

Missouri Community is First to Be 100% Wind Powered
Rock Port, Missouri, has become the first community in the U.S. to powered entirely by wind. Four 1.25-megawatt wind turbines located on agricultural lands within city limits will generate 16 million kilowatt-hours each year, enough to meet the town's electric needs, currently 13 million kilowatt-hours annually. Excess wind generated electricity will be fed back into the utility grid. A celebration honoring this achievement will be held on Friday, April 18, 2008. More…

Installed U.S. Wind Power Capacity Surged 45% in 2007
Shattering all its previous records, the U.S. wind energy industry installed 5,244 megawatts (MW) in 2007, expanding the nation's total wind power generating capacity by 45% in a single calendar year and injecting an investment of over $9 billion into the economy, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has announced. The new wind projects account for about 30% of the entire new power-producing capacity added nationally in 2007 and will power the equivalent of 1.5 million American households annually while strengthening U.S. energy supply with clean, homegrown electric power. 

“This is the third consecutive year of record-setting growth, establishing wind power as one of the largest sources of new electricity supply for the country,” said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. “This remarkable and accelerating growth is driven by strong demand, favorable economics, and a period of welcome relief from the on-again, off-again, boom-and-bust, cycle of the federal production tax credit ( PTC ) for wind power.”

“But the PTC and tax incentives for other renewable energy sources are now in danger of lapsing at the end of this year—and at the worst moment for the U.S economy,” added Swisher.  “The U.S. wind industry calls on Congress and the President to quickly extend the PTC —the only existing U.S. incentive for wind power—in order to sustain this remarkable growth along with the manufacturing jobs, fresh economic opportunities, and reduction of global warming pollution that it provides.” Read the full press release.

Baker Wind Farm Generating Power
The new Diamond Willow wind farm, located in Baker, has started generating power, reports the Independent Record. The project, being constructed by Montana Dakota Resources Group, will include 13 wind turbines with a total capacity of 19 1/2 megawatts when it's completed. It will produce enough electricity for about 7,000 homes, according to MDU . The project will allow MDU to meet Montana 's law requiring that 5 percent of energy delivered to customers be derived from renewable sources. The requirement increases to 10 percent by 2010 and 15 percent by 2015. More…

AWEA Increases Projections for 2007 Wind Installations
Continuing a major growth trend, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently announced a substantial increase in the projected installation of new wind energy facilities in 2007. 

Previous projections for a record-setting 3,000 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity in 2007 have now been raised:  AWEA reports that the U.S. wind energy industry is currently on track to complete a total 4,000 MW in 2007, shattering its 2006 record of 2,454 MW, and generating enough new electricity to power the equivalent of over one million homes. 

In its third quarter market report, AWEA also reports that the industry has already added over 2,300 MW of generating capacity to the nation’s electrical grid so far this year with a total of more than 5,000 MW in various stages of construction, establishing wind as one of the largest sources of new power in the country today. More…

Montana Lags Behind Other Northwest States in Wind Power Development While Montana has a decent number of wind energy installations, it falls behind other states in the Northwest and Plains states, according to this report from The Montana Standard . Montana 's wind installations total about 145 megawatts, producing roughly enough power for 50,000 homes. In comparison, Wyoming has about double Montana 's capacity, and Washington , Minnesota and Iowa each have nearly 1,000 megawatts installed. While supporters believe that Montana will share in the significant wind energy growth happening in the region, there are a number of barriers that could stand in the way, such as a lack of transmission lines, a shortage of “firming power,” and a perceived reluctance on the part of NorthWestern Energy and electric co-ops about buying and encouraging more wind power. More…

Wind Energy Wind Leads 2006 Increase in Renewable Energy Consumption
A new report from DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) concludes that the use of renewable energy in the United States increased nearly 7% in 2006. According to the report, wind power topped the list, increasing by 45% in 2006, followed by biofuels, which increased 27.6%. In 2006, ethanol provided 4% of the volume of finished gasoline produced in the United States while consuming 14% of the nation's corn crop. Hydropower production also increased by 6.9% in 2006, reaching its highest level since 2003. See the EIA report.

Critics in Great Falls Look to Wind Energy as Alternative to Coal
The Highwood Generating Station project east of Great Falls is a hot topic in the area these days, with no shortage of either supporters or critics. According to this report in the Great Falls Tribune, critics of the coal-fired plant believe that wind energy could eliminate the need for the coal-fired plant entirely. And indeed, a lawsuit has recently been filed that seeks to block federal funding for the $720 million project. Critics of wind are calling the technology expensive and impractical. But according to the article, the Judith Gap wind project has been a notable success. NorthWestern Energy is currently purchasing wind power from Judith Gap at $42 and $46 per megawatt hour, “a bargain-basement price with default electricity prices exceeding $55 per megawatt hour.” More…

Supply Constraints Impacting Wind Energy Industry
The U.S. wind energy industry is on track to add well over 3,000 megawatts (MW) to the nation’s power generating capacity in 2007, surpassing last year’s record of 2,454 MW, says the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). The bullish performance by the industry is tempered, however, by supply chain shortages and policy uncertainty--two barriers that are related. Wind power developers report that turbine availability is a limiting factor--in other words, there is demand for even more wind energy but companies can’t build more projects because there aren’t enough new wind turbines to buy. And, in turn, there aren’t enough manufacturing facilities for turbines and turbine parts in the country because the U.S. government’s intermittent policy toward renewables has discouraged companies from investing in manufacturing facilities. Read the full press release.

House of Representatives Endorses Wind Energy
In a high-profile vote on the House floor in early August, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted an energy bill amendment by Congressmen Tom Udall (D-NM) and Todd Platts (R-PA) calling for the establishment of a national renewable electricity standard or RES also (sometimes referred to as a renewable portfolio standard or RPS).

World’s Largest Wind Farm Announced for Texas
Shell WindEnergy Inc. and Luminant, a subsidiary of TXU Corp., have announced a joint development agreement for a 3,000-megawatt wind project in the Texas Panhandle. That's more than four times the size of the largest wind farm currently in operation. The companies also plan to work together on other renewable energy developments in Texas.

Global Wind Power Capacity Grew Nearly One-Third in 2006
The global installed capacity to generate power from wind energy reached 74,223 megawatts (MW) in 2006, a 32 percent increase, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). The United States now has the third-largest amount of installed wind power capacity, with 11,603 MW, just slightly behind Spain, which has 11,615 MW. Germany still leads the pack with 20,621 MW. Wind capacity is growing fastest in the United States, with 2,454 MW of new wind power plants, but Germany is also growing quickly, with 2,233 MW of new wind power. The GWEC notes that the industry faced supply constraints for new wind turbines in 2006, but it sees the rapid rate of growth as a sign that the global wind energy industry is responding quickly to its manufacturing challenges. More...

Wind Farm in India is 500th Kyoto Project in a Developing Country
The Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) announced Monday that an 8.75-megawatt wind facility in Gujurat, India, is the 500th project to be registered under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The Kyoto Protocol specifies greenhouse gas reduction requirements for its participating countries, but allows countries to earn credits toward those requirements through emissions-reducing investments in developing countries. Even though developing countries don't have specific reduction goals, the CDM helps reduce the growth of greenhouse gas emissions in those countries. The United States is not participating in the Kyoto Protocol. More...

Montana Co-op Will Use Grant Funds for New Wind Farm Projects
The Green Electricity Buying Cooperative has received funding from the federal Clean Renewable Energy bonds, established by the 2005 U.S. Energy Policy Act. The co-op has announced that it intends to use the funds to construct two wind farm projects in McCone and Yellowstone Counties, which together will produce about 20 megawatts of clean power. More…

New Low-Speed Wind Turbine Blade Developed
The first in a series of wind turbine blades that, according to its developer Knight & Carver, "ranks among the industry's most innovative advances in wind energy production" has been produced as part of a DOE project. Called the "STAR," for "Sweep Twist Adaptive Rotor," the 90-foot blade is curved to relieve pressure on both the blade and the turbine and features a gently curving tip to capture low-speed winds. Developed with the help of DOE's Sandia National Laboratories as part of a DOE research project, the STAR blade is designed to take maximum advantage of all wind speeds. The new blade was manufactured at Knight & Carver's blade division in San Diego , California , in early November, and will undergo static testing in December. More…

Walmart Has Goal to Power Stores Entirely with Renewable Energy
According to a new press release from Wal-Mart, the country's largest retailer has a goal to eventually provide power to its stores entirely from renewable energy. Wind turbines installed on two experimental stores in Colorado and Texas , however, have suffered from mechanical problems. As a result, the company is not completely sold on wind technology. Nonetheless, Walmart continues its sustainability efforts. “When we conceptualized these two experimental stores, we thought about our environmental opportunities which led our thoughts to our current goals:  to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy, to create zero waste, and to sell products that sustain our resources and environment,” said Charles Zimmerman, vice president of prototype and new format development. Meantime, Wal-Mart will upgrade lighting in its stores to more energy-efficient LED lighting beginning next year. More…

Wind Energy Installations Achieve Record Growth
Wind energy installations now exceed 10,000 megawatts in capacity, as a result of recent record growth, says the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). “Wind energy is providing new electricity supplies that work for our country's economy, environment, and energy security,” said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. “With its current performance, wind energy is demonstrating that it could rapidly become an important part of the nation's power portfolio.” Current wind installations generate enough electricity to power some 250 million homes. More...

Military Requests Wind and Solar Energy Systems in Iraq
USA Today reports that the U.S. Marine Corps has issued an urgent request to the Pentagon for sustainable power systems in Iraq, including wind and solar. “Without renewable power, U.S. forces will remain unnecessarily exposed and will continue to accrue preventable ... serious and grave casualties," says the memo. In response, the U.S. Army's Rapid Equipping Force (REF), which addresses requests from the frontline, will issue a request for proposals for 183 frontline renewable-energy power stations that use both wind and solar energy to supplement existing diesel generators at U.S. outposts, according to an REF spokesman. More...

Oregon Students Design Water Heater Powered by Wind
A group of engineering students at Oregon State University has designed and constructed a working prototype of a wind-powered water heater that they hope will make a positive impact on the way the world heats water. The system uses “magnets, a copper plate, and plenty of ingenuity” and is based on old sketches of OSU professor Alan Wallace, who has since passed away. The system is about the size of a phone booth and its wind turbine was constructed from a 50-gallon steel drum. The system, say the students, can be mounted on a rooftop or other location with enough wind to rotate the turbine, and even in a stream where moving water could turn the system's array of magnets. And once the water is hot, the wind turbine could be used to generate electricity, or the hot water could provide additional passive heating for a home. More...

Vail Resorts Buys 100 Percent of Power from Wind
Colorado-based Vail Resorts has announced that it will purchase enough wind energy to meet its entire annual electricity use. The corporation includes five mountain resorts, 125 retail locations, lodging properties, and its corporate headquarters. Vail resorts has entered into an agreement with Renewable Choice Energy to purchase about 152 million kWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) from wind energy facilities located in several states, The purchase makes Vail Resorts the second-largest corporate buyer of wind energy nationally. The company is also offering free one-day ski lift tickets to families that commit to a one-year purchase of wind power for their homes. More...

Texas Wind Farm World's Largest
FPL Energy, LLC, has completed 662 megawatts of the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Texas. The wind farm is the largest in the world, according to the company's news release. The farm was constructed in three phases. The final phase is scheduled for completion in September, giving the project a total capacity of 735 megawatts. “The Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center is an important new source of clean, renewable power for the region that also provides significant economic benefits to the area in the form of taxes, new jobs, lease payments to landowners and the purchase of local goods and services,” said Jim Robo, president of FPL Energy. More...

MSU Team Studies Wind Turbine Materials
A project at Montana State University in Bozeman is helping advance wind energy by testing various materials that can be used to construct wind turbines in order to predict the materials' life and maintenance requirements. Montana State University's John Mandell, a professor of materials science, enters lab data into various models with a goal of predicting how a particular composite material will hold up over years being tugged and stressed by gravity and wind. Mandell and his team have studied some 150 composite materials over 17 years, providing 10,000 results for those materials. Those results are then compiled into a database that is used by researchers all over the world. The database is housed on Sandia Laboratory's Web site as the “MSU/DOE Fatigue Database for Composite Materials.” More...

Colorado University Buildings Fully Powered by Wind Energy
Colorado University students are serious about renewable energy use. Last year, the student population voted for a renewable energy initiative for campus buildings. Currently, three buildings—the university center, recreation center and student health center—are fully powered through wind energy, reports the CU Campus Press. Three additional building currently under construction will also be powered by wind energy. The ultimate goal for the renewable energy project is to power ten percent of the university's electrical needs from wind-derived energy. A new program started in January allows students to contribute financially towards the purchase of additional wind-generated energy. More...

New Mexico Lawmakers Debate Renewable Energy
New Mexico legislators are considering a bill that would establish a state renewable energy transmission authority. The state agency would oversee regulation of the state's wind-powered energy projects and would regulate the exportation of New Mexico-produced electricity to energy-hungry states such as California . The bill is currently being debated in committee and is expected to reach the House floor in early February. More...

Montana Wind Energy Project Fully Operational
The Billings Gazette reports that all 90 turbines at the Judith Gap wind energy farm—Montana 's first major wind power project—are now in operation. Together, the turbines are expected to produce around 135 megawatts of electricity annually—enough to power 27,000 Montana homes annually. Invenergy, a Chicago-based company that owns the wind farm—has contracted with Northwestern Energy to sell the energy produced. According to Invenergy officials, wind speeds at the farm averaged over 42 miles an hour, with only one day without wind since the turbines began operating. More...

Guest Editorial: Why Wind Energy is Right for the West
Energy development efforts in western states have traditionally centered on the search for fossil fuels, which has resulted in the creation of longstanding opposing interest groups: energy developers versus environmental organizations. This opinion article for Headwaters News advances the notion that both groups could be well served to develop wind energy projects in western states. The West has been called, “the Saudia Arabia of wind"—wind power projects could add sustainable energy and drive economic development simultaneously in places like North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and other western states. Some states—including Texas, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and Colorado—have already started promoting wind energy by passing renewable energy portfolios that require that a certain percentage of the state's electricity come from renewable energy sources. Some detractors might claim that these subsidies amount to government giveaways, yet the fossil fuel industry receives over $5 billion in federal subsidies annually. More...

Utah Cities Investigate Wind Energy Possibilities
While Utah lags behind most Western states in wind energy development (less than one megawatt for the entire state), some municipalities are investigating the possibilities of building wind energy projects, reports BYU NewsNet. Cities have received help planning wind energy projects from the Utah Geological Survey's State Energy Program, which has purchased four anemometers—devices that measure wind speeds over time—that it then loans out to Utah cities. Some energy experts estimate that Utah 's unused wind energy potential could power more than 300,000 homes and amounts to more than $1 billion in investments. More...

Wind Energy Industry Takes Off Nationwide
2006 could be the American wind industry's biggest year to date, and could end with the United States as the world's leading wind-power market, reports The Christian Science Monitor. While 2,600 megawatts of wind energy power was installed in the U.S. last year, around 3,400 is expected for 2006. One study estimates that, if the U.S. Congress extends the wind energy tax credit in 2007, the American wind energy could be installing around 6,000 megawatts annually by 2010. Wind energy projects are being driven by market forces, such as rising natural gas and oil prices, as well as growing concerns over global warming caused by burning fossil fuels such as coal. More...

New Wind Energy Resource List Available
The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service has produced a new publication titled "Wind-Powered Electric Systems for Homes, Farms, and Ranches: Resources." This resource list provides an overview of print publications and online resources that offer both overview and in-depth information on siting, installing and operating wind-power electrical generation systems. Most resources listed are relevant to small-scale systems.

Colorado Renewable Energy Summit Attracts Bipartisan Support
The Colorado Renewable Energy Summit recently took place on the Auraria Campus in Denver, Colorado. U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar sponsored the event and former Democratic state senator Tim Wirth joined him. But the agenda also featured prominent Republicans, including former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Lola Spradley and David Garman, President Bush's undersecretary of energy. The event featured panel discussions on a variety of Western renewable energy concerns, including the role of wind energy, ethanol, and biodiesel in Western states, as well as the leadership of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), based in Golden, Colorado. More...

Judith Gap Wind Energy Project Up and Running
The Judith Gap Wind Energy Center began producing electricity in late November, with more than 50 of its 90 turbines already online. Northwestern Energy purchases the electricity produced at the 135-megawatt wind project, which makes the center responsible for approximately eight percent of Northwestern's energy supply. Each turbine produces enough electricity for around 400 homes. Northwestern's contract with Invenergy, the Chicago-based company that owns the windfarm, allows for the expansion of the facility by an additional 50 megawatts, though no plans for an expansion have yet been announced. More...

Wind Energy Project Near Great Falls Under Construction
Six 380-foot tall turbines are being constructed at the Horseshoe Bend Wind Park in Cascade County, near the Great Falls International Airport. The wind farm is owned by United Materials of Great Falls. When finished, the facility will produce nine megawatts of electricity that will be sold to Idaho Power Company. While the project was approved almost a year ago, construction has been delayed while the enormous towers and blades were shipped to the site. If all goes well, the turbines should be online by late January. More...

North Dakota State Officials Concerned About Unplanned Wind Farm Expansion
North Dakota is currently the focus of numerous wind energy projects, which create new sources of energy, jobs, and a tax base, but not all state and county officials are ecstatic. Public Service Commissioner Susan Wefald worries about unregulated growth of wind turbine projects: what happens to the prairie, she asks, if wind energy companies shut down operations at some point in the future? Wefald and other officials urge the use of zoning regulations and operating agreements that require that any large wind turbine be removed should a project cease operation. More...

Colorado Utility Seeks to Become Nation's Largest Wind Energy Provider
Xcel Energy, one of Colorado 's major utility companies, recently announced plans to purchase 775 megawatts of wind-generated electricity by 2007. If Xcel goes through with all of its wind energy proposals, it will have 2,300 megawatts of wind energy, making it the nation's largest user of wind power, reports The Denver Post . The first major proposal is will be a $480 million, 300-megawatt wind farm in Weld County, Colorado. More...

BLM Plans More Wind Projects on Public Lands
Results of an environmental review will allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to significantly expand its wind energy program on public lands. The Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) establishes broad guidelines for BLM's Wind Energy Development Program, ensuring measures that protect at-risk species and migratory birds. BLM has plans in nine western states that will result in more than 3,200 megawatts of wind energy.BLM noted that individual projects will still require site-specific analysis and permits, although the agency hopes to shorten the approval process for new wind energy projects from two or more years to less than a year. More...

USDA Offers $1.4 Billion in Renewable Energy Assistance to American Farmers, Ranchers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it will help the country's farmers and ranchers with energy costs and economic development with renewable energy funding, reports Refocus. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns has directed his department to maximize the use of $1.4 billion available this year for loan guarantees. Johanns has directed that the funds be used to help farmers, ranchers and rural communities efficiently create renewable energy systems and businesses. The funding could increase the use of wind and solar energy development, as well as ethanol and biodiesel production, which would both decrease the cost of energy for agricultural communities and stimulate job and infrastructure growth. More...

John Deere Looks to Wind Power
John Deere Credit is interested in investing in wind energy projects in the Midwest , according to one official at the John Deere corporate office. The company is interested in medium-sized wind energy projects—those that would produce at least 1.25 megawatts of electricity—that can, “meet the needs of local energy companies.” They have ruled out small projects, such as those that would provide energy to individual ranches, large projects, and projects that are primarily intended to provide power to urban areas. More...

Nonprofit Organization Seeks to Build Wind Project on Sioux Lands in South Dakota
Carbonfund.org, a nonprofit organization that supports renewable energy as a means to avert climate change, recently announced its support for a wind energy project on the Rosebud Sioux reservation lands in South Dakota . The Rosebud Sioux tribe will also collaborate with the Basin Electric Power Cooperative on the wind energy project. More...

Boise State University Receives $500,000 Wind Energy Grant
Faculty and students at Boise State University 's engineering school will receive $500,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to research new wind energy technologies, reports the Idaho Statesman. The university researchers intend to use the funding to begin designing wind energy turbines that can operate with low-speed winds. The research team hopes that the funding can help transform BSU into a regional technology powerhouse for wind energy. More...

Report Details Potential for Biofuels and Wind
A new report says that biofuels wind power together have strong potential to replace gasoline and revitalize rural communities. The New Harvest: Biofuels and Wind Power for Rural Revitalization and National Energy Security was co-authored by Climate Solutions' Research Director Patrick Mazza and Energy Foundation President Eric Heitz. The report contains findings that show advanced biofuels made from plant matter including grasses and crop residues can replace gasoline in the U.S. light duty vehicle fleet by mid-century, and that one-quarter of the nation sustains wind speeds capable of generating competitively priced electricity. The report offers public policy agendas to support the growth of wind power and advanced biofuels. The entire report is available online in PDF.

Wyoming Carpenter Utilizes Wind, Solar for Off-Grid Home
When Bob McGovern contemplated having to spend $25,000 to build 12 miles of power lines so that his home could have electricity, he discovered another possibility: renewable energy. For $16,000, he was able to purchase enough solar panels, a wind turbine and solar hot water collector and industrial-strength batteries to meet all his energy needs for his home and carpentry shop. McGovern credits governmental subsidy programs for renewable energy as essential for making the investment. His home was also built with energy efficiency in mind, requiring far less energy than traditional homes. More...

Wind Power Available For Colorado College Students
Last month, Colorado State University (CSU) signed contracts with two wind energy companies to provide electricity to 20 university buildings, reports the Rocky Mountain Collegian. The new agreements allow CSU to save $1,500 a year on energy costs. It is not CSU's first foray into renewable energy use, however: last year, CSU students began taking advantage of an option to power their dorm rooms with wind power for an extra $17 annually. Around 200 students have opted into the plan, and with rising costs of natural gas, the wind energy plan may prove out to be more economically feasible than continuing to use traditional energy sources. More...

Renewable Energy Goal Guides Basin Electric Power Cooperative
Basic Electric Power Cooperative, which supplies energy to several western states including Montana, recently announced plans to obtain ten percent of its energy portfolio from renewable energy resources. Since Basin Electric already receives 87 megawatts of wind-produced energy, the cooperative needs to add an additional 205 megawatts of renewable energy to meet the goal of ten percent by 2010. The co-op's members approved the renewable energy mandate at a recent annual meeting. More...

450-MW Wind Turbine Project Announced in Oregon
California-based Orion Energy LLC recently filed a Notice of Intent to Apply for a Site Certificate with the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council for a wind turbine project near the Columbia River Gorge, reports ENR.com. Orion Energy plans to build 225 wind turbines capable of producing up to 450 megawatts of electricity. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has announced plans to connect the planned windfarm to the energy grid, and Portland General Electric (PGE) has already agreed to purchase the electricity. Construction on the project could begin as early as next year. According to the Renewable Energy Project, there is already over 600 megawatts of wind energy production in Oregon and Washington , with more than 2,000 additional megawatts of projects proposed or under construction. More...

Utah Wind Energy Entrepreneurs Stymied by State Utility
While Utah lags behind in the development of alternative energies, the states surrounding it— Wyoming, Colorado , New Mexico and Arizona —are aggressively pursuing clean energy options. Each of these surrounding states boast more than 200 megawatts of renewable energy production (California has more than 2,000 megawatts), while Utah has less than one megawatt: 200 kilowatts, to be exact. Energy experts forecast that Utah 's coal reserves, which power over ninety percent of the state's energy needs, will be depleted over the course of the next decade. Given the current energy crisis, some energy entrepreneurs banked on the expectation that Utah Power—the state power utility—would welcome alternative energy development in the state. Unfortunately for them, this has not proved to be the case. One wind energy entrepreneur who has proposed a 16.8-megawatt wind farm in Spanish Forks, UT believes that he has everything he needs to be successful—except a contract from Utah Power. This Casper Star Tribune article analyzes some of the perceived difficulties in commercializing alternative energy technologies in Utah. More...

Colorado Wind Energy-Hydrogen Project Announced
Xcel Energy and the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently announced a collaborative pilot program that uses wind energy to create hydrogen. Since wind turbine-generated energy usually goes unused during non-peak hours, researchers hope to use this excess energy for hydrogen production. The hydrogen would then be burned in a conventional internal-combustion engine to produce additional electricity. In this way, the hydrogen acts as a ‘battery' for the excess wind energy. Researchers hope to use the hydrogen more efficiently in the future, as fuel for fuel cells. More...

Large Wind Plant Underway in Canada
Construction of the new Melancthon Grey Wind Project is underway in Southern Ontario, as part of Canadian Hydro's renewable energy initiatives. The 67.5-megawatt plant is expected to be complete in 2006 and will supply enough power for some 20,000 homes each year. More...

Wind Energy Tax Credit Extended Through 2007
The new energy bill passed by Congress includes provisions to extend Production Tax Credits for wind energy systems through 2007. The bill provides a 1.9 cent-per-kilowatt-hour (kWh) tax credit for electricity generated with wind turbines over the first ten years of a project’s operations. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the tax credit is "a critical factor in financing new wind farms." More...

Judith Gap Open House Draws Large Crowd
Some 350 people attended the Open House at the site of the new Judith Gap Wind Farm on July 14, far exceeding organizers' expectations. Project owner Invenergy Wind LLC hosted the open house, providing informational displays , presentations, and literature, as well as staff members to answer questions. Those in attendance got a chance to see the project getting underway, as trucks delivered turbine bases and cranes stacked the turbine pieces together. Eighty-six turbines will be installed across 8,300 acres in the first phase of the project. More...

New National Coalition to Promote Wind Power
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced last week that a broad national coalition of wind energy advocates are forming the largest pro-wind energy development organization of its kind in the United States. According to AWEA, "Wind Energy Works!" will actively and aggressively engage in the public conversation over the merits of wind energy, educate the public about the many benefits of wind energy development, and "act as a counterbalance to the misinformation being spread by wind energy opponents in communities across the country." More...

Our Wind Co-Op" Brings Small Wind Turbines to the Northwest
Our Wind Co-Op is a cooperative that invests in small-scale (10-kilowatt) wind turbines for farms, ranches, and public and private facilities in the Northwest. Initially supported by grants from DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program, Our Wind Co-Op is creating low-risk opportunities to explore on-farm green power production, distribution, ownership, and marketing models to meet local energy needs.

BLM Proposes to Encourage Wind Energy Development in the West
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to amend 52 of its land-use plans in nine western states to encourage wind energy development on public lands. Last week, the BLM released its final programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for wind energy development on BLM-administered lands in the West, which BLM and DOE have been preparing since 2003. The PEIS proposes to speed up the permitting of wind energy in the West; the U.S. Department of the Interior claims the plan will open the door for the development of more than 3,200 megawatts of wind energy on public lands.

According to the BLM, the proposed land-use plan amendments in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming are designed to encourage applications for wind energy development rights-of-way, but not to eliminate the need for site-specific analysis of individual development proposals. Along with the proposed land-use plan amendments, the PEIS also identifies specific areas where wind energy development would not be allowed. More...

Global Wind Power Study Finds Huge Potential
A new global wind power map has found enough wind energy to easily supply the world's power, according to the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Researchers from Stanford University collected wind speed measurements from about 7,500 surface stations and 500 balloon-launch stations to determine global wind speeds at 80 meters (300 feet) above the surface, which is the hub height of modern wind turbines. Using a mathematical technique to extend those results over the entire globe, the Stanford researchers report that nearly 13 percent of world experiences winds with average annual speeds of 15 miles per hour, which the researchers consider strong enough for power generation. Such wind speeds were found in every region of the world, although North America was found to have the greatest wind power potential. The report will be published this month in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, an AGU publication.

The authors found that the locations with suitable wind resources could produce about 72 trillion watts of power. In contrast, DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated the world's electricity-generating capacity in 2002 at 3.45 trillion watts. More...

Large Wind Power Plant Moves Ahead in Idaho
Invenergy, LLC is preparing to build Idaho's largest wind plant, a 64.5-megawatt wind power project located about 10 miles southeast of Idaho Falls. PacifiCorp announced last week that it signed a power purchase agreement with Invenergy, allowing the company to move ahead with its Wolverine Creek project, which will comprise 43 1.5-megawatt wind turbines from GE Energy. Invenergy's subsidiary, Wolverine Creek Energy LLC, will build the project and place it in service by the end of this year. The project was one of many proposed to PacifiCorp in response to its February 2004 solicitation and is the first to result in a power purchase agreement. The utility remains in negotiations on other renewable energy projects. More...