Wind News
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May 11, 2012
SMUD Solano Wind Project Expansion Completed
Huge wind power expansion complete at SMUD Solano Wind Project
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January 29, 2012
Eight Annual Small Wind Installers Conference June 12-13, 2012
After seven years of continued growth in the Small Wind industry, the eighth annual Small Wind Installers Conference is scheduled to take place June 12 – 13, 2012 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The Small Wind Installers Conference is the premier event for small wind-electric system installers, site assessors, designers, consultants, manufacturers, supply chain vendors, educators and advocates, and for those involved in sales, specification, management, grants and funding, and the permitting of small wind systems. The Conference is organized by Small Wind Conference Coordinating Committee.
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January 25, 2012
Guidebook and Web-Based Tool Released to Aid in Best Use of Incentive Dollars for On-site Wind
State and utility policy makers, county officials, and other interested stakeholders can now explore the best ways to improve the bottom line of consumer-owned wind turbines with a new Distributed Wind Policy Comparison Tool and accompanying Guidebook, available at www.windpolicytool.org. The Guidebook is also available through the U.S. Department of Energy Wind and Water Power Program online library at www1.eere.energy.gov/library/default.aspx?Page=9.
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January 17, 2012
Independent Expert Science Panel Releases Report on Potential Health Effects of Wind Turbines
An independent panel of experts studying potential health impacts of wind turbines has issued its report, Wind Turbine Health Impact Study: Report of the Independent Expert Panel. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) convened the panel in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH). The panel was composed of physicians and scientists with broad expertise in areas including acoustical noise/infrasound, public health, sleep disturbance, mechanical engineering, epidemiology, and neuroscience. Three public meetings on the report will be held in February as part of a 60-day comment period.
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July 19, 2011
Best Practices for Sustainable Wind Energy Development in the Great Lakes Region
A new online guide to advancing wind energy while protecting the environment and addressing community concerns was released today by the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative (GLWC), a public/private coalition of interests advancing sustainable wind energy development within the Great Lakes region.
Best Practices for Sustainable Wind Energy Development in the Great Lakes Region highlights policies and practices to ensure wind development is environmentally protective, sensitive to community concerns and maximizes economic development potential. Best Practices for turbine siting, noise, environmental impacts and financial mechanisms are among the 18 “best practices,” which cover all phases of developing a wind energy project, from initial planning to operations and eventual decommissioning of spent turbines. Each best practice features a case example of that practice in action in the Great Lakes region or across the country.
“The stakeholders of the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative are steadfast in their belief that the need for renewable energy in the region must be balanced with sound economics and protection of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem,” said Terry Yonker, GLWC Steering Committee co-chair and president of Marine Services Diversified, LLC . “The development of wind power requires us to utilize the best practices that are available to us to insure that what results meets the highest possible standards of acceptance.”
The best practices were identified through a year-long process that included a literature review, online survey and interviews under the guidance of a Great Lakes Wind Collaborative workgroup that included environmental groups, industry, academia, and federal, state and local government regulators. The project was coordinated by the Great Lakes Commission, a compact of the eight Great Lakes states and the provinces of Ontario and Québec based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“These best practices will serve as a catalyst for innovation that will drive community and economic reinvention, diversification and development in the Great Lakes region,” said Mark Clevey, GLWC Steering Committee co-chair and manager of Consumer Education & Renewable Energy Programs for the Michigan Energy Office.
"Best Practices will help us develop wind farms to help meet our growing energy needs in an environmentally sustainable way,” added Matt Wagner, wind site development manager at DTE Energy. “Good project planning always involves communicating with our customers."
Although federal siting guidelines exist, ultimate decisions about whether and how a wind farm gets built are made at the state and local levels. The best practices identified in the report include both those that have been tested and shown to be effective, as well as new practices identified by experts as needed for future wind developments. They are intended to provide guidance for regulators, researchers, and wind industry interests who can choose from a mix of policies and practices that best advance the development of responsible and clean Great Lakes wind energy within a given locality, state or region.
Best Practices for Sustainable Wind Energy Development in the Great Lakes Region can be found on the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative web site at http://www.glc.org/energy/wind/bestpractices.html.
Contact: Victoria Pebbles, 734-971-9135 or vpebbles@glc.org. -
July 12, 2011
New Study Reveals Challenges and Opportunities in U.S. Wind Power Market
Despite a trying year in which wind power capacity additions declined significantly compared to both 2008 and 2009, the U.S. remained one of the fastest-growing wind power markets in the world in 2010--second only to China--according to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
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May 17, 2011
NJ Launches Process for Financing Offshore Wind Farms
Christa Marshall, E&E reporter, ClimateWire 5.17.11 (Quote from Mark Sincliar, CESA)
New Jersey is opening up the application process for a new financing structure for offshore wind projects.
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March 3, 2011
Department of Energy Offers Conditional Commitment for a Loan Guarantee to Support Maine Wind Project
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the offer of a conditional commitment to Record Hill Wind LLC for a $102 million loan guarantee.
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March 1, 2011
Big Challenges Remain for U.S. Offshore Wind
The U.S. could see as many as 10 GW of offshore wind capacity installed by 2020. But it won't be easy, say industry experts.
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January 26, 2011
New LBNL report profiles innovation in "community wind" project finance
The 'community wind' sector in the United States ' loosely defined here as consisting of relatively small utility-scale wind power projects that sell power on the wholesale market and that are developed and owned primarily by local investors ' has historically served as a 'test bed' or 'proving grounds' not only for up-and-coming wind turbine manufacturers trying to break into the broader U.S. wind market, but also for wind project financing structures. For example, a variation of one of the most common financing arrangements in the U.S. wind market today ' the 'partnership flip' structure ' was first developed by community wind projects in Minnesota more than a decade ago before being adapted by the broader wind
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October 27, 2010
Patrick-Murray Administration Celebrates New Wind Measurement Manufacturing Facility and Development of Wind Energy Data Partnership
Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles today visited wind measurement company Second Wind to celebrate the company's new manufacturing facility in Newton. Secretary Bowles also announced a partnership between Somerville-based Second Wind, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and Arlington-based WindPole Ventures to construct a wind measurement information network that will aggregate real-time, hub height standardized wind speed data, which will be used for future real-time forecasting and assure that Massachusetts' wind farms operate more efficiently.
