10Nov

Cooperative Wind Farm Ownership Beats NIMBYism

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Cooperative Wind Farm Ownership Beats NIMBYism

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I just read an interesting story on Chinese news site Xinhuanet, of all places, on wind power in Denmark and how a cooperative ownership model has allowed the Danes to leap over the NIMBY hurdle that stops or stalls so many wind power projecs (and energy projects, in general).

“The Danish cooperative model involves private persons in the ownership of wind turbines, because you want the project to be accepted, and also to avoid the NIMBY or, ‘Not In My Back Yard’ effect,” said Hans Christian Soerensen, board member of the Middelgrunden Wind Turbine Cooperative.

Very logical. Want someone to not complain about a major, noticeable change in the area? Bring them into the project!

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5Nov

World’s Largest Wind Power Project Moving Forward

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World’s Largest Wind Power Project Moving Forward

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It’s been a long time since we reported on the largest wind farm in the world, the 845-megawatt Caithness Shepherds Flat project in Eastern Oregon (in Gilliam and Morrow Counties, to be exact). I think the last time we reported on it was in April, after Google announced that it was investing $100 million in the project. While there isn’t any groundbreaking news to report, the project is moving forward according to schedule and Phase 1 (which includes 70 wind turbines) is supposed to be fully completed by the end of November.

Construction is on schedule and on budget. Work on the substations, interconnection facilities, transmission lines, and electricity collection systems has been finished. 338 foundations (for all three stages) have been built. All in all, the project is more than 50% complete. By August 2012, all 338 wind turbines are projected to be up and running.

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4Nov

Wind Energy & Wind Turbine Market Booming Globally (1,750,000 MW Projected by 2030)

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Wind energy is growing in use across the U.S., both small and large wind turbines are getting installed at record rates. And the trend is similar across the world. A new report by Transparency Market Research, ”Global Wind Energy & Wind Turbine Market (2011 – 2016),” finds that there’s been a Compound Average Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25% over the last 5 years.

As previously reported, total installed wind power around the world reached 197, 039 MW by the end of 2010. That is expected to reach a tremendous 1,750,000 MW by 2030. The wind turbine market is projected to reach $93.1 billion by 2016.

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30Sep

SeaTwirl puts a new spin on offshore wind turbines

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SeaTwirl puts a new spin on offshore wind turbines 2

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One of the main drawbacks of wind turbines is the fact that for maximum efficiency, the power that they generate must be fed into the grid right as the wind is blowing and their blades are spinning. While that power can be stored in batteries for later use, some of it will always be lost in the process. Sweden’s experimental new SeaTwirl system, however, is designed to kinetically store wind energy until it’s required – it’s basically a seagoing flywheel.

The top of a SeaTwirl system consists of a vertical wind turbine, with a hollow torus ring attached to the bottom. This is the only part of the system that is located above the surface of the water.

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12Aug

Offshore wind farms are good for wildlife, say researchers

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Offshore wind farms are good for wildlife, say researchers

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It is the evidence proponents of offshore wind farms have been waiting for: a Dutch study has found that offshore wind turbines have “hardly any negative effects” on wildlife, and may even benefit animals living beneath the waves.

The researchers reached their conclusions after studying a wind farm near Windpark Egmond aan Zee, the first large-scale offshore wind farm built off the Dutch North Sea coast.

Anti-wind farm campaigners have often argued that wind farms can have a negative impact on bird populations, while some critics have voiced concerns that offshore wind farms could prove disruptive to marine life.

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4Aug

Offshore Wind Power: ABB Takes Down $1 Billion North Sea Contract

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Offshore Wind Power ABB Takes Down $1 Billion North Sea Contract

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Swiss engineering group ABB closed the largest power transmission order in its long history, a $1 billion contract to connect planned offshore North Sea wind farms to the German electricity grid. Upon expected completion in 2015, transmission lines will deliver enough clean, renewable electrical power to supply more than 1.5 million households, while avoiding more than 3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, according to an ABB press release.

“Offshore wind power is emerging as a major source of large-scale renewable energy in Europe to help meet emission targets and lower environmental impact,” said Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. ”ABB is uniquely positioned with in-house manufacturing capability of converter stations, cables and semiconductors, the essential components of HVDC systems, and has invested significantly in these technologies.”

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3Aug

Demand for Wind Power, Wind Turbines Rises with German Nuclear Power Shutdown

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Demand for Wind Power, Wind Turbines Rises with German Nuclear Power Shutdown

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The German plan to completely phase out nuclear power by 2022 announced May 30 by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Christian Democratic Union-led political alliance is boosting demand across the alternative and renewable power value chain.

As a result, the EU’s largest member nation will add 1,800 megawatts (MW) worth of new wind turbines this year, 16% more than the 1,551 MW total for 2010, according to BWE, the German Wind Energy Association. Installed wind power capacity totaled 27,214 MW in Germany last year, up 5.6% from 25,777 in 2009, according to the European Wind Energy Association.

European offshore wind power capacity has grown 4.5% in the first half of 2011, as 101 new offshore wind turbines with a total 348 MW capacity were connected to power grids in Germany, Norway and the UK. Another 2,844 MW are currently under construction, the EWEA reported recently.

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2Aug

How an offshore windfarm is built – in pictures

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Technicians sit in the transition piece (the ‘join’ between foundation and turbine tower) waiting for the first tower section to be delivered. The Ormonde windfarm has been built in the Irish Sea, 10km off Barrow-in-Furness. It comprises 30 5MW wind turbines with the capacity of 150 megawatts. It is expected to produce around 500 gigawatt hours of electricity every year, enough to supply the equivalent of approximately 100,000 homes per year with clean power

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29Jul

UK sails ahead in offshore wind power generation

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The UK has sailed ahead in offshore wind power generation in the past six months, building more offshore windfarms than any other country in the world, and accounting for almost all of the turbines erected in European waters this year.

Of only 108 offshore turbines built around Europe’s coastline from January to June, a whopping 101 were built around the UK, with only six built in Germany, and a single one in Norway, according to estimates published on Wednesday by the trade body European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

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26Jul

Financing Offshore Wind Farms in the U.S.

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Financing Offshore Wind Farms in the U.S.

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As most readers are aware, the first major U.S. offshore wind farm to begin development was the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts. The project has been in the development phase for over a decade. The major barriers to development have been public opposition as well as the lack of an established regulatory framework with which to manage offshore energy development in the U.S.

In April, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed off on Cape Wind’s construction and operations plan. Construction, however, has not yet begun. As of this writing, Cape Wind still needed to sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 50 percent of the project’s output. A signed PPA will likely be needed to obtain financing. Even with signed PPAs for 100 percent of the power, obtaining financing will not be an easy process due to the offshore-specific risks involved with the project and the prospect of being a first-mover.

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