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Thinking Green, Speaking Green
Friday, 25 February 2011
Why Not Ohio? Idaho Wind Farm Goes On Line

A project to construct and install 122 turbines across the landscape near Hagerman, Bliss and Burley is now complete and Idaho’s largest network of wind farms is now in operation and delivering power to the Idaho Power Company.

The completion of the $500 million project, backed by global giant GE Energy Financial Services, was announced during the Infocast Wind Power Finance and Investment Summit in San Diego.

The wind farms are a partnership between GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE, Exergy Development Group, Atlantic Power Corporation and Reunion Power.

Construction was completed in just five months, resulting in the installation of 122 1.5 megawatt turbines.

The wind farms are capable of generating 183 megawatts of energy — enough to power 39,700 average Idaho homes.

The project is actually 11 separate wind-farm developments that Exergy is building at the same time and was inaugurated in August by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, GE Energy Financial Services CEO Alex Urquhart, and representatives of Exergy and Reunion Power, an asset management company based in Manchester Center, Vt.

Eight wind farms are located in Hagerman and three are in Burley.

Despite the distance, they are able to operate as a unified system, enabling operating efficiencies, or on a site-by-site basis.

“Today marks a significant milestone for residents of Idaho who can now power their homes with cleaner, independently sourced energy,” said Kevin Walsh, managing director and leader of Power and Renewable Energy at GE Energy Financial Services. “In addition to increasing our nation’s energy independence, these wind farms provide enormous environmental benefits, including a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to the removal of 57,000 cars from the roads. We also were able to bring temporary and permanent jobs to a region that has been dramatically impacted by the economic slowdown.”

The project created over 300 construction jobs, more than the originally anticipated 175 jobs. Approximately 25 permanent jobs also were created for maintenance and other critical functions.

In addition to those employed directly a wind project of this size would typically support the equivalent of 2,200 full-time jobs in the United States for one year, according to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory model.

“After five years of intense planning, followed by five months of construction, we achieved our goal of creating Idaho’s largest wind farm portfolio,” said James Carkulis, president and CEO of Exergy. “We are now able to transition into ongoing operations, providing the customers of Idaho Power Company with a more environmentally friendly energy solution.”

Construction, led by Fagen, Inc., was completed on schedule despite a tight schedule and occasionally extreme weather at the project site.

All 11 project sites have individual agreements with Idaho Power Company under the guidelines of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act which requires utilities to purchase energy from small renewable generation projects such as hydro, wind, geothermal and solar.

In Idaho code, renewable energy producers can avoid up-front taxes by paying 3 percent from the sale of energy over several years — allowing developers to spread the tax burden out over multiple years.


Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Renewables can meet world energy needs by 2050-

Renewables can meet world energy needs by 2050-

By Nina Chestney

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - All but five percent of the world's energy needs could be met from renewable sources by 2050, a report by conservation group WWF and energy consultancy Ecofys showed on Thursday.

In 2050, total energy demand could be 15 percent lower than in 2005 due to ambitious energy saving measures even though population, industrial output, freight and travel will increase, the report said.

Currently, more than 80 percent of global energy comes from fossil fuels but the report said nuclear power, fossil fuels and biomass could be almost entirely phased out by 2050.

To achieve this, building heating needs to be cut by at least 60 percent through energy efficiency, the use of solar power and geothermal heat.

Electricity grids need to be upgraded, smart grids installed and electric transport introduced on a large scale globally.


Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Poll: Americans Favor Alternative Energy

Poll: Americans Favor Alternative Energy

 

PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- A bill that would push alternative energy did the best among eight possible actions the U.S. Congress could take this year, a Gallup Poll indicated.

Eighty-three percent of respondents said they favored an energy bill that would provide incentives for using alternative forms of energy, followed by an overhaul of the federal tax code, pulling 76 percent; and speeding up the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, at 72 percent, results released Tuesday indicated.

The two least popular proposals tested concerned immigration issues, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said. By a 55 percent to 43 percent margin, U.S. residents surveyed said they oppose legislation that would give some illegal immigrants living in the United States a path to legal status. By a 54 percent to 44 percent margin, respondents said they oppose taking steps to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States whose parents are illegal immigrants.

Falling in the middle were measures that would expand oil and gas exploration, passage of a free-trade agreement with South Korea and gun control, Gallup said.

The proposals tested in the Gallup-USA Today poll include some of the actions Congress could take, but aren't meant to be a comprehensive list, pollsters said. The survey also reflects how Americans view the idea of each policy, not necessarily a specific bill.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews conducted with 1,032 adults Jan. 14-16. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.




Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
World Wind Power Grew In 2010
Global wind installations up 22% in 2010, China leads growth

London (Platts)--

Global wind power capacity increased by 22.5% in 2010 with 35.8 GW of new installations built, taking the total worldwide to 194.5 GW at end-2010 from 158.7 GW a year earlier, according to figures published Wednesday by the Global Wind Energy Council.

A total of $65 billion (Eur47.3 billion) was invested in the sector worldwide, the GWEC said.

But the overall growth rate was lower than the previous year for the first time in 20 years. In 2009, 38.6 GW was installed.

GWEC noted that more than half of the new capacity built in 2010 came outside the traditional wind markets of Europe and North America, with China and other Asian nations witnessing a boom.

China alone added 16.5 GW, almost have the total new capacity.

"This puts China firmly on a path to reach 200 GW of installed wind power by 2020. At the same time, China has become the world's largest producer of wind energy equipment," said Li Junfeng, Secretary General of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association.

He said China had now overtaken the US as the world's leading wind energy producer.

Other emerging markets also saw major expansion, with India adding 2.1 GW, Brazil 326 MW, Mexico 316 MW, and 213 MW installed in the North African countries of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

GWEC secretary general Steve Sawyer said this showed wind had moved beyond its "rich country" status, with more growth expected not only in Asia but also Latin America, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. SLUGGISH GROWTH IN EUROPE, US

But more established markets had lagged behind because of a disappointing year in the US, where new installations dropped to just over 5 GW compared with 10 GW in 2009.

GWEC said this was because of a "boom bust" cycle in the US arising from uncertainty over federal support policies.

"Now that we're competing with natural gas on cost, we need consistent federal policies to ensure we have a diverse portfolio of energy sources in this country," said American Wind Energy Association CEO Denise Bode.

Europe also saw a slowdown in new installations with 9.9 GW installed in 2010 compared with 10.7 GW in 2009. Still, offshore wind grew 50%, notably in the UK, Belgium and Denmark, and eastern Europe was starting to take off with new developments in Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.

But the European Wind Energy Association warned the EU to make sure the European wind market does not stagnate.

"Better access to financing is urgently needed, and the European Union must act without delay to prevent Europe losing its leadership in wind power and other renewable technologies, warned EWEA CEO Christian Kjaer.


Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST
Monday, 21 February 2011
Why Not Ohio? New York To Get Another Wind Farm
By Stephanie Sorrell-White
GateHouse News Service
 
Fairfield, N.Y. —

An official with the Hardscrabble wind farm project said testing of the 37 wind turbines has begun.
“They are all standing, but they haven’t reached commercial operation yet,” Paul Copleman, a spokesperson for Iberdola Renewables, said in a telephone interview Monday.
He said he anticipates a commercial operation start date to be sometime in February.
“People may already be seeing all of them turning. That’s still part of the commissioning and testing process which we do at the tail end of construction,” said Copleman.
The Hardscrabble wind farm project is the work of Atlantic Wind, a subsidiary of Iberdola Renewables. After five years of legal negotiations and getting approval from town, school and county boards, the project began the construction phase last summer.
The 37 2-megawatt wind turbines are now connected to the power grid and they stretch across the Herkimer County landscape — 25 in the town of Fairfield and 12 in the town of Norway.
The project also includes 14 miles of gravel access road, 20 miles of buried electrical lines, an interconnection facility in the town of Little Falls, two permanent 77-meter tall meteorological towers and an operations and maintenance facility.
The revenue-sharing agreement includes an annual per megawatt payment of $8,000, with a cost of living adjustment for the payments, with a floor of a 2.5 percent and a ceiling of five percent, and a $400,000 payment that was made to the county within 60 days of the start of construction.
The project sands to be awarded state subsidies after energy production begins.
The project temporarily employed about 200 people in the area for field work through a Minnesota firm. About 12 people will be employed regularly for maintenance once the project is completed.
In November, Iberdola Renewables halted construction temporarily because the concrete foundations did not meet company standards. Copleman said the foundations have since been modified and engineered to retrofit the concrete foundation. He said the 15 foundations that needed modification now “meet and exceed strength criteria.”


Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Why Not Ohio? Oklahoma Gets Another Wind Farm

Why Not Ohio? Oklahoma Gets Another Wind Farm

Oklahoma Gets Another Big Wind Farm

by Pete Danko, January 25th, 2011

How’s the song go? “Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain.” Apparently, Rodgers and Hammerstein had it right, as wind power plants continue to pop up in the state. Coming soon: the Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm, in Roger Mills County. The Spanish energy developer Acciona Energy announced it had begun work on the project, which will become its sixth U.S. wind farm and third in Oklahoma.

Dempsey Ridge is a mere 15 miles west of Acciona’s 123-megawatt (MW) Red Hills Wind Farm, which began producing power in June 2009. Acciona said the 132-MW capacity Dempsey Ridge plant should take about a year to build and will supply enough power for 46,000 homes in Oklahoma and surrounding states.

“Oklahoma is a state that understands energy and has embraced wind as a plentiful and lucrative resource for the future,” said Dan Foley, chief development officer, Acciana Energy North America. “Oklahoma already ranks in the top 10 U.S. states for wind energy potential and this project is another step in the direction of realizing that potential.”

While Acciona is based in Spain, the company engineers and assembles wind turbines in the United States, at a plant it opened in West Branch, Iowa, in 2007.


Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Why Not Ohio? Texas Using More Wind Energy

When Texans turn on their lights, run their air conditioning or plug in their iPads, they are getting an increasing amount of power from the wind — and from coal plants. 

Figures released earlier this month show that last year, nearly 8 percent of the power on the state's electric grid was generated by wind. That's more than three times the national average. And because Texas recently added several coal-generating units, coal plants — for the first time in recent memory — produced more power than any other electricity source. Nuclear power's contribution held about steady, at 13 percent of generation.

The big loser was natural gas. While natural gas is abundant in Texas, less polluting than coal and substantially cheaper than it was jut a few years ago, it is also easily replaced by the wind. The percentage of power on the grid generated from natural gas dropped from 42 percent in 2009 to 38 percent in 2010; coal, at 39.5 percent, slightly edged it out. Since at least 1990, natural gas has generated more electricity than coal in Texas, according to the Energy Information Administration (whose figures differ slightly from those of the Texas grid, which covers most but not all of the state and whose numbers go back only to 2002).

Hot weather and the recovering economy caused Texans to use more power overall. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the operator of the state's grid, reported that electricity usage rose by 3.5 percent in 2010, slightly less than the 4 percent rise nationally.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Texas figures centers on the relationship between natural gas and wind power.

Wind-generated power has been growing rapidly in the state; Texas has nearly three times as much wind capacity in place as the next-closest state, Iowa, and broke the 10,000 megawatt barrier for the first time last year, the American Wind Energy Association reported Monday. The recent growth (from 6.2 percent of the Texas grid's generation in 2009 to 7.8 percent last year) came despite well-documented transmission-line constraints in West Texas, home to the vast majority of the state's wind capacity. There, some wind turbines sometimes get shut down even when the wind is blowing, because there is not enough room on the wires to move the power to the big cities hundreds of miles away that need it.

Much of the new wind has come from a different part of Texas — along the Gulf coast in the south, especially Kenedy and San Patricio counties. Barry Smitherman, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, says there are now about 1,100 megawatts of wind in ERCOT's south zone. That translates to roughly one-ninth of the total wind capacity in Texas.

In addition, a transmission line built by NextEra Energy Resources, a Florida-based renewables company, connected an enormous wind farm in Kendall and Taylor counties to the grid. That line began operating in fall of 2009, so the wind farm's contribution showed up more fully last year. (The state has planned $5 billion worth of other transmission lines to remedy the congestion in West Texas; the NextEra line, however, is a "private" line not built as part of the state's process.)

"Obviously the wind is impacting gas," said John Fainter, the president of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas. Wind goes onto the grid before natural gas because the "fuel" of the wind is free, unlike that of natural gas plants — so it costs nothing to add more wind to the grid, when the wind is available. Gas units are also relatively easy to turn on and off — making it a good complement to the vagaries of wind power. In recent years, too, "A number of natural gas plants have been retired or mothballed," said Smitherman of the utility commission. For example NRG, a large energy-generation company that also owns Reliant Energy, said it had recently mothballed some of its natural gas units from the 1950s — meaning that they will stay turned off unless summertime demand spikes.

The long-term drop in the share of natural gas on the Texas grid — as recently as 2002, gas accounted for 46 percent — contrasts to the rest of the country. Nationally, reliance on gas has increased (from 18 percent in 2002 to 23 percent in 2009), while the share of coal generation has dropped, from 50 percent in 2002 to 45 percent in 2009. The reasons for this difference are rooted in history: Decades ago, Texas depended nearly entirely on natural gas for its electricity while many other states built coal plants in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and are now starting to retire them, said John Ragan, the president of the Texas region for NRG.

Texas did not begin building coal plants until the 1970s and 1980s, Ragan said — so while some of natural gas plants here may be older and closer to retirement, Texas' coal generators are newer and sturdier compared with the rest of the nation. A few existing coal plants in Bexar County and Milam County recently added capacity, and the Texas power-generation giant Luminant began operating units at a major new coal plant called Oak Grove in Robertson County in 2009 and 2010. The operators say the new coal plants have state-of-the-art technology to reduce conventional emissions (like mercury), although none of the plants will capture carbon dioxide and store it underground, something environmentalists would like coal plants to do in the future.

Natural gas could regain some of its share in the future, however. Texas will need more new plants, because its overall electric use will continue to rise as the population grows and gadgets continue to proliferate. Electricity use on the Texas grid at peak hours — meaning hot summer afternoons — is projected to increase by 37 percent by 2030.

"Any new construction is probably going to be more likely to be gas," said Fainter, citing the speed at which gas plants can be built and the low cost of natural gas relative to a few years ago.

Coal plants, which are under fire from environmentalists unless they put in expensive new technologies to capture and bury carbon dioxide, may be tough to build in the future, even though some proposed ones have recently gotten permits. 

The gas industry has talked of trying to shift more costs to wind to make up for the wind's intermittency, arguing that other types of power plants pay penalties if they go offline unexpectedly, but wind is allowed to come and go in accordance with the whims of nature. However, Fainter said, "our guys are not talking about any particular legislation right now on changing the dynamics."

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst recently offered support for gas. Citing environmental concerns as well as the need to take full advantage of Texas' abundant natural-gas supplies, he has proposed phasing out old coal plants and replacing them with gas-fired generation. Tom "Smitty" Smith, the Texas head of the environmental advocacy group Public Citizen, said he endorsed this idea.

Meanwhile, wind will continue to grow. Smitherman noted that the state-planned $5 billion transmission line build-out, which is proceeding, should nearly double the wind-energy capacity that's currently on the Texas grid.


Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST
Friday, 18 February 2011
Why Green Energy Still Needs Help From Uncle Sam

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- At a solar power company in downtown San Francisco, Edward Fenster plans on doubling his workforce to 8,000 people in the next year.

Fenster is chief executive of SunRun, a company that puts solar panels on residential rooftops.

Over the last four years, his business has grown from one employee (himself) to 4,000, most of them contractors SunRun hires to do the installations.

Sun Run's growth spurt is in large part due to the subsidies it enjoys from the federal government. Fenster expects his customers to more than double next year.

Generally, tax breaks mean the federal government absorbs about 30% of the costs for a solar project. That's fairly standard across the wind and solar industry. Fenster knows just where his business, and others like it, would be if those subsidies disappeared.

"No solar business would survive," he said. "I can't imagine you'd find much new wind construction either."

In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, President Obama called for continued funding for renewable power, part of a broader plan to improve the nation's infrastructure. In his prepared remarks, Obama said that investments in clean energy "will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people."

But with the deficit high on everyone's mind, finding that money will prove challenging.

Obama said Tuesday night that to help pay for alternative energy investments, he is urging Congress "to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but they're doing just fine on their own. So instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy, let's invest in tomorrow's," he added.

Still, various subsidies, including tax credits and direct grants, are already in place for companies that produce electricity from wind and solar. They cost the government about $5 billion in 2010. Ethanol subsidies cost another $6 billion.

This doesn't take into account various Department of Energy programs, including research and development grants. The Energy Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The stimulus effort set aside over $100 billion for various clean technology programs to be spent over several years. The funding includes money for solar and wind production, but also cash for R&D, conservation programs and clean water initiatives, according to Sheeraz Haji, head of the research firm the Clean Tech Group.

Only about $25 billion of that has been spent, said Haji, making the remaining $75 billion a tempting target for deficit hawks.

Even the tax credits for wind and solar production are not safe. It's not thought that mainstream politicians from either side of the isle are looking to ax them -- they've been the government's primary means of supporting renewable energy for decades. But there are growing calls for their demise.

"If 30 years isn't enough for the industry to stand on its own feet, you have to ask how long it will be," said William O'Keefe, chief executive of the Marshall Institute, a think tank. "There's just been too much given to alternatives that cannot sustain themselves."

O'Keefe doesn't buy the job creation argument, saying it doesn't make sense to pay people to produce things that don't make money.

From agriculture to automakers, O'Keefe is against subsidies for any industry.

He's all for funding R&D into new, cheaper renewable technology. He just doesn't want to fund the production of electricity at rates that he says are too high. This is especially true, he says, at a time when renewables account for a small part of our overall energy demand.

According to the Energy Information Administration, renewable energy excluding big hydropower accounted for about 6% of the country's total energy production in September of 2010. The vast majority of that was ethanol and other biofuels; wind and solar accounted for just 1%.

Although the numbers are small, they are over twice what they were in 2006.

Plus, prices are falling fast.

SunRun's Fenster said the price of a watt of electricity from solar power has dropped from $90 in the 1970s to $1.65 today. He said the industry won't need subsidies forever. In five years it can get by on a 10% subsidy, he said, and none shortly thereafter.

And that's the main argument supporters of the subsidies make. Renewable power is growing at a huge clip, and is necessary to protect the environment and to replace dwindling supplies of fossil fuel, especially oil.

The government has every right to be in the renewable business, they say, as the fuel promotes a public good - namely, clean air and energy independence.

Plus, when put in perspective, they say the subsidies aren't that large. The Environmental Law Institute estimates renewable energy received $29 billion in subsidies from 2002 through 2008. Over the same time, the say the fossil fuel industry got $73 billion in subsidies, although a big chunk of that was in the form of a tax credit oil companies can take for paying royalties overseas.

And while the U.S. stimulus may have allocated $100 billion for environmental programs, China's stimulus plan is thought to have set aside $250 to $350 billion, according to Clean Tech's Haji.

"They are totally kicking our butts," said SunRun's Fenster. "As a country, we need to look toward the future."


Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST
Thursday, 17 February 2011
China leapfrogs U.S. wind power industry

China leapfrogs U.S. wind power industry

Chinese turbines are now harnessing more wind power than machines installed in the U.S., according to a trade group Monday.

For the first time ever, the Asian giant’s capacity –- the amount of electricity that can be generated using wind –- blew past the U.S. to soar 62% to 41,800 megawatts. American-based turbines can produce up to 40,180 megawatts, a 15% jump from the beginning of 2010, according to a report from the American Wind Energy Assn.

The U.S. wind market had a rough year overall, ending 2010 with 5,115 megawatts of new installations –- just half of the record amount put up in 2009. The fourth quarter saw just 3,195 megawatts erected, a slide from the 4,113 installed in the same period in 2009.

The association blamed short-lived government subsidies.

But after a key incentive, the 1603 federal Treasury grant program, was extended for a year in December, the wind industry began to perk up. As 2011 begins, roughly 5,600 megawatts of wind power capacity is under construction, the trade group said.

Some new projects being hammered out include electricity prices set at 5 cents or 6 cents per kilowatt hour, which would make wind power competitive with natural gas, the association said.

“Our industry continues to endure a boom-bust cycle because of the lack of long-term, predictable federal policies, in contrast to the permanent entitlements that fossil fuels have enjoyed for 90 years or more,” said Denise Bode, the group’s chief executive, in a statement.

Companies have built utility-scale wind projects in 38 states so far. Texas leads the pack with 10,085 total megawatts of capacity, followed by Iowa with 3,675 megawatts.

California, which features the windy Altamont Pass and Tehachapi regions, lags in third place with 3,177 megawatts installed.


Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
New York State offers $250M for renewable energy projects

State offers $250M for renewable energy projects

Rochester Business Journal
January 24, 2011

Some $250 million in state funding is available for renewable energy generation projects, officials announced Monday.

The funding will be awarded competitively for electric generation projects related to wind, hydroelectric, biomass and other clean energy resources, state officials said.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the state Public Service Commission are coordinating the funding. An announcement on awards is scheduled for April, officials said.

NYSERDA has awarded competitive funding to 39 large-scale renewable electricity generators expected to provide 4.3 million megawatt hours of renewable energy per year, officials said.

Recipients include three biomass facilities, one landfill biogas operation, 21 hydroelectric upgrades and 14 wind farms, officials said.
 
“By building our clean energy infrastructure, we will create jobs, improve our environment and strengthen our energy resources,” NYSERDA president and CEO Francis Murray Jr. said in a statement.


Posted by votespisak at 12:01 AM EST

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