The AWEA Blog: Into the Wind


Wind power sets new generation, penetration records on Texas utility system

Posted: 05 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

The Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the utility system operator serving most of the Lone Star State, has recorded two new wind energy records in the past few weeks, one for maximum generation and another for penetration (wind generation as a percentage of total supply).

 

The penetration record was established April 21, with wind farms at one point providing 35.05 percent, or more than a third, of the system's power.

 

On May 2, the peak wind generation record fell, with a new high of 9,674 MW being reached at 4:30 p.m., easily eclipsing the previous maximum of 9,481 MW set February 9.

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Colorado legislature approves bill to expand, improve state Renewable Energy Standard

Posted: 02 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

The Colorado General Assembly has approved a bill to expand and improve the state’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) statute to drive clean energy investment, jobs, and project development in rural Colorado. The bill now goes to Governor John Hickenlooper’s desk for consideration.

Senate Bill (SB) 252, cosponsored by Senate President John Morse and House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, protects energy consumers while increasing the RES to 20% by 2020 for the state’s largest cooperative electric associations. While the low cost and stable rates of Colorado renewable energy are expected to save consumers money over time, the consumer protection provision limits any near-term rate impacts to a maximum of 2% per year with no cap on rate decreases. The bill also would expand ...


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Hawaiian Electric Companies hit new high in renewable energy use in 2012

Posted: 30 Apr 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

The Hawaiian Electric Companies (Hawaiian Electric, Hawaiian Electric Light, and Maui Electric) reached a record 13.9 percent of electricity needs from renewable generation in 2012, according to a Hawaiian Electric news release--well on the way to passing Hawaii's next clean energy requirement of 15 percent in 2015, which is part of the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS).

Added rooftop and utility-scale solar photovoltaic facilities on all islands, more wind energy on Oahu and Maui, and increased geothermal energy production on Hawaii island all contributed to this progress, the release said.

The 13.9 percent achievement was an improvement over the 12 percent reported for 2011. The information is contained in the annual RPS report the companies recently ...


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Georgia Power to acquire 250 MW of wind; utility underscores strategy of portfolio diversity

Posted: 29 Apr 2013 Carl Levesque, Consultant

Another Southern Co. utility now has wind energy in its portfolio.


Georgia Power last week announced it has entered into an agreement with EDP Renewables North America that for the first time will add wind energy to the utility's energy portfolio.

Through the contracts, Georgia Power will source 250 MW of cost-effective wind energy from EDP's wind farms in southwest Oklahoma. The wind energy purchased through the contracts will provide enough electricity to power more than 50,000 Georgia homes, the investor-owned utility said. Georgia Power will begin receiving the wind ...


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Fact check: The real story? State RPSs hold strong

Posted: 26 Apr 2013 Kevin O'Rourke, Consultant

Was Monday opposite day for Bloomberg News? Because the status of state renewable portfolio standards across the country is the opposite of what Bloomberg's recent headline suggests.

In fact, most states are standing firm on their firm on their renewable portfolio standards--with some considering increases--while natural gas prices are on the rise.

Challenges to renewable energy standards in Kansas and North Carolina are failing, and states such as Colorado and Minnesota are working on legislation that would actually increase renewable requirements--a significant detail that Bloomberg overlooked.

Also, as major national news outlets such as the


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Xcel Energy on track to surpass CO2 reduction goal by 2020

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

Marking Earth Day Monday, investor-owned utility Xcel Energy said it had reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 16 percent, or 14 million tons, since it began a reduction strategy in its eight-state service territory in 2005. The company’s goal is to achieve a 20 percent CO2 reduction by 2020, and it said the latest projections are that it will surpass that goal by up to 7 percent.

 

“We all share the goal of satisfying the country’s growing energy demands in the least expensive, most reliable and cleanest way possible,” said Ben Fowke, chairman, president and CEO of Xcel Energy. “We continue to successfully pursue a strategy that reflects our customers’ desire to protect the environment and our desire to produce clean energy while maintaining reliable service at an ...


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Buffalo Dunes Wind Project: a lesson in export, affordability and transmission

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 Carl Levesque, Consultant

A project has entered the construction phase in Kansas, and the facility’s significance stretches hundreds of miles beyond the borders of the Sunflower State.


General contractor Renewable Energy Systems Americas (RES Americas) recently started construction on the 250-MW Buffalo Dunes Wind Project, a Kansas facility jointly owned by GE Energy Financial Services and Enel Green Power North America.


Located southwest of Garden City, Buffalo Dunes was developed by Kansas-based TradeWind Energy, LLC, which brought the project straight through the final stages of development. While RES Americas is serving as general contractor, its pre-construction team also worked closely with TradeWind Energy to optimize the project's engineering, design, and construction ...


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Wind farm neighbors stressed, but it's not the turbines

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 John Anderson, Director of Siting Policy

We've posted here in recent days about how new research results suggest more and more strongly that physical ailments attributed to wind turbine sound are actually caused by the "nocebo" (similar to placebo) effect, in which people feel symptoms they have been led to expect. If true, this would mean that anti-wind groups fanning concerns about turbine sound are themselves causing the maladies they profess to fear.

 

Unexpected confirmation of this line of reasoning comes from a recent article in the publication NiagaraThisWeek. It focuses on a researcher in Ontario who hopes to use a community where a wind farm is being planned to measure the ...


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New study answers columnist’s questions, confirms wind energy’s environmental benefits

Posted: 19 Apr 2013 Michael Goggin, AWEA Manager-Transmission Policy

A recent Reuters opinion column by John Kemp and the report it references are simply asking questions that have already been answered, and the answer is that wind energy produces the expected pollution reductions because wind has virtually zero negative impact on the efficiency or emissions of fossil-fired power plants.


A forthcoming report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, due for release within weeks, used a massive body of real-world data from emission monitors at power plants to analyze the impact wind energy has on the efficiency and emissions of fossil-fired power plants. That analysis found that wind energy produces 99.8% of the carbon dioxide emission reductions that would be produced under 1:1 displacement of fossil fuel generation, even with ...


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South Dakota legislation provides economic development opportunities

Posted: 18 Apr 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

With a comprehensive economic development package signed into law March 25, the South Dakota legislature sent a strong message to the wind energy industry that it values wind development, according to a news release from the South Dakota Wind Energy Association (SDWEA). The new legislation, the group said, "combines an enhanced business environment with South Dakota’s premier wind regime, low taxes, quality work force and wind project 'buildability.'"

“Building South Dakota” is the name of the "historic, bipartisan package," SDWEA said, adding that it took effect April 1 to position the industry to take advantage of the construction season and the extension of the Production Tax Credit.

The broad-based package of economic and community development tools is ...


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