Into the Wind - the AWEA Blog

Latest video segment highlights how industry is tapping state’s manufacturing know-how

Michigan and manufacturing go together. But it’s no secret the state has been hit hard by a generally shrinking U.S.-based manufacturing segment over the last several decades.

Thanks in part to wind power, that’s changing in America, and in Michigan too. The story of recent wind power supply-chain entrant Energetx Composites of Holland, Mich., and how wind power is providing new economic opportunities in the Wolverine State is the subject of the latest segment of WindTV, the American Wind Energy Association’s vehicle to highlight how ...

Read more

[This article originally appeared at Independent Australia, and is reprinted by permission. Emphasis added on two paragraphs concerning turbine sound.]

Independent Australia has made it to Federal Parliament, with Sandi Keane’s investigation into anti-windfarm astroturfers the ...

Read more

In a recent article at Forbes.com, Energy Central Editor Ken Silverstein raised questions about wind's variability and its ability to reduce emissions.

It is a common misconception to think that the variability of renewable resources is a unique challenge for grid operators. The reality is that utility system operators are constantly dealing with massive swings in electricity demand and in the output of conventional generators. Electricity demand varies by a factor of three or more depending on the time of day and year, and it is common for large nuclear and fossil power plants to experience sudden outages that take 1000 megawatts (MW) (enough to power 1 million homes) or more of generation offline with no warning. System operators deal with this variability in supply and ...

Read more

U.S. Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kans.) and 10 colleagues from both parties wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Wednesday urging swift action on extension of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC).

In addition to Udall and Moran, the letter was signed by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Scott Brown (R-Mass.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

“An extension of the wind production tax credit should provide for some long-term stability while setting forth a path for how the wind industry can move towards a market-based system. While it is ...

Read more

Four U.S. Representatives from the Illinois Congressional delegation have signed a letter to the Leadership of the House and Senate calling for "a short-term Production Tax Credit (PTC) extension for wind energy at the earliest opportunity in the first quarter of 2012."

According to the four, "Wind energy has provided countless benefits to our state, including tremendous economic development, new manufacturing jobs, and an increased domestic energy supply.  The PTC has been the critical force behind this success.  In 2011, Illinois ranked first in the nation for new turbine installation, bringing our total wind energy output to 2,743 megawatts, fourth in the nation.  The wind industry has contributed significantly to our economic recovery, supporting over 7,000 direct and ...

Read more

The irrepressible Robert Bryce, of the fossil-fuel-funded Manhattan Institute, has a recent opinion article in the National Review attacking President Obama's energy policy. As usual, Mr. Bryce overlooks some key facts in his rush to condemn clean energy:

The cost of wind power is falling.  Wind power's cost has dropped by more than 90 percent since the early wind farms of the 1980s, and a recent report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) found that trend is continuing. LBNL said wind turbine prices have dropped sharply in recent years, due largely to the scaling up of turbine size to reduce cost of energy (COE) and the growth of a domestic supply chain as the U.S. dollar has declined against other major currencies.

That ...

Read more

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) toured a Hexcel composites manufacturing plant in Windsor, Colo., yesterday and expressed strong support for an extension of the federal wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) (see Bennet, Moran continue bipartisan push to extend PTC, Feb. 16).

The Hexcel plant, which employs 103 workers, is part of the growing wind power supply chain that has sprung up across the country over the past several years, opening more than 400 factories and boosting the domestic content in wind turbines installed in the U.S. from 25 percent in 2005 to more than 60 percent ...

Read more

In an editorial Wednesday, the Kansas City Star supported an extension of the federal wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) and praised Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kans.) for backing it as well.

The editorial noted that Kansas is seeing more wind farms being installed, and that the Kansas Corporation Commission recently approved a private company's proposal to build a major transmission line to carry electricity from windy western Kansas to Indiana.  It also cited AWEA's finding that the Sunflower State led the nation in new wind projects under construction ...

Read more

The first Canadian project for wind turbine producer Gamesa Technology Corp. will result in the export of U.S.-assembled turbines.
 
The 10-MW Gesner Wind Farm in Highgate, Ontario, located near the northern shore of Lake Erie between Chatham-Kent and London, will comprise five Gamesa G97 2.0-MW turbines. The turbines’ nacelles will be assembled in Gamesa’s Fairless Hills, Pa., plant.
 
Preliminary planning for the wind farm, which is being developed by Saturn Power, is under way and construction is set to begin in the summer. The facility is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of the year.
 
Gamesa introduced the G97 2.0-MW turbine in 2011 and already has secured contracts for 356 MW, all in the second half of the year. The turbine is ...

Read more

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kans.) visited a Siemens wind turbine manufacturing plant in Hutchinson, Kans., Monday and expressed his intention to seek an extension of the federal wind energy production tax credit (PTC) by amending a transportation funding bill that is currently being considered in the Senate (see Bennet, Moran continue bipartisan push to extend PTC, Feb. 16).

According to the Hutchinson News, Moran said he and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) are also gathering signatures of other Senators on a bipartisan letter in support of a longer extension of the credit. Such an extension could come through a stand-alone "tax extender ...

Read more