The AWEA Blog: Into the Wind


EU wind power now 7 percent, but industry challenged in 2013

Posted: 11 Feb 2013 Carl Levesque, Consultant

The European Union wind energy sector installed 11.6 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in 2012—enough additional power for the continent to now meet 7 percent of its electricity needs--according to the 2012 annual statistics released this week by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).


The megawatts added in 2012 bring the E.U.’s total wind power capacity to 105.6 GW. The 7 percent penetration level achieved is a notable increase from 6.3 percent at the end of 2011.


While the installation total for the year beats 2011’s 9.4 GW, “The 2012 figures reflect orders made before the wave of political uncertainty that has swept across Europe since 2011, which is having a hugely negative impact on the wind energy sector," said Christian Kjaer, CEO of EWEA. "We expect ...


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Wind farm delivers badly needed taxes to Ohio county

Posted: 07 Feb 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

On January 30, the Timber Road wind farm in Paulding (O.) County made its first property tax payment to the county in the form of a giant check for $449,212.50, according to the West Bend News.


The article contains a rundown of the economic benefits that have been brought to the area by the wind farm, which was developed by EDP Renewables:


"The Timber Road wind farm project brought over 900 jobs to Ohio during its construction. At the peak of construction there were 400 jobs just in Paulding County. The Ohio law required 60% of the workforce to be from the state. EDP went above and beyond and found it beneficial to have 70% of their ...


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Opinion: North Dakota's other oil field

Posted: 06 Feb 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

The North Dakota State University (NDSU) student newspaper NDSU Spectator recently carried an article by Opinion Editor Nathan Stottler titled "North Dakota's other oil field" focusing on the state's enormous wind potential.


Mr. Stottler opens by speaking with real feeling about North Dakota's abundant winds:  "Every one of you has asked yourself the same question, especially on days like today. A high of -9 degrees? 25-MPH winds? Wind chill of -40 degrees? Welcome to North Dakota in January, now remind me again when it was that I decided to go to school above the Arctic Circle?


"Negative nine degrees isn’t all that bad when left alone. Give yourself a ...


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More new wind generation records: Texas, Spain, UK

Posted: 05 Feb 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

More wind generation records have fallen in recent days, reflecting growing use around the world of this clean, reliable energy source.

 

This week, top billing goes to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the utility system serving most of the Lone Star State and saw a record January 29, when at one point wind generated a new high of 32.1 percent of electricity supply on the system. The hourly wind generation peak for the day was 8,667 megawatts (MW) (8.667 GW), setting a new record as well.

 

Next up:


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Native American group puts values into practice with wind power

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 Carl Levesque, Consultant

Putting its respect-for-earth values into practice, TWN Wind Power, a Tsleil-Waututh Nation company, recently completed two distributed wind installations at White Earth Nation, located in northwest Minnesota.

 

The two sites, Ojibwa Building Supplies in Waubun and White Earth Community Service Center in Naytahwaush, are now both benefiting from wind energy. The White Earth Nation is Minnesota’s largest and most populous reservation, encompassing over 1,300 square miles. It serves as the homeland for over 20,000 band members. Situated in the northwest region of Minnesota, the land is the transition between the Red River Valley to the west and the lake and pine region to the east.

 

Upon completion of the installations, White Earth Nation Chairwoman ...


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South Australia study finds infrasound from wind farms not a concern

Posted: 04 Feb 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

The Environment Protection Authority of the state of South Australia has released a new study comparing infrasound from wind farms--one of the favorite bugaboos of anti-wind groups--with that from other everyday sources. The research effort concluded that wind turbine infrasound is "insignificant in comparison with the background level of infrasound in the environment."

The study, performed by consulting firm Resonate Acoustics, took measurements over a period of approximately one week at seven locations in urban areas and four locations in rural areas, including two residences approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) away from the wind turbines.

The


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Bonneville reaches new peak for wind generation: 4,344 MW

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 Michael Goggin, AWEA Manager-Transmission Policy

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a federal power marketing agency and utility system operator in the Pacific Northwest, notched a new system wind generation record of 4,344 megawatts (MW) on January 29 at 7:15 p.m. Pacific time.

 

The new record surpasses BPA's old wind generation mark of 4,289 MW, and came in the middle of a period of more than 60 hours during which wind generation never fell below 3,400 MW. It was the latest in a series of new highs being set around the country as new wind farms installed last year begin churning out electricity.

 

Under typical conditions, one MW of electricity can power approximately 800 homes, so wind output of 4,344 MW would be enough to power roughly 3.5 million homes.

...


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It's official: U.S. wind energy blew away old record for installations in 2012

Posted: 31 Jan 2013 Peter L. Kelley, AWEA VP-Public Affairs

The U.S. wind energy industry set a new record with over 13 gigawatts (GW) installed in 2012, topping 60 GW of cumulative capacity, en route to being America's favorite source of new electric generation!

Read all about it on the official White House blog --
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/01/30/record-year-american-wind-industry - and in AWEA's Newsroom: http://www.awea.org/newsroom/pressreleases/officialyearendnumbersreleased.cfm
 

...


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Fact check: Graybeal story relies on IER, misses facts

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 David Ward, Consultant

Recently, Yahoo.com carried an article by Susan Graybeal, who unfortunately relied on the Institute for Energy Research (IER), an anti-wind group funded by fossil fuel interests, for a discussion of the wind energy industry's prospects.

With the January 1 extension of the production tax credit (PTC), the wind energy industry is getting back to work. And back to business.

BACK TO BUSINESS

The looming uncertainty imposed on the wind industry during 2012 through inaction of Congress did have a real impact.  However, with the PTC extension finished, wind power projects are now getting back on track.

With its extension, the PTC can ...


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Fact check: Pacific Research Institute report by Benjamin Zycher filled with inaccuracies

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 Michael Goggin, AWEA Manager-Transmission Policy

The Daily Caller’s Michael Bastasch recently reported on a faulty report filed by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI). PRI is a think tank with ties to fossil fuel industry-funded groups like the Koch brothers and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

The report’s author, Benjamin Zycher, has had his anti-wind misinformation debunked before.

Throughout this most recent report, Mr. Zycher makes numerous serious errors in an attempt to argue that renewable energy will increase electricity costs for Californians. In reality, ...


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