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| 15 Oct 2009 07:47:24 pm |
 Cheap Wind Bails Out Spanish Nuke, For the Moment |
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Reuters reports today that spot market electricity prices are falling on the Iberian Peninsula despite the unscheduled outage of a 1,000-MW nuclear power plant: "The 1,000 megawatt Asco II nuclear plant was disconnected from the grid on Wednesday evening to repair a back-up diesel generator. Operators could not say how long the work would take." The drop in prices is due to a forecast of strong winds: "Wind farms, however, were forecast to more than fill the gap left by Asco II by ramping up output to more than 8,000 MW later in the day from 5,000 MW in the morning, when the Omel exchange fixed the day-ahead 'pool' rate, the market benchmark." Dang, and I thought it was wind that was supposed to be unreliable.
(OK, so it doesn't happen every day. For a more serious analysis of the issues surrounding variable wind energy, see our fact sheet on Wind Power & Reliability.) |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Tom Gray |
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| 15 Oct 2009 06:25:32 pm |
| Investment Climate Improving, Say Finance Workshop Panelists |
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Guest Blog by AWEA's Editor, Carl Levesque
Wednesday’s Wind Energy Day in New York City, as proclaimed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, turned out to be an eventful and informative one, both for the public and members of the wind industry.
The thousands of tourists, city residents, and businesspeople who filed through Times Square on Wednesday saw video on one of the square’s famous giant screens depicting the power of wind and sharing facts about the industry. The video streamed onto the screen as, just off the square, members of the wind industry and representatives from financial institutions gathered for AWEA’s Wind Energy Finance & Investment Workshop, where participants took in the latest information concerning the capital side of the business.
General themes coming out of the event: the federal grant program created under the economic stimulus package has had a positive effect on the industry as well as the project finance environment. Offering a teaser of AWEA’s third-quarter industry numbers scheduled to be released next week, AWEA Director of Industry Data & Analysis Elizabeth Salerno said that the wind power installation numbers for the quarter were stronger than expected, thanks to the grant program. Still, Salerno, noted that the manufacturing side of the industry continues to lag as turbine inventories and previous orders continue to satiate demand for the time being.
In spite of the overall encouraging news, project finance deals remain more elusive (and take longer to get done) than they once were, developers said at the conference. “Debt deals can get done for certain very high-class projects,” said Horizon Wind Energy Director of Finance David Berry.
By “high class,” Berry was referring to projects that have such attributes as having top-name turbines lined up and power purchase agreements in place. “For everything else, deals can be difficult,” he said, echoing the sentiment of other developers on panels. |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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| 15 Oct 2009 02:17:48 pm |
| Wind Turbine Sound Data Point |
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Reams have been written about the alleged effects of wind turbine sound. We don't want to go overboard in calling the objections hogwash, though it's pretty clear they are mostly overblown, as it were. Still, every now and then a nice, contrary data point comes in. Here's one that was published just a few days ago in the Valley News, a local newspaper that serves communities along the Vermont-New Hampshire border. The article quotes a landowner, Kevin Onnela, who lives so near the Lempster, N.H., wind farm that one of the turbines sits just 500 feet from his home. Mr. Onnela "said he has to open his windows to hear the [turbine] by his house," adding, "'You know what it sounds like to me? The ocean.'" A neighbor who lives further down the mountain on which the wind farm is sited adds, "I didn't notice them for a while ... I only hear it two or three times a month."
The Valley News reporter adds his own impression: "The sound, which some describe as being like the low hum of an airplane, is a rhythmic whoosh sometimes accompanied by an alternating whistle. Even 100 feet away, the windmill’s swoosh fades behind a conversational speaking voice and can barely be heard over an idling car engine."
Just for the record ... (For another impression, see this short video from another newspaper, Wisconsin's Fond du Lac Reporter). |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Tom Gray |
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| 14 Oct 2009 08:37:17 pm |
| Ringing Down the NASDAQ |
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Capping a busy New York City Wind Energy Day in honor of AWEA's Finance Workshop in the Big Apple, AWEA CEO Denise Bode, accompanied by member company representatives and staff, rang the NASDAQ Marketsite closing bell (see photo below). The day included a meeting with the New York Times editorial board to press the case for a strong national clean energy policy.
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Tom Gray |
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| 13 Oct 2009 08:56:36 pm |
| AWEA Financial Analysts' Day Is Overflow Success |
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AWEA's first-ever wind energy industry financial analyst day is an overflow success, according to AWEA CEO Denise Bode, who snapped the photo at left.
On tap for tomorrow, already declared by the Honorable Michael Bloomberg as “New York City Wind Energy Day”: AWEA will ring the NASDAQ Closing Bell and premiere a wind power video in Times Square.
Says Bode, “From Mayor Bloomberg’s proclamation to our presence at the NASDAQ in Times Square, New York City will know that wind energy has arrived.” |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Tom Gray |
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