March 26, 2004

Wind Harvest Company Wind News
A compilation of story leads from around the world.
By:  Kevin Wolf

Note:  These story titles and lead paragraphs predominantly come from Energy Central's daily posting of the world's energy stories (see http://energycentral.com/. Others are sent to me by subscribers of Wind News.  Energy Central requires paid membership to read full stories. You can often paste the headline into the Google search engine and find the original source of the story.   When I have them, I will include the URL.  Please send me stories that you find, and I will add them into the next edition of Wind News. Thank you. Kevin
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BUSINESS: WIND FARM PLANNED FOR OIL RIG

  The government and the Scottish executive are backing plans by two
  energy groups to build the world's first deep- water wind farm on
  the remains of a North Sea oil platform in the Moray Firth.
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TVO TO BUILD WIND POWER PLANT IN FINLAND

  The Finnish electricity generation company Teollisuuden Voima Oy
  said on Thursday that it had applied for the building of a wind
  power plant in Olkiluoto, Finland.
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CLEAN POWER FIRST

  A North council has become one of the first in England to be
  powered by green energy.
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A MIGHTY WIND

  As wind farms spring up offshore and a magnificent new
  installation vessel reaches the UK, John Worrall explains why wind
  power is the future.
****************

NORTH CAROLINA 'GREEN POWER' SUPPORTERS SEEK BILL DONATIONS TO FUND PROJECTS

  For the price of renting a movie, North Carolinians can help
  generate renewable energy that could someday power their TVs.
****************

LEADING THE WAY IN RENEWABLE RESOURCES, ALLIANT ENERGY-WISCONSIN
POWER AND LIGHT ISSUES BID REQUEST TO ADD 100 MEGAWATTS OF WIND
GENERATION IN WISCONSIN

  Officials at Wisconsin Power and Light Company, a wholly-owned
  subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corporation, announced today they
  will proceed with plans to increase the amount of wind power in
  their balanced portfolio of resources by adding 100 megawatts (MW)
  of wind generation in Wisconsin in 2005.
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GLOBAL WARMING ACTIVIST CALLS VERMONT WIND POWER MORATORIUM 'RIDICULOUS'

  Climate change caused by global warming will wait for no man, and
  Vermont would be mistaken in holding on efforts to tap wind power
  in the state, said a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist turned
  environmental activist.
****************

INVESTOR DOUBTS DELIVER BLOW TO RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRAMME

  THE GOVERNMENT'S ambitious green energy programme was dealt a blow
  yesterday when big City investors warned that the UK would not hit
  its targets for increasing the amount of electricity generated
  from renewable sources.
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WIND BETTER THAN AQUA, SAYS WIND FARM EXPERT

  Wind power is cheaper and quicker to install than hydro
  electricity, and there's enough wind in New Zealand to meet the
  country's electricity needs three times over.
****************

WIND-POWER GENERATOR FOR AICHI, JAPAN, EXPO BEGINS OPERATIONS

  The Toyota group's wind power generator to supply electricity to
  the pavilions of the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture
  began operations Wednesday.
****************

RENEWABLES OUR SUSTAINABLE OPTIONS

  New Zealand (NZ) is in a good  position to develop new ways to
  generate renewable energy.
****************

BTM CONSULT RELEASES SHORT-TERM
WIND INDUSTRY GROWTH PREDICTIONS
from AWEA's free weekly newsletter.
http://www.awea.org/wew/index.html
__________________________________________

On March 19, Danish wind analyst BTM Consult released its "World
Market Update 2003," which recaps the world wind industry growth in
2003 and makes predictions about the industry's future growth
potential.  The report predicts that growth in installations will slow
somewhat in the near term, but will pick up in the period from
2008-2013.

Key facts in the report:

• The world's cumulative installed wind capacity passed 40,000 MW.
• The major share of new installation took place in the European market, with 66.5% of the total.
• Development in Asia grew by some 60% over 2002.  India and Japan were the leading markets.
• North America was responsible for 21.8% of new global installations in 2003.
• Wind now provides nearly 0.5% of the world's electricity supply.
  

Forecast 2004-2008

The report's forecast for the period 2004-2008 indicates overall expansion.  However, the growth is not evenly distributed over the period.  2004 is expected to see fewer sales than in 2003-the first contraction since 1992.  The market is expected to pick up again in
2005.  The year 2007 is expected to grow sharply, due to a takeoff of large-scale offshore installations, particularly in Germany and U.K. Total demand in the five-year period is expected to be 55,300 MW.  Europe will continue to be the leading continent.  According to BTM Consult, the U.S. forecast is uncertain and dependent on the extension aof the production tax credit as well as other drivers.  By end of the forecast period, 95,000 MW of capacity will be online (66,000 MW in Europe alone).

Longer-Term Prediction, Through 2013

BTM Consult predicts that the improved economy of wind power technology and increased competitiveness will justify increasing growth beyond 2008.  The major drivers beyond better economy will be the use of flexible mechanisms for cutting greenhouse gases and an increase of electricity consumption.  Their prediction to 2013 indicates an annual installation of 25,000 MW by 2013.  Cumulative installation will grow to 194,000 MW, which will equal a penetration of wind power of over 2% of the world's electricity consumption by 2013.