February 2, 2007

Wind Harvest's "Wind News"
A compilation of story leads from around the world.
By:  Kevin Wolf <kwolf@windharvest.com>

Note:  These story titles and lead paragraphs predominantly come from Energy Central's daily posting of the world's energy stories. 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 Google and find the original source of the story. You are welcome to share this with others. This is a free service from Wind Harvest.   Thank you. Kevin
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WIND POWER CAPACITY IN U.S. INCREASED 27% IN 2006 AND IS EXPECTED TO
GROW AN ADDITIONAL 26% IN 2007

  Wind power generating capacity  increased by 27 percent in 2006
  and is expected to increase an additional 26  percent in 2007,
  proving wind is now a mainstream option for new power  generation,
  according to a market forecast released today by the American Wind
   Energy Association (AWEA).
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AEP AND MIDAMERICAN MOVE FORWARD WITH TEXAS TRANSMISSION JOINT VENTURE

  American Electric Power  (NYSE: AEP) and MidAmerican Energy
  Holdings Company are moving forward with  formation of Electric
  Transmission Texas LLC (ETT) as a joint venture to build
  transmission facilities in Texas.
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SORIANA JV TO BUILD $300 MILLION WIND PLANT

  Mexican retailer Soriana and its joint venture partner, Vientos
  del Istmo, plans to invest $300 million in a wind driven power
  plant in Mexico that will provide electricity to over 200 of
  Soriana's stores.

AREVA BIDS TO ACQUIRE REMAINING 70% STAKE IN REPOWER

  In a bid to reinforce its position in CO2-free energy
  technologies, French nuclear group Areva has announced a public
  tender offer for the remaining shares of Germany-based wind
  turbine manufacturer REpower Systems, of which it already owns 29.99%.
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AMSC'S WINDTEC SELLS LICENSE FOR NEW WIND ENERGY SYSTEM DESIGN IN CHINA

  American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a leading
  energy technologies company, announced today that its wholly-owned
   subsidiary, Windtec(TM), has sold a license in China for its
  Model  WT1650 wind energy system to Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive
  Research  Institute (ZELRI), a division of China-Southern-Loric.
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MILBANK, TWEED CLOSES FINANCING OF 80 MW ALLEGHENY RIDGE WIND FARM PROJECT

  Financing for the construction of the 80 MW Allegheny Ridge Wind
  Farm project in Pennsylvania has closed, it was announced today.
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MILBANK, TWEED CLOSES FINANCING OF 301 MW CEDAR CREEK WIND PROJECT

  Financing for the construction of the 301 MW Cedar Creek Wind Farm
  Project in Weld County, Colorado has closed, it was announced today.
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FPL ENERGY COMPLETES BANNER YEAR IN WIND DEVELOPMENT

  FPL Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of FPL Group (NYSE:FPL), said today
  that  it added more than 800 megawatts of wind projects to its
  portfolio in  2006 bringing its total installed capacity to 4,016
  net megawatts.
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THE ANSWER IS BLOWING IN THE WIND: LEWIS RESIDENTS MUST THIS WEEK
DECIDE BETWEEN THE ENVIRONMENT AND VITAL LOCAL INVESTMENT, SAYS
DAVID ROSS

  It is an island divided. The increasingly bitter debate over the
  giant Lewis wind farm will be rekindled this week as islanders
  wrestle again with the issue of whether an environmental price is
  worth paying for much-needed jobs and local investment.
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COMMERCE ENERGY PROVIDES CLEAN, AFFORDABLE, WIND-GENERATED
ELECTRICITY TO TEXAS AND MARYLAND

  Commerce Energy Group, Inc. (AMEX:EGR), a leading U.S. electricity
   and natural gas marketing company, is now making it easier and
  more  affordable for residential and small-business customers in
  Texas and  Maryland to purchase clean, wind-generated electricity.
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CALIFORNIA ISO BOARD APPROVES TEHACHAPI TRANSMISSION PROJECT

  The California Independent System Operator Corporation (California
   ISO) Board of Governors today gave a unanimous thumbs-up to a
  significant expansion of the transmission grid in the Tehachapi
  area  of Southern California.
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WIND FARM GETS OK FROM SCC STAFF: AN SCC EXAMINER IS EXPECTED TO
DECIDE BY EARLY MARCH WHETHER TO ISSUE NECESSARY PERMITS

  The State Corporation Commission staff has recommended approval of
  a proposed wind energy farm in Highland County provided the
  developers can resolve concerns about birds, bats and other
  environmental issues.
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GOLD MINE IS SITE FOR WIND-POWER EVALUATION

  The hills near Victor, Colo., are alive with the sound of wind.
  And it may become music to the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold
  Mining Co.
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Acciona and Suncor Energy begin construction on Ontario wind power project
 January 30, 2007

 TORONTO, Jan. 30 /CNW/ - Acciona Wind Energy Canada Inc. and Suncor Energy Products Inc. today announced they have started full-scale construction on their 76-megawatt (MW) wind power project near Ripley, Ontario. The Ontario Energy Board recently granted regulatory approval for the wind farm's two substations and transmission line, completing the project's key regulatory requirements.
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CALIFORNIA MISSING GOAL FOR RENEWABLES, SAYS REGULATOR
SACRAMENTO, California, US, January 24, 2007 (Refocus Weekly)

 Electric utilities in the state of California are falling behind schedule in meeting a deadline to source 20% of their power from renewables by 2010.
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GUIDELINES EXPLAIN HOW TO REDUCE IMPACT OF TURBINES ON BIRDS AND BATS
SACRAMENTO, California, US, January 24, 2007 (Refocus Weekly)

Draft guidelines have been produced to reduce the impact of wind turbines in California on birds and bats.
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SURVEY SHOWS STRONG SUPPORT FOR CAPE COD-SIZED WINDFARM IN DELAWARE
NEWARK, Delaware, US, January 24, 2007 (Refocus Weekly)

Offshore wind is strongly supported as a future source of energy in the state of Delaware, according to a survey conducted by the state university.
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BP TO BUILD FIVE WINDFARMS IN U.S.
HOUSTON, Texas, US, January 24, 2007 (Refocus Weekly)

BP will start construction this year of five windfarms in the United States.
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Refocus Weekly News-in-Brief

- Minnesota would see an economic boost of US$7 billion if it adopted a requirement to source 25% of its electricity from renewables by 2020, says the state DFL party. Adding 5,000 MW of green power capacity to the state¹s electricity grid would come from 3,000 new wind turbines in rural farm country, and the plan would add an annual premium of less than $10, according to a study by the state Public Utilities Commission. Renewables now generate 6% of the state's electricity and state law calls for efforts from most utilities to reach 10% of green capacity by 2015.

- Construction has started on the 131 MW Camp Springs windfarm in Scurry County, Texas. The 87 General Electric turbines will be commissioned by June and the project is being developed by a subsidiary of Invenergy Wind, headquartered in Chicago. Invenergy secured 850 MW of turbines from GE for deliveries in 2006 and 2007.

- American Superconductor has signed a development contract worth US$2 million with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction of South Korea, to develop a 3 MW wind energy system for Doosan and support the assembly and installation of the first prototype. Doosan will start producing the units late in 2009.

- Minnesota Power will buy green power from a 48 MW windfarm proposed for central North Dakota. The Oliver Wind II Energy Center would be owned and operated by FPL Energy, and will be located near the 51 MW Oliver Wind I facility which began commercial operation in December 2006. Minnesota Power purchases all of that output under a long-term agreement. Oliver Wind II is expected to be operational by the end of this year, pending regulatory and other approvals, with 32 turbines from General Electric. The output would generate electricity for 15,000 homes and allows the utility to move towards the state of Minnesota¹s 10% renewables objective by 2015.
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NY Times  | January 23, 2007
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/business/worldbusiness/23venture.html?ex=1170219600&en=e1bca6b4692cc778&ei=5070&emc=eta1>Europe Encouraging Clean Energy Industry
By JAMES KANTER
A commitment by European governments to help out ³clean energy² entrepreneurs is creating a more welcoming environment than America.
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 The Energy Challenge:  Energy Research on a Shoestring
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Americans may have a love affair with renewables and the idea of cutting oil imports and conserving energy, but it is a fickle one.
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Americans should be taxed for the energy they consume. But it isn't the government that should decide how that money is spent.

By Garrett Gruener and Daniel M. Kammen
GARRETT GRUENER is a venture capitalist and the founder of Ask Jeeves (now Ask.com). DANIEL KAMMEN is co-director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment at UC Berkeley.

January 31 2007

IT'S BECOME PAINFULLY obvious that the oil-addicted United States must take action to stop global warming &#8212; and equally obvious that sensible energy action will have to come from Congress, business and the American people. Piecemeal approaches won't work. What we need &#8212; and quickly &#8212; are market-based incentives to make it attractive to stop emitting the carbon that causes global warming.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-gruener31jan31,0,7779335.story?coll=la-opinion-underdog
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