January 5, 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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MAINE LAND USE PANEL BACKS WIND POWER PROJECT

  The staff of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission has
  recommended approval of a proposed $150 million wind power project
  in northern Franklin County.
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WINDY WEATHER DELAYS WINDMILL INSTALLATION

  The Steel Winds wind farm project is running behind schedule.
  Eight wind turbines -- designed to generate electricity by
  harnessing the stiff winds off Lake Erie -- were supposed to be up
  and running on the old Bethlehem Steel plant site in Lackawanna by Thanksgiving.
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ALL MAPLE RIDGE TURBINES RUNNING

  The largest wind farm east of the Mississippi River is now
  operating on all turbines. And Maple Ridge Wind Farm officials
  hope that an operations and maintenance building, including a
  visitor center, will be completed by May.
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STATE TO MISS EARLY GOAL IN EFFORT TO BOOST USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

  New York fell short of an early target in its multiyear effort to
  boost the use of wind power and other clean energy sources.
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DOE ADJUSTS PROJECTIONS DOWNWARD FOR RENEWABLE POWER GROWTH

  Renewable power sources are projected to grow only 1.5 percent per
  year through 2030, a rate equal to the growth in electricity use,
  according to the latest long-term energy projections from the
  Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Information Administration (EIA).
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RES-AMERICAS PURCHASES SIEMENS WIND TURBINES FOR TEXAS WIND ENERGY PROJECT

  Renewable Energy Systems Americas (RES-Americas) announced that in
  December it purchased 26, 2.3MW wind turbine generators from
  Siemens Power Generation.
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E.ON UK SUBMITS APPLICATION FOR WIND FARM IN COUNTY DURHAM

  E.ON UK, the British arm of German power giant E.ON, has applied
  to Sedgefield Borough Council for permission to build its proposed
  GBP26 million Butterwick Moor wind farm.
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From Refocus Weekly - December 6, 2006
http://www.sparksdata.co.uk/refocus/archive.asp?month=12&year=2006

EU committee wants increased use of renewables
BRUSSELS, Belgium, December 6, 2006 (Refocus Weekly)

The European Union should set binding targets for reducing carbon emissions and for increasing the use of renewable energies, according to a report adopted without opposition by one of its committees.

Irish utility moves closer to developing Dutch windfarm
DUBLIN, Ireland, December 6, 2006 (Refocus Weekly)

The Dutch government has awarded exclusive rights to build a 284 MW offshore windfarm to an integrated Irish utility.

News-in-Brief

- European revenues from renewable energies will double, predicts Frost & Sullivan, due to government support and global warming. Increasing awareness about renewables and favourable government legislation will boost sector revenue to Euro 14.5 billion by 2010, up from Euro 8.9 billion last year. The green power directive in September 2001 established indicative targets for an overall EU target of 22% by that time, and ³this government support is timely since the renewable energy market is at an important stage of development and requires continued support from consumers and investors.² Energy companies must factor in the issues of ³huge initial capital outlay, development of new transmission and distribution lines, rising export demand and high prices of raw materials,² it says, while the solar energy segment must also contend with prohibitive prices for raw materials and a short supply. ³Solar companies may overcome the shortage of raw materials by undertaking backward integration,² it explains. ³This tactic will help them become one of the fastest growing renewable energy sources in Europe for the next 20 years.² Wind energy claims to provide 69% of all renewables, and companies have adopted restructuring programmes to counter the slowdown in installed capacity.

- Windfarms in Canada will generate 6% of the country¹s electricity by 2020, according to the federal energy department in its first supply - demand outlook in seven years. Output from windfarms will increase from 1 TWh in 2004 to 24 TWh by 2020, an annual average growth rate of 20%. Green power in 2004 was 310 TWh, 60% of the national total, but only 1% was considered as Œemerging¹ renewables from wind, biomass or municipal solid waste, and the balance from hydro, explains Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Despite the increase in wind capacity, by 2020 it will be ³relatively small² at 3.6% of total generation. Total power generation in 2004 was 533 TWh, of which 57% was hydro, and will increase to 652 TWh by 2020, an average growth rate of 1% a year. Total capacity of green power, including hydro, was 64 GW in 2000 and will increase to 72 GW in 2010 and 80 GW in 2020, of which half the increase in renewables will be driven by wind. Turbines will increase from 0.4 GW in 2004 to 3.5 GW in 2010 and 8.5 GW by 2020, mostly in Quebec and, by 2020, wind will represent 6% of Canada¹s generating capacity due ³to federal initiatives and, in part, due to supporting provincial initiatives.²

- HKC of Hong Kong wants to raise US$86 million in a share sale, and may build a windfarm in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region that is the size of Hong Kong. The project would be 100 to 150 MW of capacity by 2008, and 1,500 MW by 2020.

- Gamesa of Spain will sell 232 of installed wind capacity at four windfarms in the U.S. for US$345 million to Babcock & Brown of Australia. Gamesa SA and Gamesa Energy USA will sell windfarms in Cambria and Blair in Pennsylvania, and in Lee in Illinois. The agreement needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulation Commission.

- Imera Power of Ireland has bid Euro 128 million to buy SWS Group, and wants to invest Euro 280 million to develop SWS¹ wind energy business.
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From Refocus Weekly - December 13, 2006
http://www.sparksdata.co.uk/refocus/archive.asp?month=12&year=2006

New energy package will transform Europe¹s renewables industry, says EC president
EDINBURGH, Scotland, December 13, 2006 (Refocus Weekly) The renewable energy industry in Europe must be transformed, says the president of the European Commission.

Refocus Weekly News-in-Brief

- Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power of Wyoming will purchase green power under a 20-year agreement from Happy Jack Windpower, a subsidiary of Tierra Energy, from a 30 MW windfarm. The windfarm will be the first for the utility when it becomes operational in 2008, and will generate 100,000,000 kWh per year from its 750 acres of land owned by the city of Cheyenne, which will receive annual royalty payments.

- The European Investment Bank has signed a Euro 450 million agreement with IBERDROLA to finance renewable energy facilities in Spain. The funds will support 31 windfarms and two mini-hydro plants in Galicia, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Cantabria.
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The Energy Challenge:  It¹s Free, Plentiful and Fickle
By MATTHEW L. WALD, NY Times
December 28, 2006

Wind, almost everybody¹s best hope for big supplies of clean, affordable electricity, is turning out to have complications.

Engineers have cut the price of electricity derived from wind by about 80 percent in the last 20 years, setting up this renewable technology for a major share of the electricity market. But for all its promise, wind also generates a big problem: because it is unpredictable and often fails to blow when electricity is most needed, wind is not reliable enough to assure supplies for an electric grid that must be prepared to deliver power to everybody who wants it ‹ even when it is in greatest demand.
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