January 2, 2008

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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INDIAN POWER CO SUZLON TO INVEST US$400 MLN ON WIND ENERGY FUND

  India's largest wind power  firm, SUZLON ENERGY, (BSE:532667),
  which raised $US552 million  through a qualified institutional
  issue (QIP) on Thursday to  repay debts, is set to launch a $US400
  million fund to invest  in wind energy assets.
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IS VERTICAL TOWER NEXT BREAKTHROUGH IN WIND POWER?

  The three blades of a traditional 120-foot wind turbine stood
  nearly still. But a few yards away, Adam Fuller's 36-foot wind
  tower turned silently in the breeze. The only sound came from a
  small chain around a sprocket--no louder than a bicycle.
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NEW FORTUNES IN THE WIND: ECONOMICS ADVANCE STATE'S NEW ENERGY RESOURCE

  Every day, thousands of motorists on Interstate 70 drive by a new
  sight in the Smoky Hills.  Dozens of white poles, standing more
  than 250 feet tall, with giant propeller-like blades at the top,
  appear on the horizon about 25 miles west of Salina
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STRINGS ATTACHED TO STATE WIND FARM: VIRGINIA APPROVED THE HIGHLAND
COUNTY FACILITY BUT SAID THE OPERATOR MUST PROTECT WILDLIFE

  Virginia approved its first commercial wind farm Thursday along
  with a mandate that the operator pay to protect bats and raptors
  from a series of spinning turbine blades now pegged for a Highland
  County ridgetop. - (Knight-Ridder)
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MILFORD OFFICIALS PROPOSE WIND POWER

  One energy source the city seems to have an ample supply of is
  wind, and some city officials want to turn wind-speed knots into
  kilowatts
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PGE'S BIGLOW CANYON WIND FARM HELPS MAKE HOLIDAY LIGHTS GREENER

  Portland General Electric Company (PGE) (NYSE:POR) customers'
  holiday lights are twinkling greener this season now that the last
  of  the 76 turbines in the first-phase development at PGE's
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PG&E RECEIVES APPROVAL FOR 585.5 MW OF RENEWABLE POWER

  Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced today that the
  California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved four
  new renewable energy power purchase agreements.
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AS FUEL COSTS RISE, SO DOES INTEREST IN HARNESSING WIND

  High on a mountainside outside of Mahanoy City, 13 wind turbines,
  each taller than the Statue of Liberty, dominate a landscape where
  veins of coal deep beneath the ground fueled the Industrial
  Revolution.
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 Sacramento Municipal Utility District RFP
by NAW Staff on Thursday 06 December 2007

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) will release a request for proposals (RFP) on Jan. 4, 2008, to meet 23% of its retail electricity sales with renewable energy by 2011 and beyond.

The utility's need for renewable energy continues to increase due to its commitment to expand the amount of power from renewable sources in its power mix and a need to replace current contracts that expire in the coming years.

The RFP is for power purchase agreement offers of California renewable portfolio standard-eligible renewables, such as wind, geothermal, small hydroelectric, landfill gas, biomass and biodiesel. A separate RFP for emerging renewable technologies is planned for mid-2008.

Deadline: April 2008

For more information: bids.smud.org.
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Constellation NewEnergy Signs Renewable Energy Agreement With Hotel
by NAW Staff on 06 Dec 2007

Constellation NewEnergy, a subsidiary of Constellation Energy, has entered into a renewable electricity purchase agreement with the InterContinental Chicago Hotel. As part of the agreement, Constellation NewEnergy will secure approximately 2 million kWh of Green-e certified renewable energy certificates through its NewMix Super product to match 50% of the hotel's
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White Creek Completes Power Prepay Financing Structure
on 05 Dec 2007 by NAW Staff

Quincy, Mass.-based Meridian Clean Fuels and its broker-dealer affiliate, Meridian Investments, have announced the completion of White Creek Wind I, a 205 MW wind farm in Klickitat County, Wash., using a "power prepay" financing structure. The wind project was developed by four publicly owned utilities, Cowlitz County Public Utility
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SSE RUNS RULE OVER AIRTRICITY

  Perth-based utility Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) was yesterday
  reported to be among the contenders to buy Irish renewable energy
  company Airtricity.
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VATTENFALL AND WALLENSTAM TO JOINTLY DEVELOP AND OPERATE WIND FARM
IN SWEDEN

  Vattenfall and Wallenstam have signed a joint venture agreement to
  develop, build and operate a wind farm south of Taggens in
  Hanobukten bay, southern Sweden.
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SUZLON ENERGY RECEIVES WIND TURBINE ORDER FROM ONGC

  Integrated wind energy firm Suzlon Energy has received a new order
  from Indian oil and gas exploration and production firm ONGC for
  51MW of wind turbine capacity
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ELECTRABEL ACQUIRES NEW WIND FARM IN PORTUGAL

  Belgium-based power company Electrabel has acquired a new wind
  farm in Nave, Portugal, from Gamesa, a Spanish designer and
  builder of wind farms. With 19 wind turbines of 2MW each the
  facility has a total capacity of 38MW. This is the fourth wind
  farm in Portugal to be fully owned by Electrabel.
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REPOWER TO SUPPLY WIND TURBINES TO EDF ENERGIES NOUVELLES

  Renewable energy firm EDF Energies Nouvelles has signed a new
  framework agreement with wind turbine supplier REpower, a
  subsidiary of Suzlon Energy, covering the delivery of 690MW in
  turbines for its wind farm projects in Europe and the US.
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EDP ACQUIRES POLISH WIND PORTFOLIO

  EDP Group's renewables subsidiary Nuevas Energias del Occidente
  has acquired Relax Wind Parks, a portfolio of wind projects to be
  developed in Poland, for E54 million and an additional success fee
  of E40,000 per megawatt on average. - (YellowBrix)
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HK'S CHINA WINDPOWER, TIANJIN DH TO INVEST 900 MLN YUAN IN WIND FARMS

  China Windpower Group Ltd said its Top Well Holdings Ltd  unit
  will develop wind farms in China's northern Jilin province and
  Inner  Mongolia region with Tianjin DH Investment Ltd
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SIEMENS RECEIVES MAJOR ORDER FOR OFFSHORE WIND FARM IN DENMARK

  Siemens Power Generation (PG) has signed a contract with Danish
  energy company Dong Energy A/S for the supply of 91 wind turbines
  to extend the existing Horns Rev offshore wind farm in the North
  Sea off the Danish coast. - (Energy Central)
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VESTAS RECEIVES ORDER FOR WIND TURBINES FROM URBAENERGIA

  Danish wind turbine supplier Vestas has received an order from
  Spanish renewable energy firm Urbaenergia for 32 units of its V90
  2MW wind turbine for the Sierra de las Carbas and the Sargentes
  projects, both located in the Castilla y Leon region of Spain.
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VESTAS WINS WIND TURBINE CONTRACT FROM AES

  Danish wind turbine supplier Vestas has received an order from
  US-based electricity utility AES for the delivery of 52 units of
  its V90 3MW wind turbine.
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 GreenHunter Invests In China-Based Wind Turbine Manufacturer
by NAW Staff on Friday 30 November 2007

Grapevine, Texas-based GreenHunter Energy Inc. has entered two definitive agreements with wind turbine manufacturer MingYang Wind Power Technology Co. Ltd., based in Guang Dong Province, People's Republic of China (PRC).

GreenHunter will acquire a 6.3% equity interest in MingYang for approximately $10 million. GreenHunter's investment is conditioned upon approval from the appropriate governmental authorities to allow for a foreign investment in the PRC. In addition, Wind Hunter LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of GreenHunter, has secured a master wind turbine supply agreement with MingYang that allows Wind Hunter to purchase 900 MW of new capacity for wind projects to be developed between 2008 and 2012 in North America.

Key components of the supply agreement include:
- purchase by Wind Hunter of 108 MW of 1.5 MW wind turbines for new projects in the U.S.,
- preferential right for Wind Hunter to purchase any turbines to be exported by MingYang to North America from 2009 through 2012, and
- the right for Wind Hunter to purchase larger capacity turbines if manufactured by MingYang from 2009 through 2012.

MingYang says it has existing orders from companies for installation of wind turbines within the PRC that exceed 1,000 MW.

"The significance of this transaction to our organization is twofold," says Gary Evans, chairman and CEO of GreenHunter. "First, we will now have long-term access to turbine equipment at a time when such equipment is extremely scarce worldwide. Second, we are excited to be the first company in the United States to employ turbines manufactured in China."
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American, Chinese manufacturers create joint venture for wind turbines.

(12/10, Selko) reported, "Timken Company announced...a joint venture with Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd. to manufacture ultra-large-bore bearings for main rotor shafts of multi-megawatt wind turbines for the Chinese wind energy market." The venture, which includes the construction of a $38 million bearing manufacturing plant at the Xiangtan Electric's Hunan, China site in 2008, will combine "Timken's expertise in alloy steel, power-transmission design, and precision manufacturing capabilities...with Xiangtan Electric's leadership in the Chinese market for heavy-equipment manufacturing." China has said that it intends to "generat[e] 30 million kilowatts of power from wind energy systems by 2020." U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez estimated that the "partnership...will provide $100 million in exports, while also helping China expand alternative energy."
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