Category: Wind


Vestas introduces new wind turbine tailored for the Chinese market

April 16th, 2009 | Posted in Wind
Image credit: Vestas

Image credit: Vestas

The new turbine, V60-850 kW, has been especially designed to be used in China. It is the latest generation of the proven Vestas KW series, and with some improvements tailored to answer the specific demands of the Chines wind and weather conditions. Some of the innovations include wind turbine blade design and temperature controly systems. The V60 is designed to be most effective in low to medium winds, the wind classes mostly represented in Chinas onshore wind power potential (about 75% of unutilized onshore wind power).

The parts for the new turbine are 90% made in China, which is a result of successful partnership Vestas has achieved with local partners. The turbines will be built in Vestas' new manufacturing facility in Hohhot, Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (IMAR). This is going to be one of the first new facilities to support development of a stronger wind energy industry in the region.


Horizon Wind Energy officially breaks ground for the Meadow Lake Wind Farm

April 15th, 2009 | Posted in Wind

The Meadow Lake Wind Farm represents an important project in Indiana's initiative for increasing installed renewable energy capacity. Located in the northwestern part of Indiana, the farm will stretch across the White and Benton Counties. Indiana has a significant wind power potential, and the chosen location has many benefits, for example electrical energy transport access, and proximity to power markets. Phase I of the Meadow Lake project will see some 200 MW of wind power capacity installed. Phase II is actually quite larger, potentially bringing an additional 800 MW of installed wind power capacity to the states renewable energy total.

Meadow Lake Wind Farm will bring some 400 temporary jobs, and 20 permanent jobs once the project becomes operational. Wind turbines used for the project will be 121 Vestas V82 1.65 MW units. Horizon Wind Energy, the wind farm developer and operator, is owned by EDP Renewables, one of the largest wind power operators in the world, with more than 2.5 GW of installed wind power capacity.

Indiana wind resource map. (Image credit: NREL.gov)

Indiana wind resource map. (Image credit: NREL.gov)

In total, that's about 1 GW of wind power installed in Indiana in the "near" future, which is great news for the region.

Scottish & Southern Energy formes new consortium for Round 3 UK offshore wind projects

April 15th, 2009 | Posted in Wind

airtricity_sse

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC (SSE) division Airtricity has joined forces with US based Fluor Limited, the UK operations division of Fluor Corporation, to create a new consortium for winning exclusive rights for the development of wind farms under Crown Estate's Round 3 Offshore Windfarm Development Programme.

The new consortium, Seagreen Wind Energy Limited, combines the two companies' experience in offshore wind operations and project delivery, engineering and construction, as well as maintenance services. The two companies have developed the 500 MW Greater Gabbard Offshore Windfarm located near Suffolk, which is to be completed in 2011. The two companies have also received an exclusive agreement for the development of the Bell Rock Offshore wind farm in Scottish territorial waters.

It is useful to point out that this is the second consortium formed by SSE for the purpose of bidding for the Round 3 projects. Back in February, the company said it was joining forces with RWE Innogy and two Norwegian groups – Statkraft and Statoil Hydro, to form a consortium called Forewind.

Pakistan gearing up for major renewable energy development

April 15th, 2009 | Posted in Hydro Solar Wind
Pakistan wind resource map (Image credit: AEDB.org)

Pakistan wind resource map (Image credit: AEDB.org)

The Pakistani government will soon announce its mid-term renewable energy policy. The focus is going to be on alternative and indigenous resources for producing electricity at affordable prices. The Pakistani Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf, said short and long therm plans are being prepared that anticipate utilization of all the renewable energy resources available in the country. Another benefit the government is hoping to create is an influx of private sector investments.

As part of the new initiative, the country's first significant wind farm will be inaugurated on April 19 in Jhimpir. This represents the first step in Pakistan's move to meet its energy needs. The new wind farm, developed by a leading Turkish renewable energy company, will be able to power about 7400 homes. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has awarded a tariff of US 12.1057 cents/kWh, which is cheaper than thermal electricity. The tariff is expected to be reduced to about 4.5 cents, over the course of the next ten years.

Pakistan solar energy potential (Image credit: AEDB.org)

Pakistan solar energy potential (Image credit: AEDB.org)

Further investments are expected this year. For example, the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) has assured the government of a US$ 361 million investment for generating an additional 400 MW of power by the end of this year. The country's power demand is increasing, and the created gap between production and consumption is becoming a major issue.

According to the Minister, Pakistan's wind energy potential is about 346 GW! Further funds are being lined up for future renewable energy development, like the Alternative Energy Development Board's (AEDB) US$ 700 million donors' assistance.

Just to paint a more complete picture, here are some renewable energy figures for Pakistan – estimated wind energy potential 346 GW, great solar energy potential with about 1800-2200 kWh/m2, hydro energy potential is estimated at about 46 GW.

So far very little of this potential has been exploited, and mainly in the hydropower sector. Plenty more energy can be harvested, but requires major investments and time.

Maglev wind turbine – is this the future of wind power?

April 14th, 2009 | Posted in Wind

Levitating vertical axis wind turbines might become the solution for the ever growing demand for electricity. Let's revisit the concept in a few lines.

Levitation is achieved by using permanent magnets placed in strategic locations to provide "lift" for the vertical axis turbine. This allows the turbine to hover above the ground (levitate), and thus produce no friction while it spins. Friction is one of the most influencing forces that reduce the power output of any machine with moving parts. Eliminating this reduction factor can greatly improve a machines efficiency. This is the Maglev turbine's advantage (Maglev = magnetic levitation). According to some sources, a single large Maglev turbine can output as much as a gigawatt of power (enough for about 750,000 homes), which is an enormous increase over the largest conventional wind turbine capacity today of about 6 MW. Operating wind speeds range from low (1.5 m/s or ) to very high (40 m/s), making this wind turbine an efficient power generator across a wide range of wind speeds. Once commercialized, Maglev turbines could increase power generation by 20% compared to conventional turbines, while reducing operating costs by as much as 50%!

Here's a video from Regenedyne explaing the Maglev wind turbine:

Currently, there are projects being developed in Northern China by ZK Energy, where Maglev turbines are to be used for rural area electrification. There is now news whether anything has been completed yet.

Full Permanent Magnetic Suspension Wind Power Generators, as they are also called, represent a very promising future for wind power generation. It remains to be seen how the machines actually perform in actual installations. Requiring a relatively small area of land for operations, about 100 acres, these wind power generators have another advantage over conventional wind turbines – they take up less space, so there is less negative impact on the surrounding landscape.

Iberdrola Renovables production up 20% in Q1 2009

April 14th, 2009 | Posted in Hydro Wind

iberdrolaThe Spanish company has increased production by 20% in the first quarter this year to reach 5.4 GWh. Wind power accounted to 96.8% of this amount, while other renewable energy sources like hydropower accounted for the rest. Iberdrola Renovables' total installed capacity has reached about 9.6 GW, of which about 9.3 GW comes from wind power installations.
Most of the company's wind power generation comes from facilities in Spain, about 48%, while the next largest source is the US facilities with about 32% take in total. UK facilities follow with about 8.6 percent.

While most of the company's power generation facilities are located in Spain, the US and the UK, there is a growing number elsewhere in Europe and South America.

AWEA released the 2009 wind energy industry report

April 14th, 2009 | Posted in Wind

awea

American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) released its latest report on the wind industry in the US.

Wind energy leaders have kept their top positions, while other leaders have emerged in different categories. Twenty four states have had new wind turbine manufacturing facilities opened, expanded or announced during 2008.

A quite interesting conclusion from the report is that Texas is the state with largest wind energy capacity installed – 7.2 GW, while Minnesota (1.75 GW) and Iowa (2.8 GW) generate about 7% of total energy needs from wind power. Indiana is the state with the fastest growth in wind power, percentage wise.

AWEA CEO Denise Bode said the wind energy industry today generates not only clean energy for the US economy, but also hope for American workers and businesses. She went on to say that no matter what part of the wind industry we look at, manufacturing or maintenance, people are employed in the wind power almost in all 50 states today.

The overall goal is to produce 25% of electricity needs from renewable sources by the year 2025. The US is going to have to make long-term investments in billions of dollars in clean energy installations and manufacturing facilities, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Major project owners are NextEra Energy Resources, Iberdrola Renewables, MidAmerican Energy and Horizon-Energia de Portugal. Interestingly enough, about 43% of wind turbines installed come from GE Energy, while the rest come from other major wind turbine manufacturers – Vestas, Suzlon, Gamesa, but also from some newer companies – Acciona, REpower (now owned by Suzlon), Fuhrlander, DeWind and AWE, all whom entered the US market in 2008.

More than 25 GW of installed wind power will generate about 73 TWh in 2009, which should ne enough to power some 7 million average US households.

The report, with all the detailed information, is available on the AWEA website.

Update: you may want to take a look at AWEA's Windpower Outlook 2009 report as well. It features great charts illustrating wind power growth in the US, as well as other benefits of renewable energy over traditional energy sources.

Midwest green transmission superhighway has been granted incentives by FERC

April 13th, 2009 | Posted in Wind

itclogo

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has given its approval for the infrastructure investment rate incentives for a 3000-mile regional "green power superhighway" proposal. The new transmission infrastructure is aimed at transporting electricity generated by wind power from the upper Midwest to consumers in Chicago, Minneapolis and other centers.

Green Power Express LP (ITC Holdings) designed the project for the benefit of customers who are going to use energy coming from remote renewable energy locations through high voltage transmission lines. This kind of project requires effective transmission planning that goes way beyond the needs of a single utility or local region, according to ITC.

One of the major obstacles for connecting consumers with renewable energy sources, is the transmission infrastructure that has been thus far tailored to accommodate the needs of traditional power sources, such as fossil fuel power plants. In order to move towards more renewable energy derived electricty, a new transmission infrastructure needs to be built. Similar projects have been announced in Europe, especially in Great Britain, where a major renewable energy electricity transmission line is going to be built between Ireland and the UK.

Green Power Express has estimated the costs for the 765 kW transmission network to be between US$ 10 billion and US$ 12 billion. The network will eventually span across seven states and delivery up to 12 GW of wind energy and stored energy from the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa, to Midwestern load center in Chicago, Minneapolis and southeastern Wisconsin.

If anyone has been having doubts about the expansion of renewable energy, at least on the North American continent, this should be enough of a reassurance that renewable energy is coming to the mainstream consumers, and with serious figures.

Suzlon developing wind power projects in Canada

April 13th, 2009 | Posted in Wind

suzlonSuzlon, or rather its German arm REpower Systems AG has received a contract to supply wind turbines, as well as installation services, for power projects in Canada during the next financial year. Other than saying they have secured contracts for wind power in Canada, the company has kept the financial info to itself for now.

REpower Systems AG's majority stake has recently been purchased by Suzlon, for about EUR 270 million, from Portuguese Martifier. After the final tranche of about EUR 175 million, Suzonl will have become the owner of 91% stake in REpower.

Furthermore, Suzlon said the company is soon going to begin its operations in the Republic of South Africa, as well as enhancing its presence in South America. Suzlon has already entered Brazil, the leader in renewable energy development in the region.

China and Scotland aim to strengthen renewable energy collaboration

April 13th, 2009 | Posted in Wind
Hebei wind farm (North-East China)

Hebei wind farm (North-East China)

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said Scotland will help China develop renewable energy at a weekend forum in Beijing, China. Scotland has technological leadership in wind and marine power industries, and can help China fulfill its aim to create sustainable development through the increase of renewable energy production. Future collaboration will revolve around off-shore wind generated electricity and industries with low-carbon emissions.

Cooperation between the two countries has existed in many projects so far. Examples are two wind farms in the Hebei Province and in Inner Mongolia, totalling about 250 MW in installed capacity. Another example is an off-shore wind project, supported by Sea Energy Renewables, one of the very few companies in the world that has experience in deep sea off-shore wind energy projects.

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