Populations continue to swell. Cheap energy begins to fade. And rising oceans swallow urban lands. Such problems demand solutions to the current path of energy, according to scientists, business leaders and politicians who gathered at a recent public forum at UNC-Chapel Hill’s William and Ida Friday Center. But it’s still unclear what alternatives are viable,… Read more »
PPG Commercial Coatings today launched its advanced “thin-film” HSP-7401 Polyurethane Primer and AUE-50000 Series Polyurethane Topcoat wind turbine blade coating system. The coating system is designed specifically for wind turbine blades and uses a thinner build to reduce labor, material use and weight while providing unparalleled adhesion, erosion resistance and flexibility protection properties. PPG technical… Read more »
The head of one of the largest utilities in Massachusetts is not sold on the state’s largest wind power project.NStar chief executive Thomas May said yesterday that although he believes in alternative energy, he’s not counting on the proposed Cape Wind project. Cape Wind, which has been supported by the Patrick administration, would place wind… Read more »
Europe’s fledgling offshore wind industry will grow this year by 1,000 megawatts, or 75 percent, the European Wind Energy Association forecast in a report Monday. That compares with a 54 percent growth rate in 2009, when nearly 2,000 turbines and 373 megawatts of offshore wind were installed. “This is an incredibly good result considering the… Read more »
Wind turbines offshore in the Great Lakes have the potential to generate a huge chunk of Ontario’s power, but a more streamlined approval process is needed if the offshore industry’s potential is to be achieved. That’s the conclusion of a report from wind developer Trillium Power Wind Corp., which calculates that the Ontario government has… Read more »
Omaha Public Power District Board of Directors has approved a power purchase agreement expected to substantially increase the district’s renewable energy portfolio. Under the agreement the utility plans to purchase up to 40.5 megawatts (MW) of wind energy for twenty years from a wind farm to be built in Boone County near Petersburg, Nebraska. The… Read more »
In a new twist on opposition to wind farm development, the sector is now experiencing infighting, with the largest owner of wind farms in the U.S. challenging a recent state decision that aids another company. Now, instead of fighting environmentalists or NIMBYs (not in my backyard types), MidAmerican Energy must face off against electricity giant… Read more »
Staff members at the Public Utility Commission will get to work today trying to please a district judge who threw a $5 billion wind energy transmission plan back to the agency. The city of Garland’s municipally owned utility had objected to losing out on an opportunity to build some lines to take West Texas wind… Read more »
In 2009, a total of eight new wind farms consisting of 199 offshore wind turbines, with a combined power generating capacity of 577 MW, were connected to the grid in Europe. This represents a growth rate of 54% compared to the 373 MW installed during 2008. For 2010, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) expects… Read more »
Arabic script is about to appear on television sets across the country, with the Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens helpfully reading an English translation, Clifford Strauss writes in The New York Times. “Go back to sleep, America; the oil crisis is over,” Mr. Pickens intones, deadpan, in the new video. Seductive Middle Eastern music plays… Read more »
Installation of the largest wind turbine in the history of Long Island was completed last month. The 100-kilowatt turbine stands 121 feet tall but the tip of its rotors will reach a height of 156 feet above the ground. The clean-energy device was installed at a 1,200-acre wholesale nursery in Laurel, in Riverhead Town, at… Read more »
What’s that on the sixth-floor deck of Adobe headquarters in downtown San Jose? Those slender silver spires, spinning quietly in the breeze, are actually turbines producing environmentally friendly electric power. Workers installed the 20 wind turbines over the December holidays at Adobe Systems’ high-rise offices at Park Avenue and Almaden Boulevard. Officials at the big… Read more »
The Blaine County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance that will permit and regulate wind-energy facilities, bringing to an end a process that has taken about a dozen public hearings and witnessed multiple drafts. At a regular meeting at the Old County Courthouse in Hailey, the commission made minor editorial changes to the draft… Read more »
Wearing two hats, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar set April as the deadline for his final decision on the Cape Wind project. Following a series of consultations with supporters and opponents in Washington Jan. 13, Salazar told reporters that there are “two fundamentally important national priorities that are at stake here.” There is President Obama’s… Read more »
The development of a new European industry – offshore wind power – took an important step forward today with the announcement by the British government of the go-ahead for offshore wind farm development areas with a capacity ten times greater than Europe’s existing European offshore wind energy capacity. A total of nine development zones –… Read more »
The EU should continue leading by example despite the failure of the UN climate talks, the wind industry says. Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive of EWEA, said: “The world needs global climate leadership from the EU in 2010 more than ever, now that the other super-powers have shown their lack of ambition.” The Copenhagen Accord is… Read more »
On September 23, 2009, the SGS Wind Competence Center presented Norderland Projekt GmbH with a Statement of Compliance (SoC) for the design basis of their two offshore wind farms – Northern Energy Global Tech II and Northern Energy Global Tech III. The Statement of Compliance for the design basis is the conclusion of the first… Read more »
Harmonised and clear rules for the connection to the electricity system are necessary due to the dramatic increase in wind power penetration across Europe, says the wind industry. Harmonised rules will lower wind energy production costs, contribute to an efficient management of the system, and lower the cost of the electricity for consumers. The European… Read more »
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide €300m for the construction of the BritNed Interconnector, a new electricity transmission cable between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Paul Wilczek, EWEA’s Regulatory Affairs Adviser, commented: “Today’s decision by the EIB is a small but highly significant step towards what everyone in the business knows… Read more »
Commenting on the political declaration signed by nine countries to cooperate on the development of a North Sea supergrid today, Justin Wilkes, EWEA Policy Director, said: “These nine countries have taken a step in the right direction. The building of a supergrid in the North Sea is vital for fully exploiting Europe’s biggest energy source… Read more »
Use of Wind Energy – Future Development The share of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption is to be increased to 20 % in 2020. To achieve this extremely ambitious target, the share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation in the European Union has to be increased to approximately 34 % by 2020…. Read more »
In the run-up to the crucial climate change talks in Copenhagen, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has published a league table showing which EU countries are best at exploiting CO2-cutting wind energy. Top of the table is Denmark, with the highest amount of wind energy capacity per square kilometre of national territory. Germany comes… Read more »
Today, as European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs speaks to the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee on the European Economic Recovery Plan, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) warned that the EU needs to speed up its stimulus package. The €5 billion plan, approved by the European Parliament last May, includes €565 million… Read more »
European Offshore Wind 2009 conference and exhibition (EOW09) – the world’s largest gathering of offshore wind energy professionals took place in Stockholm from 14-16 September. The event, organised by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), was hailed a huge success, doubling in size from its previous edition in 2007. {pagebreak} Over 4,800 participants saw more… Read more »
SGS Presents Wind Energy Services at the Korea Green Energy Show 2009 The SGS Wind Energy Competence Center participated in the Korea GreenEnergy Show 2009 as the main exhibition for the energy industry in Korea.Attendees had the chance to learn more about the project life cycle of windturbines and about the services that SGS offers… Read more »
The Asia-Pacific Weeks (APW) Wind Energy Conference in Berlin was a great opportunity for SGS to present its Wind Energy Technology Center (WETC). The presentation held by Torsten Muuß, Global Technical Manager for Wind Energy from SGS, proved to be a success as participants showed great interest in the services provided by the Center. {pagebreak} The Asia-Pacific Weeks… Read more »
With EU Environment ministers meeting tomorrow to finalise the EU’s position for the Copenhagen climate change conference in December, the European Wind Energy Association is releasing new calculations on how much wind power can contribute to achieving greenhouse gas emission targets. {pagebreak} In a briefing for Ministers and Members of the European Parliament, EWEA says… Read more »
History was written in global merchant shipping during August and September 2009 when two multipurpose heavy lift carriers under the flag of Beluga Shipping GmbH successfully mastered the premiere in the commercial transit of the legendary Northeast-Passage from Asia to Europe. MV “Beluga Fraternity” and MV “Beluga Foresight” delivered various heavy lift modules from Ulsan,… Read more »
One of the continent’s foremost stevedore and marine terminal operators, Gulfstream Marine is making a name for itself in the specialised field of wind turbine transportation. caught up with company founderPES: Welcome to PES magazine. Firstly, can you give us a basic overview of Gulf Stream Marine (GSM) as a company and how it operates… Read more »
Union Pacific operates North America’s premier railroad franchise, covering 23 states in the western two-thirds of the United States. PES spoke to Byron Willis and Beth Whited to ask just what that means for the transportation of freight for the wind industry. What are the points of differentiation for Union Pacific compared to other railroads… Read more »
New Federal tax incentives established by the ARRA for financing wind projects [sell] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) added two new and significant provisions, enacted as part of an effort to spur domestic development and installation of renewable energy, that are available to developers to help finance their wind projects. {pagebreak}… Read more »
Turbine moves a part of CN’s growing green businesses CN and CN Specialized Services (CNSS) has recently completed the first-ever rail move of twin-pack wind turbine blades from German manufacturer Enercon GmbH and Salco Energy Services Inc. of Calgary. Enercon is a leading global manufacturer of wind turbine systems, and Salco Energy is an experienced… Read more »
For more than 100 years, the team behind Mobil Industrial Lubricants continues to help companies all around the world to meet their most demanding energy challenges, pushing the boundaries of innovation and setting new benchmarks for lubrication excellence. Today, Mobil Industrial Lubricants’ family of premium oils and maintenance solutions help successful companies within the global… Read more »
Richard L Wottrich, Managing Director, International, IMAP Chicago (Dresner Partners) looks at the future for the alternative energy industry in the US and concludes that we will have to look to our laurels if we are to stay ahead of the global competition … There is a powerful wind emanating out of Washington, foretelling that… Read more »
A recent Harvard-led research project suggests the potential of wind energy could be considerably higher than previous estimates by both wind industry groups and government agencies. In this exclusive extract, PES looks at the report, garnered from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. Using data from thousands of meteorological… Read more »
or rather, their energy could well be. A newly-published study commissioned by the Canadian Wind Energy Association found considerable potential for wind energy exports from the Maritime Provinces to the US north east. In this exclusive extract, PES reveals how the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island could transport their surplus… Read more »