Wind Energy News

March 13, 2007

Wind energy promoters are suggesting charges on the carbon produced by thermal power plants and a renewable energy quota system as ways to support wind power in New Zealand.  New Zealand Wind Energy Association chief executive Fraser Clark told his organisation's conference in Wellington on Tuesday that a consistent policy was needed from the Government. The provision of new wind power capacity in this country had spiked in 2004 and this year, although some of the new capacity might not be built until 2008, Mr Clark said.

March 9, 2007

Wind farm companies operating in Victoria are watching the New South Wales state election very closely. “If the Labor Party is returned, then they’ve basically said we’ll throw that open effectively to all states so we can build wind farms in Victoria and South Australia and sell into the NSW market,” Pacific Hydro’s Andrew Richards said. “If the Liberal Party is put in to Government then they’ve said, well, it’ll only be from NSW projects.

Playfuls.com – Philippines

March 9, 2007

The Bangui wind farm, which cost 50 million dollars to build, became operational in June 2005. It was the first large-scale wind power plant in the Philippines and South-East Asia, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).  The windmills were built by Northwind Power Development Corporaton, a private firm headed by a Danish engineer, with the help of a 30-million-dollar soft loan and 10-million-dollar grant from the Danish International Development Agency.

Feb. 18, 2007

Hundreds of wind turbines will dot south-west Victoria’s landscape with another company announcing yesterday it wanted to develop a $180 million wind farm near Glenthompson. The proposal for a 43-turbine development by private investment bank Investec Bank and Windlab Systems will be at least the 12th wind energy development either operating, approved or in the pipeline for south-west Victoria.

Feb. 16, 2007

A landmark decision to allow a controversial wind farm at Taralga could mean a proliferation of wind farms in NSW, with at least 18 under development and a further 15 being mooted, say wind energy groups. So far, NSW has only two large wind farms. The Taralga judgement, handed down on Monday in the NSW Land and Environment Court, upheld a decision by the Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, to approve the $185 million wind farm.

Feb. 9, 2007

Three Thai energy companies and a Japanese operator are teaming up to pioneer a 1.8-billion-baht wind-power project in southern Thailand. The three Thai participants are PTT Plc, Electricity Generating Plc (Egco), Wind Energy Generating Co (Wegco). They will join with Eurus Energy Japan Corp, the largest wind-power company in Japan, which is 60% owned by Tokyo Electric Company (Tepco).

ABC Online - Australia

Feb. 4, 2007 

The New Zealand Herald

Jan. 30, 2007

Food for thought as the wind plays havoc with beach and barbecue plans this summer, is that New Zealand is better positioned than any other country in the world to generate all of our electricity from renewable sources. One of the most important choices facing this nation over the next few years is the development of new generators of electric power.  New Zealand is the windiest country in the world, and the wind is very reliable on a seasonal basis, but it does not blow every day.

Jan. 29, 2007

The Victorian Government is in secret talks with New South Wales to extend its compulsory clean energy scheme beyond state boundaries.  The Government confirmed yesterday it was negotiating with NSW for the two states to buy and sell renewable power to help meet mandatory targets for clean energy use. But it has denied it is in talks with the Tasmanian Government for a similar deal, despite claims from a Tasmanian wind farm proponent that trade talks are under way.

Jan. 26, 2007

A wind power project by three German firms was granted an investment license in the central province of Quang Ngai on Thursday.  Nguyen Xuan Hue, head of the provincial authority said the project worth some US$12.5 million would be conducted by German companies including Komporst Ltd., GMH Energy and We BS Energies. By 2012, the firms will complete a plant run by wind turbines and diesel generators in Ly Son island district with a designed capacity of 10MW.

Jan. 25, 2007

Attention has been drawn to the safety of wind power generators following an incident in which a windmill toppled over in Higashidorimura, Aomori Prefecture earlier this month. An official from the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, who inspected Iwaya Wind Farm on Jan. 10, two days after the accident there, expressed surprise that the accident occurred, saying, "How could it have fallen down like this?"

Jan. 23, 2007

 A windfarm that is supposed to secure a brighter future could affect Central Otago’s fragile past, the Central Otago branch of the Historic Places Trust said.  Trust Central Otago chairman Graye Shattky was yesterday concerned about the effect Meridian Energy’s Project Hayes could have on remnants of regional history.  Many members were worried how the 176-turbine wind farm on the Lammermoor Range could affect the Old Dunstan Rd and associated historic sites, he said.

January 19, 2007

Wind turbines covering more than 2300 hectares planned for Hawkesdale will devalue surrounding property and affect farming, objectors told Moyne Shire last night.  The shire is expected to announce its position on the 31-turbine development at next Tuesday's council meeting and used last night's hearing to gauge the community's opinion.  Council will make a submission to an independent planning panel which will make a recommendation to the Planning Minister about the project.

By Erica Andrews

Jan. 17, 2007

New Zealand energy company TrustPower is to proceed with construction of its $200 million wind farm on the Hummocks and Barunga Ranges, west of Snowtown; start date is set for April.  TrustPower last Friday reported it had finalised plans for the construction of 42 wind turbines, stage one of a possible 130-turbine project.  Stage one will have an 88 megawatt capacity, enough to power 60,000 South Australian homes. It will use only about one-third of the available wind farm site, leaving the opportunity for further stages in the future.

By Sherwood Ross

Jan. 11, 2007

 "The combination of wind power, tidal power, micro-hydro, and biomass make renewable power ever more practical," writes Dr. Helen Caldicott in her book, "Nuclear Power is Not The Answer"(New Press.) "Windpower and biomass are now almost as cheap as coal, and wave power and solar photovoltaics are rapidly becoming competitive."   Already widely in use in Europe, Caldicott says wind power "is rapidly becoming the energy of the future." In 2004, six times as much new wind power was generated as nuclear power, showing that canny investors are well on the road to an option that produces results without perils. Indeed, a study Caldicott cites made by Stanford University's Çhristina Archer and Mark Jacobson of 8,000 wind records from every continent, found a resource of 72 terawatts, 40 times the amount of electricity used by all nations in year 2000.

Jan. 11, 2007

HIGASHIDORI, Aomori -- A 68-meter-high wind power generator has fallen down from its base, its owner said Wednesday.  A worker at Eurus Energy Iwaya inspected the "Iwaya Wind Farm" wind power generation facility it operates in Higashidori after receiving a report that a power failure occurred at about 9:55 p.m. on Monday, and found one of the 25 generators had fallen down. Nobody was injured. Company officials said they are investigating the cause of the accident, noting that there is no record of strong winds on that day. Generators at the facility, which were made in Denmark and each have a 1,300-kilowatt output, are designed to withstand winds up to 60 meters per second.

By Lee Sun-young

Jan. 7, 2007

Experts say that stocks in wind turbine part manufactures, power plant builders and engineering companies are likely to see upward momentum as both the local and overseas markets are expected to grow significantly in the coming years.  "Korea's wind energy industry is still at an early stage but it boasts ample growth potential with a bright outlook on global and domestic markets," said Kim Kyeong-sup, an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities Co.  He added that domestic manufacturers of wind turbine power plants, in particular, are expected to see business improving in the coming years, driven by the global demand for their products. They include manufacturers such as Taewoong Co., PSM Inc., Hyunjin Materials Co., and Dongkuk S&C. which are supplying parts to global wind power companies such as Vestas and GE Wind.

By Junya Yoshida and Eiji Zakoda

Jan. 6, 2007

ASAHIKAWA, Hokkaido--Wind turbines that grace the terrain of this northern region may soon be painted fire-engine red and lit up at night: not for aesthetic reasons, but to stop low-flying birds from crashing into the whirling blades.  With reports of rare bird species being killed off by wind turbines in Hokkaido and elsewhere, companies that operate them are scrambling to find effective yet economically viable methods to make the units more environmentally friendly. Tokyo-based Japan Wind Development Co. began operating seven wind turbines in the Atsumi Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture in December.  It says it will simply shut down operations if birds get too close.

By Rose Dela Cruz

Jan. 5, 2007 

Muzi.com - Japan

Dec. 31, 2006

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plans to work with US conglomerate General Electric on nuclear and wind power generation ventures, a newspaper has said.  Under the plan, the two firms will jointly bid for a 300-million-dollar project to boost capacity by 20 percent at the 1.36-million-kilowatt Laguna Verde nuclear plant in Mexico, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.  If their bid is accepted, General Electric intends to supply peripheral reactor equipment while Mitsubishi Heavy will supply steam turbines, the business daily said. Mitsubishi Heavy also plans to supply General Electric with step-up gears, a key wind turbine component, as early as 2008 in a bid to lower production costs and increase its market share in the wind power industry, the daily said.  General Electric holds the number two spot in the global wind power industry, while Mitsubishi Heavy ranks about tenth.

By Shane Fowles

Dec. 29, 2006

Work has started on the Cape Bridgewater wind farm, with the contractor optimistic that development on another stage of the Portland Wind Energy Project will follow in 2007.  Pacific Hydro received final approval to start work on the site in early November but anxiously awaited the Victorian election result because of fears the Liberals' position on renewable energy would scuttle the project.  But with Labor retaining government, building company G.R. Carr Pty Ltd began works on laying the concrete foundations for 29 wind turbines before Christmas. While it has delivered large industrial projects at the Port Campbell underground gas storage site and the Codrington and Yambuk wind farms, director Peter Carr said the $7-8 million contract was the largest the firm had secured.

Dec. 21, 2006

FEDERAL Environment Minister Ian Campbell has approved a $220 million Bald Hills wind farm, reversing a controversial decision in which he said the project would pose a danger to the rare orange-bellied parrot. Senator Campbell said that because some of the 52 turbines at the wind farm in south Gippsland would be moved and strict conditions to ensure the protection of threatened and migratory species been implemented, the proposal had been approved under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).  "My concern with the initial wind farm proposal was the risks posed to the threatened orange-bellied parrot, which I believed were unacceptable," Senator Campbell said

Dec. 16, 2006

The Asia-Pacific wind industry is on course to reach an 80 gigawatt capacity by 2020, according to a study by Emerging Energy Research.  The results, released Friday, say India and China are expected to lead the region by adding more than 36,000 megawatts of capacity by 2015. Japan, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Pakistan and the Philippines are also expected to expand their markets.  Asia-Pacific will see an exponential scaling up of its wind power sector over the next five years from the size of wind turbines installed to the dimensions of utility and Independent Power Producer portfolios, said Keith Hays, research director for EER.

Vietnam News Service - Ha Noi

12/4/2006 

Local and foreign energy experts yesterday held a workshop on an EC-ASEAN feasibility assessment for wind energy development in Viet Nam, the Philippines and Cambodia. The focus of the project was to promote wind energy development and facilitate investment in wind energy projects in the three countries, chief project manager Niels-Erik Clausen told the workshop in Ha Noi. Tasks outlined for further study in the assessment included wind resource assessment, power systems analysis, grid connection capabilities, policy, institutional and market research, technical feasibility studies, economic and financial studies, financial and contractual frameworks, information dissemination and project co-ordination and management.

Otago Daily Times - New Zealand 

By Blair Mayston

11/30/2006

Another company is scouting wind farm sites in Otago, but will not say whether any of the locations it has looked at appear promising.  New Zealand Windfarms chief executive Chris Freear was in Dunedin on Tuesday after looking at potential wind farm sites in the area.  Mr Freear declined to provide further details on any of the sites, citing commercial sensitivity, and emphasised his company was scouting locations throughout the country. NZ Windfarms, which is based in Christchurch, is building the Te Rere Hau wind farm in the Tararua Ranges near Palmerston North. The 48.5MW farm will cost $80 million and its 97 turbines are expected to generate enough power for 18,000 homes.

 Loopwing, Inc. - Japan

11/30/2006 

Loopwing Wind Turbine was created with the concept of people enjoying natural wind energy produced where they live. For this to come true, a wind turbine must have safety and quietness at the level never experienced before. To this end, totally overhauling the conventional product design from the rotor shape, Loopwing developed a revolutionary new type of wind turbine, which has highly sophisticated design and excellent operating performance compatible with extremely low noise.

RedOrbit.com - Papua, New Guinea 

11/29/2006 

The Duke of York Islands in East New Britain, one of a group of islands in PNG facing the threat of a rise in the sea level because of global warming, is practising what most just preach.  The islanders, with the help of their MP and Treasurer Sir Rabbie Namaliu and China, will seek power from an alternate source - wind.  Sir Rabbie was in Duke of York last Saturday [25 November] to open three new projects that are jointly funded by China and PNG government. They are a double classroom, a new school library and a pilot wind farming project.

Mutlti- Housing News - Adelaide, Australia

11/29/2006

Over a third of the world's electricity, including that required by industry, can realistically be supplied by wind energy by the middle of the century, according to a new report released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Greenpeace. The Global Wind Energy Outlook 2006 report provides an industry blueprint revealing how wind power could supply 34 percent of the world's electricity by 2050. It also concludes that if wind turbine capacity were implemented on this scale, it would prevent 113 billion tons of global warming gases from entering the atmosphere by 2050.

11/25/2006

Meridian Energy is confident it can address the Department of Conservation's fears about the effects of its 92 square kilometre wind farm in Central Otago. DoC has lodged a submission with Central Otago District Council, saying the wind farm should be declined a resource consent, despite the Government submitting in support of it.  DoC says Meridian has not provided enough information about the effect of the farm on native wildlife and two nearby conservation parks.

 Yonhap News

11/25/2006 

North Korea's top energy policy is to develop wind energy in a three-stage project planned out to 2020, the country's officials said in an Asian conference earlier this month.  They claimed they have turned to building hydraulic power stations after the construction of a light-water reactor promised by the international community was suspended.