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July 23, 3009
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has
announced the selection of 28 new wind energy projects for up to $13.8 million
in funding, including $12.8 million in Recovery Act funds. The Department of Energy is also starting a
new partnership with the nation's six largest wind turbine manufacturers, in an
effort to promote research, development and building of new wind farms.
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July 8, 2009
Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy said Monday it plans to build the 51-megawatt Kit Carson Windpower Project on 6,000 acres near Burlington on Colorado's Eastern Plains by the end of 2010. The facility will supply electricity to rural customers of Tri-State, an organization of 44 electric cooperatives that serve 1.4 million customers in four Western states and is Colorado’s second-largest power supplier, under a 20-year agreement.
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July 3, 2009
The U.S. Energy Department issued a $16 million conditional loan guarantee to Nordic Windpower, part of a four-year-old federal program for alternative energy. The guarantee is for Nordic Windpower to build an assembly plant for its two-blade 1 MW wind turbine. Most wind turbines use three blades and are more expensive and more difficult to install than Nordic’s, the company said.
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July 2, 2009
A newly formed organization is exploring the
possibility of building a wind farm 13 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean off the
south shore of Long Island. The Long
Island-New York City Offshore Wind Collaborative is a group that
includes utilities, transportation agencies and others. On Tuesday the group issued a Request for
Information (RFI) marking the next step in the development of what could be the
largest offshore wind farm proposal in the country.
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June 29, 2009
The private equity firm Riverstone Holdings last week acquired Babcock & Brown's North American wind energy group and its development pipeline for an undisclosed amount. The group has renamed itself Pattern Energy Group LP. Riverstone is world's largest renewable energy private equity fund and has committed $400 million to expand and support Pattern Energy's renewable energy business.
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June 24, 2009
For the first time federal government has issued offshore wind leases. On Tuesday the federal government issued five leases to allow wind-energy companies to explore the possibility of building wind farms off the coast of New Jersey and Delaware. The leases cover areas 6 to 18 miles. The leases were granted to Bluewater Wind New Jersey Energy, Fishermen’s Energy of New Jersey, Deepwater Wind, and Bluewater Wind Delaware.
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June 22, 2009
The electric utility, Ameren UE, last week signed an agreement to buy wind power from Horizon Wind Energy’s Pioneer Prairie Wind Farm in Iowa. This is Ameren’s first purchase of wind power. The energy purchase of a 102 megawatts from Horizon Wind is enough to power 26,000 households.
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June 19, 2009
A study, published this week in Energies Open Access Journal, claims to be the first survey of global high-altitude wind patterns. It found that wind speeds at high altitudes of about 30,000 feet can be 10 times greater than speeds on the ground as a result of the jet stream. The study concludes that high-altitude winds might be tapped as a regular and reliable source of energy.
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June 18, 2009
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has passed the American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009, which would help expand energy development and increase production of low-cost electricity. The bill creates the first nationwide renewable electricity standard (RES) requiring electric utilities to purchase or produce up to 15 percent of electricity output by 2021 from renewable electricity sources, such as wind, biomass or solar.
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June 15, 2009
Mainstream Renewable Power is off to a quick start. The new company bought three wind farm projects in Illinois with the potential to generate 787 MW by 2013, following a $1.7 billion investment. Mainstream Renewable Power was founded in February 2008, by Dr Eddie O’Connor and Fintan Whelan, former Chief Executive and Corporate Finance Manager of Airtricity respectively.
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June 8, 2009
The Muskegon, Michigan based company
EarthTronics unveiled an inexpensive rooftop wind turbine they claim can reduce
average residential energy bills by 18 percent. EarthTronics announced the Honeywell Wind
Turbine, an innovative energy systems for home and business owners that has a
higher performance output and lower installed cost per kilowatt than any other
unit on the market, according to the company.
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June 5, 2009
Beyond near-term market uncertainty created by
the financial crisis, the longer-term prospects for the US wind
industry remain strong, according to a new study from Emerging Energy Research,
a Cambridge, MA-based advisory firm. Under
EER’s base-case forecast scenario, US annual wind power growth will
increase from 8.5 GW in 2008 to nearly 15.5 GW by 2020.
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June 2, 2009
Two competing companies have struck a deal to
share the building of an $800 million high-voltage power line project from Wichita to Dodge
City, Kansas. The agreed to project will be the first
extra-high voltage transmission lines west of the Mississippi River and will
connect the growing wind farm fields of Kansas to outside markets. Each company will be separate portions of the
lines and they are proposed to be up and running by 2013.
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May 22, 2009
Duke Energy announced it is acquiring a
70-megawatt wind power project in Pennsylvania
- the company's first in the eastern U.S. The company plans to purchase the North
Allegheny windpower project from wind turbine manufacturer and project developer
Gamesa Energy USA.
The project consists of 35 Gamesa wind turbines, each capable of producing two
megawatts of electricity.
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May 20, 2009
The Detroit Edison Co.
has entered into a $90 million, 20-year agreement with Michigan-based Heritage
Sustainable Energy to purchase wind power and renewable energy credits. Heritage
Sustainable Energy, which is headquartered in Traverse City, plans to install seven or
eight large-scale wind turbines at a wind farm near Cadillac.
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May 19, 2009
WindSim yesterday announced it has begun a
strategic partnership with AXYS Technologies Inc. (AXYS) aimed at helping wind
developers design more profitable offshore wind farms. WindSim's wind farm design software will be
bundled with every sale of the recently launched AXYS WindSentinel offshore
wind resource assessment buoy.
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May 18, 2009
CPS
Energy of San Antonio, Texas ranks number one for the second consecutive
year in wind energy capacity among municipal utilities, according to the American
Wind Energy Association. The association
also presented CPS Energy with its Municipal Utility of the Year Award for its
growth and leadership in renewable wind energy.
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May 15, 2009
The Canadian province of Ontario
passed the Green Energy Act. The Act aims to improve conservation programs,
promote investment in renewable energy projects through North
America's first feed-in tariff program, and create green jobs. The
legislation is the cornerstone of the government's plan to put Ontario on a path towards reducing Ontario's greenhouse gas emissions, while
becoming a leader in the emerging global renewable energy sector.
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April 28, 2009
The wind turbine materials and supply business appears to be
feeling the pinch of the global recession and unemployment. The PPG fiberglass
plant in Lexington, North Carolina announced it will lay off 110
employees effective June 30. The plant manager said the decision is driven
primarily by the downturn in the wind energy market.
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April 24, 2009
Iowa
Governor Chet Culver signed two bills intended to further wind energy
development in the state. One bill sets
aside $1 million in tax credits for wind energy companies that engage in
research and development. The other bill allows colleges and universities,
cooperatives and other groups of Iowans who want to generate their own
electricity to qualify for the wind energy production tax credit.
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April 23, 2009
The Interior Department released final rules
for offshore wind-power development. The rules establish a process for granting leases, easements, and
rights-of-way for offshore renewable energy development. The new program also sets up methods for sharing revenues generated from OCS renewable energy
projects with adjacent coastal States.
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April 20, 2009
Aeronautica Windpower has signed an
exclusive licensing agreement with Norwin A/S of Denmark
to manufacture new, commercial-size wind turbines in the United States.
Aeronautica plans to focus on the ‘American Built’ theme in its advertising
and marketing on the belief that many projects around the country will opt to
‘Buy American’ turbines if given the choice.
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April 17, 2009
Iberdrola Renewables has completed development of a new wind farm
near the Texas Gulf Coast
that will supply renewable energy to customers of CPS Energy and the South
Texas Energy Cooperative. Both CPS
Energy and the South Texas Energy Cooperative have 15-year agreements to
purchase Peñascal’s output of 76.8 megawatts.
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April 14, 2009
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) approved transmission infrastructure investment rate incentives for a
proposed 3,000-mile regional "green power superhighway" intended to
deliver wind-powered renewable energy from the upper Midwest to consumers.
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April 13, 2009
Scotland
will cooperate with China to
develop renewable energy, said Scotland's
First Minister Alex Salmond. The collaboration with Scotland will center on offshore
wind-powered electricity and industries with low carbon emissions.
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March 10, 2009
First Wind, an independent developer of wind
power in North America, announced that it has filed a permit application with
the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to build a proposed 51
megawatt (MW) wind project in the town of Oakfield
in Aroostook County.
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April 9, 2009
Environmental groups have teamed up
with Google to offer the Path to Green Energy map on Google Earth that
highlights protected areas to prevent alternative energy developers from
clashing with conservationists over where to place solar, wind and geothermal
generators.
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April 7, 2009
Noble
Environmental Power, a major wind energy developer, has received long-term
capital for its 330-megawatt wind power projects in western and northern New York state. GE
Energy Financial Services invested more than $200 million in the portfolio,
which includes the Noble Altona, Chateaugay and Wethersfield Windparks.
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April 6, 2009
Offshore wind farms could generate enough
power to meet the country's entire electricity demands, according to a new
study from the Department of the Interior.
The greatest wind potential lies off the nation's Atlantic coast, which
the Interior report estimates could produce 1,000 gigawatts of electricity --
enough to meet a quarter of the national demand.
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April 1, 2009
Duke Energy announced that it will expand its
renewable power business with the development of a second wind energy project
in Cheyenne, Wyo. The company also announced power
purchase agreements with two regional utilities and the procurement of wind
turbines for the project. Duke Energy,
one of the largest electric power companies in the United
States, supplies and delivers electricity to
approximately 4 million U.S.
customers.
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March 27, 2009
Vestas held a ground-breaking ceremony this week for its two new manufacturing facilities – a nacelle assembly factory
and wind turbine blade factory – in Brighton, Colorado. The Crown Prince and
Princess of Denmark and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter attended the ceremony. The Brighton factories are part of the
significant manufacturing and research base Vestas is establishing in the U.S.
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March 19, 2009
Federal regulators have settled a dispute
over who should regulate offshore wind turbines, resolving a bureaucratic
hurdle that has slowed offshore wind development, particularly off the East
Coast.
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March 17, 2009
The Maryland PSC gave the go-ahead to a $142
million wind farm project in Western Maryland.
The permission was granted to US Wind Force of Wexford, Pa. to develop the
wind farm atop Dan's Mountain near Frostburg in Allegany County.
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March 16, 2009
Senators from Maine and Delaware urged U.S. Energy Secretary
Steven Chu to commit $400 million from the economic stimulus package to support
an advanced wind energy program, especially for offshore wind projects.
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March 13, 2009
The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday
said it created a special energy and climate change task force to hasten the
development of renewable energy projects on federal lands. The task force will identify specific zones
on U.S. public lands where the department can facilitate a "rapid and
responsible move to large-scale production of solar, wind, geothermal, and
biomass energy," said Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar.
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March 11, 2009
ITC Holdings of Novi, Mich., wants to build a
3,000 mile, 765-kilovolt power line that would stretch from the Dakotas through
Minnesota to Chicago. The line, estimated to cost $10 billion to $12 billion,
would help the Midwest feed the nation's appetite for renewable energy. The
project has been dubbed "The Green Power Express."
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March 10, 2009
Officials
with Santee Cooper, Coastal Carolina University and the South Carolina Energy
Office yesterday announced a project to
study offshore wind power. Six weather
buoys and two towers will be positioned just off the coast at Georgetown and
Little River this month, to gauge how well the wind blows. The hope is that
enough wind will be found to drive turbines to make electricity.
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March 9, 2009
Big wind-turbine companies gave manufacturers
some good news last week at the Michigan Wind Energy Conference at Cobo Center
in Detroit. They still need more U.S.
parts makers.
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March 6, 2009
The Senate majority leader Harry Reid on
Thursday proposed new federal authority to build special power lines that carry
renewable energy from remote places, such as solar and wind power. The U.S. government would be able override
states and direct where the lines would go and who would pay for them.
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March 4, 2009
North Dakota has hired a British business
development firm to attract European wind turbine manufacturers or
manufacturers of wind turbine components to the state. Deyton Bell Ltd. is based in Cambridge. The
company says it will be approaching European wind energy companies about setting
up wind turbine manufacturing operations in North Dakota.
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March 2, 2009
The
computer maker Dell announced last week that its Oklahoma City campus will be
powered with 100 percent wind energy, thereby avoiding the generation of 5,100
tons of CO2 emissions yearly.
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February 25, 2009
German based multinational Siemens Energy
has entered into a research and development agreement with
Lawrence Livermore National Lab to conduct atmospheric modeling
research to improve the efficiency of wind farm sites, turbine design and wind
farm operations.
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February 20, 2009
A new player has entered the
business of manufacturing wind turbine blades, VEC Technology, a subsidiary of
Minneapolis based Genmar Holdings. Genmar’s
CEO, Irwin Jacobs, has been dropping hints for months about collaborating with
Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens in a new
wind energy-related business venture.
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February 18, 2009
The growth of wind power over the past
decade has been nothing short of spectacular. The vast majority of this growth
has been not in individual wind turbines for homes or businesses, but in
utility-scale “wind farms” that aggregate multiple wind turbines and feed the
electricity into the utility grid.
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February 12, 2009
American Electric Power subsidiaries signed power purchase agreements for renewable wind energy totaling 250megawatts (MW) to serve customers in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and WestVirginia. With these new agreements, AEP achieves more than 90 percent of
1,000-megawatt wind energy goal it set for itself.
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February 11, 2009
American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC)
has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S.
Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and its National
Wind Technology Center to validate the
economics of a full 10 megawatt (MW) class superconductor wind turbine.
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February 10, 2009
With millions of water-pumping windmills dotting America’s farmland in the early 20th Century, a new application of wind power emerged: wind turbines used to generate electricity. Dramatic advances were made both here and in Europe in the early 20th century, with blade designs that relied on aerodynamic lift—technology borrowed from airplanes.
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February 9, 2009
Chinese investment in alternative energy projects rose last year, apparently not yet affected by the global credit crunch. In the coming year the prospects may not be so rosy if the Chinese government fails to give continued support to wind energy.
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February 6, 2009
The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) reports 2008 was a record year for the international wind energy industry, especially in the United States. The United States overtook Germany as the world's wind energy leader by installing 8,358 MW in 2008, a 50% increase over the previous year. Worldwide new wind farms have generated over 27,000 MW of electricity.
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February 4, 2009
Because of new research carried out at the
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Xcel Energy, new
forecasting technologies might save wind farms millions of dollars. NCAR has agreed to provide highly detailed
and localized weather forecasts to Xcel Energy to help it better integrate
wind-generated electricity into the power grid.
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North America News 
