World's largest offshore wind farm goes online in Denmark

The world’s largest offshore wind farm will be officially put online this week at a site off the coast of Denmark, reports the New York Times.

The farm, known as Horns Rev 2, covers about 13.5 square miles of the North Sea. Built by Dong Energy, it will produce enough electricity to power 200,000 Danish households.That represents about 2% of Denmark's total electricity consumption. 

Horns Rev 2 is Denmark's ninth offshore wind farm. Dong Energy COE Anders Eldrup explained to the Times the real allure of offshore wind farms is avoiding NIMBYism:  “Western Europe is densely populated and it’s increasingly difficult to get permission to raise mills onshore.”

[Horns Rev 2 photo: Dong Energy]

--Craig Pittman

One wind-power company got more than half of Recovery Act grants for renewables -- and it's not American

 "One company has received more than half of $500 million in the first round of grants from a Recovery Act program that provides cash assistance to renewable energy production companies in place of earned tax credits," the Environmental News Service is reporting.

And it's not an American company.

Receiving five of the 12 grants totaling $294.9 million for its wind power projects in four states was Iberdrola Renewables of Portland, Ore. As ENS reports, this is the "U.S. branch of Iberdrola, S.A., Spain’s number one energy group and the fourth largest utility company in world."

The grant money marks yet another sign of a turnaround for wind power, which as Fast Company magazine notes had "been in dire straits ever since banks started to fail last fall. Investment money dried up, and as a result turbine manufacturers and developers had to hold back on potential projects."

But now, thanks to big-money support from the Obama Administration, "big banks including Morgan Stanley and Citigroup are underwriting wind farms worth more than $100 million each," the Wall Street Journal noted this week.

[AP photo]

--Craig Pittman

U.S. subsidizes renewable energy for $36B -- but spurns nuke project

The U.S. Department of Energy is making available $36 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects and for modernizing the electricity grid, the Associated Press reports.

"The government-supported loans are expected to help companies involved in solar, wind, biofuels and other renewable energy projects get private financing," says AP. "It also aims to spur investments in power grid improvements."

"These investments will be used to create jobs, spur the development of innovative clean energy technologies and help ensure a smart, strong and secure grid that will deliver renewable power more effectively and reliably," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement.

But the DOE hasn't been so giving when it comes to a $3.5-billion nuclear-enrichment plant in Ohio, notes the Washington Post.

"The Energy Department said that the proposed plant, which would use a series of giant centrifuges to enrich uranium for nuclear power plants, was not ready for commercial production and therefore ineligible for the loan guarantees," the Post reported.

So the owner, Maryland-based USEC, plans to suspend the project. Company CEO John K. Welch said he was "shocked" by the Energy Department decision, especially since President Obama had endorsed the project while campaigning in Ohio last year.

"It is unclear how DOE expects to find innovative technologies that assume zero risk," Welch said.

--Craig Pittman

Wind goes out of T. Boone Pickens' Texas-size wind-farm plan

Two years ago onetime Texas oil baron T. Boone Pickens unveiled plans to build a 4,000-megawatt wind farm big enough to power 1.3 million homes. The projected cost: $10 billion. Last year he ordered 667 wind turbines for the farm. It was all part of his ambitious "Pickens Plan" to wean the nation from foreign oil.

Then the economic slump hit, and Pickens' hedge funds lost billions of dollars. Still Pickens "spent a good six months insisting the effort would still move forward, albeit with significant delays," Reuters notes.

Not anymore. Turns out building the wind farm was one thing, but hooking it up to the grid was another. Picken's company, Mesa Power was "unable to borrow $2 billion for transmission lines to link the wind farm to the Texas grid," the Washington Post reports.

Here's the AP video, with a clip of Pickens explaining his decision:

Pickens' woes "are symptomatic of a broader reversal of fortune for wind developers," the New York Times reports. "This year, Emerging Energy Research, a consulting firm, expects a drop of nearly 25 percent in the amount of new wind power installed compared with last year."

Despite the setback, Pickens swears he's still pushing his energy plan. ""This is going to work," Pickens said, pointing his finger at AP reporters as the elevator doors closed.

--Craig Pittman

Republicans draft alternative energy bill favoring nuclear and increased oil and gas drilling

House Republicans are drafting their own energy legislation which is in sharp contrast to the Democrat's bill (Waxman-Markey) which is already being discussed in committee.
The Republican alternative relies on nuclear power, setting a goal of building 100 reactors over the next 20 years. Though it does include renewables like wind, solar and biomass, it would also provide incentives for increased oil and gas production, including oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Unlike the Democrats proposal, it does not include a cap and trade mechanism to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases.

- David Adams, Times staff writer

New report says renewables could supply 25% of power for southeast US

More than 25 percent of the Southeast U.S. electricity could come from renewable energy supplies by 2025, according to a new report released today by the World Resources Institute (WRI), Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), and Southface.
If the right actions are taken these renewable technologies could also create tens of thousands of high-paying new jobs, the report says, while protecting the environment.

The report is especially timely as the Florida legislature is currently debating the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard, to determine how far far to push power companies down the renewable path. Renewable energy currently only supplies about 5 per cent of power for the southeast (less than 4% in Florida).

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has proposed that utilities produce 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020, but there is debate about how to achieve this goal, and whether nuclear should be included.

Obama opens coast up to wind power

While Florida's legislators are busy trying to allow oil rigs within three miles of the state's pristine whie beaches, the Obama Administration has been figuring out how to plant some alternative energy sources off the nation's coastlines:

During his Earth Day address in landlocked Iowa, President Obama unveiled a new initiative that he said will open the way to “major investments” in projects on the Outer Continental Shelf. He said interest already is high in putting wind-power turbines off the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware, according to Bloomberg.

“It’s a win-win,” the president said before touring a factory that manufactures wind turbines. “It’s good for the environment, it’s great for the economy.”

Offshore wind power is used in Europe but has been slow to catch on here because of the expense, notes the New York Times.

The most prominent attempt at an offshore wind farm in the U.S. has been the $1.2 billion, privately run wind farm proposed for the waters off the Cape Cod shore. That project met with extremely strong resistance from people who were concerned about the impact on birds and other environmental consequences. In fact, one of the strongest opponents, notes the Washington Post, has been Sen. Edward Kennedy -- a close friend and supporter of Obama.

--Craig Pittman

Wind energy industry set to grow in US

The wind turbine industry is growing in the U.S. and could grow even more under the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan.
A lot of the turbines and parts are imported, but U.S. manufacturers are beginning to increase domestic production, according to a report by McClatchey.

Vestas, the world's largest wind turbine maker, is planning to start production in the U.S. next year at four factories in Colorado, according to this March report  by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

"Wind is positioned to help take a lot of those manufacturing jobs that have been lost, especially in the auto industry, and move them into the work we're trying to do," Vestas' vice-president, Roby Roberts, tells McClatchey. Other U.S. companies have plans to build blades, gears, generators and towers for the booming industry. More than two dozen companies have sprung up or diversified into wind parts manufacturing in Michigan, the Detroit News reports.

"The U.S. wind turbine manufacturing industry is expanding due to new investments in production, a growing domestic market, and a recent period of stable tax policy," according to the ITC report. "The industry is capable of meeting an increasing portion of U.S. demand through domestic production. U.S. manufacturers may be positioned to take advantage of investment and export opportunities in China and the Americas."

The American Wind Energy Association estimates that the share of U.S.-made parts in wind turbines increased from 30 percent in 2005 to nearly 50 percent at the end of 2008.

- David Adams, Times staff writer.

Wind-powered vehicle breaks land speed record

A British engineer has broken the world land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle, the BBC reports.
Richard Jenkins reached 126.1mph in his Greenbird car on the dry plains of Ivanpah Lake in Nevada.
The Greenbird is a carbon fibre composite vehicle that uses wind for power. The only metalwork used is for the wing bearings and the wheel unit.

- David Adams, Times staff writer

New wind farm in Mexico is biggest in Latin America

Mexico on Thursday inaugurated what is planned to be one of the world's biggest wind farms in a location so breezy the region's main town bears the name "La Ventosa" (Windy).
The $700 million project in Oaxaca state came on line with 25 turbines. When the project is complete, it will have 167 turbines across 6,180 acres, according to Acciona Energia, a Spanish company developing the project in a joint venture with Mexican cement maker Cemex.
When complete, the wind farm will be able to generate 250 megawatts of energy, one quarter of Cemex's power needs in Mexico, the companies say. That would make the project by far the largest wind farm in Latin America, with capacity to supply a city of half a million.

Mexico's wind and solar potential could help compensate for falling oil production which is down by 9.2 percent in 2008. "The intensity of wind in various parts of the country can make our plants among the most efficient in the world," Energy Secretary Georgina Kessel told the AP.

Mexican president Felipe Calderon also appears to have gotten the message on global warming. "If we don't do something about this problem of climate change it probably could become - I'm sure it already is - one of the biggest threats to humanity," he said at the inaugural ceremony.

- David Adams