Offshore winds blow fast but farm development slow

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Excerpt: Gregory K. Lawrence/Partner/McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Chicago/mwe.com The development of offshore wind farms would drive job creation and stimulate industries such as offshore shipping and installation work. T he American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has accelerated the al …

The plus side of large two-blade turbines

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Excerpt: Staffan Engström/Consultant Agir Konsult AB/Nordic Windpower/ Taby, Sweden A dampened pivot hub, modular drive train, and regulated tip speeds give two-bladed, utility-scale wind turbines a few advantages over three-blade designs. For a wind turbine to output a particular power, it …

Communities to own utililty-sized wind projects

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Excerpt: Traditional wind plant developers often say their work benefits landowners by providing them with royalty or lease payments. While such an arrangement does provide some benefit to the community, the business model makes little provision for ownership or local participation. One community-based …

Google Dips Its Hands Into $38.8 Million Of Wind Power

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Excerpt: Google made its first direct investment in a utility-scale renewable energy project — two wind farms that generate 169.5 megawatts of power, enough to power more than 55,000 homes. These wind farms, developed by NextEra Energy Resources, harness power from one of the world’s richest win …

2010 looking up: OEM to add 728 MW

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Excerpt: Suzlon Wind Energy Corp, Chicago, says it plans to bring 728 MW of wind power online in the U.S. in 2010. Among the nine 2010 projects, 351 newly installed turbines will produce energy that can power as many as 220,000 homes in seven states. In addition, these projects will create more than …

Communities to own utility-sized wind projects

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Excerpt: Traditional wind plant developers often say  their work benefits landowners by providing  them with royalty or lease payments. While such an arrangement does provide some benefit to the community, the business model makes little provision for ownership or local participation. One community-base …

Is it a chimney…or a turbine?

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Excerpt: Wind turbines on houses are not always practical because some home owner associations would object to the noise it might make, or neighborhoods that restrict changes in aesthetics. A U.K. inventor may have solved the problem with a design called the Secret Energy Turbine (SET) because it disguis …

Small wind certification testing goes regional

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Excerpt: The DOE recently announced the selection of four partners to establish small wind Regional Test Centers (RTCs) to conduct tests on small wind turbines to meet national and international standards.  These awards provide funding, training, and technical support for each Regional Test Center so they m …

Wind resource maps show wind potential estimates for the U.S.

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Excerpt: Accurate information about the wind resource and wind-energy potential in each state is required for federal and state policy initiatives that will expand the use of wind energy in the U.S. Recent resource maps and wind potential tables were developed through a collaborative project between the Nati …

Chemical capacitor to store wind power

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Excerpt: Xtreme Power Inc says it has power storage technology that can beat lithium ion batteries in terms of energy efficiency, cycle life, and cost. The Texas-based company won a contract to install a 10-MW battery to back up a 30-MW wind farm planned for Oahu, Hawaii. Project developer First Wind rec …