Better blade lets 1.5-MW turbines deliver 5% more power

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Excerpt: LM Wind Power’s LM 42.1 GloBlade 1 will extend the life cycle of the 1.5-MW segment by offering a design that provides annual energy production and requires no mechanical upgrading of the current platform. The blade is a way of meeting expectations for high performing rotors. By using its know-how …

Gearbox lube for wind turbines

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Excerpt: One way to improve wind-turbine efficiency is with proper gearbox lubricant. Dow recently introduced the UCON GL-320 lubricant for wind turbine gearboxes and those in other applications. The high viscosity index of the lube, addresses the issue of cold weather causing high lubricant viscosity witho …

In Europe, 118 offshore wind turbines connect to grid in first half of 2010

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Excerpt: New offshore wind turbines total 333 MW, well over half the 577 MW installed offshore last year, continuing growth in offshore wind power despite the financial crisis. In addition, 151 offshore wind turbines totaling 440 MW were installed, but not yet connected to the grid, says EWEA, the European W …

4-MW direct drive headed offshore

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Excerpt: A quick scan of recent news shows that U.S. coastal waters are the next big development area for wind plants. It makes sense to put the largest practical units in the steady winds offshore. GE, for one, says it will apply its experience to the offshore wind industry as it matures, growing f …

Texas’ Windthorst-1 ready for next phase

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Excerpt: A family owned Texas wind development company and a New York community wind developer have completed their portion of work on a 51-MW wind-power project in Windthorst, Texas. OwnEnergy Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y. (ownenergy.net) and Horn Wind (hornwind.com) located outside of Dallas, developed the …

How Federal cash grants help finance projects

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Excerpt: Since passing the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the federal government has been eager to stimulate the renewable energy industry with tax credits and cash grants. So far, the government has awarded $4.6 billion of the $8.5 billion allotted. Cannon Power Group, …

Wind work around North America

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Excerpt: Wind energy production is growing rapidly, having doubled in just the past three years. As of May 2009, eighty countries around the world use wind power on a commercial basis. Here are a few of the latest projects in North America. Shepard’s Flat, Oregon A wind farm is under constru …

Small wind a big part of Solar and Wind Expo

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Excerpt: Small wind was a highlight of the Solar and Wind Expo (www.thesolarandwindexpo.com) a consumer-oriented renewable energy event recently held in Baltimore. Several small-wind companies exhibiting were enthusiastic about the event and its attendees. “They came to see and learn about the l …

Twenty-MW wind farm headed to Lake Erie

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Excerpt: The first offshore wind farm to launch may not be off highly publicized Cape Cod but in the less controversial waters of the North Coast, off Cleveland, Ohio. GE Wind and Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) of Northern Ohio recently announced a long-term partnership beginning w …

What about all that wind near the ground?

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Excerpt: Conventional turbines are perched 60 to 80-m off the ground where the wind is stronger. But what about the wind below those elevations? California-based Wind Harvest International says it has a solution in a straight-bladed, vertical-axis wind turbine that offers the first cost-effective sol …