Blue Creek Wind Farm, the first large-scale wind facility in Ohio and one of the biggest east of the Mississippi River, relied on Lafarge cement for turbines’ concrete foundations and soil stabilization. Cement supplied by Lafarge North America played a key role in the construction earlier this year of the Blue Creek Wind Farm in…
Ohio senator suggests the wrong road for renewable energy
Narrow minds and shortsightedness are the bane of the wind industry. The afflictions have surfaced again in a bill to repeal the Ohio mandate for utilities to find 25% of their power from renewable and so-called “advanced-technology” sources by 2025. The current law states half of the mandate, 12.5%, must come from renewable sources such…
Wind rebounds in 2Q, but continued growth depends on consistent tax policy
U.S. wind energy continued to rebound in the second quarter, with 2,151 MW of electrical generating capacity installed in the first half of 2011 versus 1,250 MW during the same time in 2010, up 72%. However, analysts at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) cautioned that without stable policy such as an extension of the…
Welding company launches 2.5-MW turbine
A designer, developer, and manufacturer of arc welding products has stepped into the world of renewable energy by building a wind tower on the grounds of its world headquarters and manufacturing campus in Euclid, Ohio, just east of downtown Cleveland. Lincoln Electric recently cut the ribbon on a 2.5-MW turbine mounted on an 80m tower.…
Blade manufacturer molds 1,000th set of 37-m blades
The Molded Fiber Glass Companies (MFG), a manufacturer of wind turbine components, says its company plant in Gainesville, Texas celebrated the shipment of its 1,000th set of 37-meter composite wind blades. Located 60 miles north of Dallas in the wind-farm hotbed of the USA, the 155,000-ft2 facility has been manufacturing wind blades since 1997 and…
Ohio’s first large wind farm becomes three
Construction workers, about 200 by one count, are working on the 99 MW wind farm Timber Road II. And just south of that in Ohio’s southwestern Paulding County sits Van Wert county where more wind turbines are beginning to pop up. Horizon Wind Energy is at work there on an initial stage. The original plan…
School puts up two turbines
Ohio’s Wynford School District recently celebrated the start of its wind power era with two Northwind 100 kW turbines mounted at 37-m hub heights. These will produce about 30% of the electricity needs for the high school and elementary building. Each is expected to produce about 175,000 kWh. “We have to do a better job…
100 MW to deput in Ohio, more to follow
An Ohio utility says it will purchase up to 100 MW of output from its 304 MW Blue Creek Wind Farm in western Ohio. One of the first large-scale wind farms in Ohio, Blue Creek will sprout 152 wind turbines each rated at 2 MW, and is expected to finish by the end of 2011.…
Ohio’s first commercial wind farm
Construction on Ohio’s first commercial wind farm is going well. Officials expect the project will provide many local jobs and benefit the local economy. Developer EDP Renewables NA, through its subsidiary Horizon Wind Energy, continues to make good progress on the 99 MW Timber Road II Wind Farm, which currently employs over 200 construction workers and is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars in landowner royalties and property tax payments over the life of the project.
Machining large wind parts takes a little finesse
After years of supplying the plastics machinery business and other companies in the industry, Milacron Machining, Mt. Orab, Ohio, is now applying its precision machining expertise to produce large, complex parts for the wind power market. “We have machined components for 2.5 MW and 1.5-MW gearboxes such as housings, and planetary carriers,” says plant manager…
Taller towers—from composites?
The University of Dayton Research Institute says it has been awarded $270,000 to design and test fiberglass and resin materials and structures for towers to support wind turbines. The award comes from Ohio’s technology-supporting Third Frontier program. UDRI researchers are responding to the wind-energy industry’s interest in building taller towers to reach steadier and stronger…