Renewable energy consultancy, Natural Power, has released the results of its latest validation study — an evaluation of North American pre-construction wind energy yield predictions by comparison to operational production — demonstrating 99.1% accuracy for project analysis. Since 1996 Natural Power has regularly conducted finance-grade independent energy yield assessments and operational energy yield analyses. This analysis provides…
American wind power breezes past 70-GW milestone
American wind power just passed the 70 gigawatt (GW) mark, meaning enough wind-turbine capacity is now installed to supply over 19 million typical American homes with low-cost electricity. The announcement comes as political leaders from around the world, including the U.S., reached a historic agreement this month to reduce carbon pollution, further increasing the…
The Switch launches a new utility-grade power converter
The Switch, a supplier of megawatt-class electrical drives for wind energy and industrial applications, has launched a new full-power converter (FPC) for utility-grade electricity production. The FPC+ concept builds on the company’s experience and an installed base of over 11 GW of power throughout the world. Designed for the highest level performance in electricity production,…
Nordex sales up by 17% with some decline in the Americas
The Nordex Group posted a 17% increase in sales to EUR 496.5 million in the first quarter of the current year (Q1/2014: EUR 424.5 million). This growth was materially driven by business in EMEA (Europe/Africa), whereas sales in the Americas and in Asia declined. The sharp overall increase in activity is reflected in the 44.2%…
Offshore wind farm gets boost with ZephIR Lidar
ZephIR Lidar has installed a turbine-mounted ZephIR DM wind lidar on the 270-MW Lincs Offshore Wind Farm. Located five miles off the Skegness coast, Lincs Wind Farm is a joint venture between Centrica Energy, Siemens Project Ventures, and DONG Energy. It is anticipated that the installation of the lidar unit will help to identify opportunities…
Off the chart low-wind anomalies hamper projects across U.S.
Extremely low-wind conditions in the first quarter of this year across much of the United States have caused low generation at numerous wind farms and a great deal of concern about future performance. Vaisala’s analysis and Q1 U.S. Wind Performance maps capture and confirm these observations. The company’s climate scientists have been tracking and analyzing the event through their continually updated historical database and have flagged several extreme…
Global wind power installations increased by 42% in 2014
A new report from Navigant Research covers developments in the wind energy sector during 2014, including an analysis of the important changes in the industry over the last three years and the global market forecasts through 2019. Fueled by the policy-driven acceleration of installations in three key countries—China, Germany, and the United States—the global wind…