Editor’s note: The following discussion on wind power’s success in the state of Texas was compiled by Karl Cates, IEEFA’s director of media relations, and Seth Feaster, an IEEFA data consultant. The IEEFA (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis) conducts research and analyses on financial and economic issues related to energy and the environment. The original posting…
Analyzing the value of energy storage
By 2019, GTM Research expects the energy storage market in the United States to add 861 MW to the grid annually and be valued at $1.5 billion. That’s about 11 times its size in 2014. This year alone, the country is expected to deploy 220 MWs, which is more than three times its 2014 total.…
Report: Analyzing the global market for wind-turbine towers 2015
As one of the world’s largest research organizations, Research and Markets recently announced the availability of the “Analyzing the Global Market for Wind Turbine Towers” report. This research analyzes the global market for wind-turbine towers and is divided into five sections. The report begins by analyzing the global wind-power industry through an analysis of related technology and a look…
High-altitude wind energy: A visionary outlook
A recent research study by ReportLinker, an award-winning market research company, provides an overview of high-altitude wind technology. The study assesses the various technologies currently available to harness high-altitude winds, and looks at how these options differ in cost effectiveness and material use from conventional wind-power generation. The study also provides details about the key participants in the market and the…
Navigant Research report: Drones for wind-turbine inspections expected to hit $6 billon by 2024
Editor’s note: According to a new report from Navigant Research, the cumulative global revenue for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sales and inspection services for wind turbines is expected to reach nearly $6 billion by 2024. Technicians have traditionally relied on visual inspections from the ground or up-turbine by use of ropes or cables. However, UAVs are now…
SgurrEnergy conducts offshore wind research for Chinese renewable company
Renewable energy consultancy, SgurrEnergy, has been appointed by Huaneng Renewables, a Chinese-based renewable energy company and one of the top utility companies in China, to undertake technical offshore wind energy research assessing the general site conditions of offshore wind projects in China. The new research will be conducted in partnership with Beijing-based Tsinghua University. The…
The Q2 2015 U.S. Energy Storage Monitor is now available
Delivered quarterly, GTM Research’s U.S. Energy Storage Monitor provides the industry’s only comprehensive research on energy storage markets, deployments, policies, regulations, and financing in the U.S. These in-depth reports provide energy industry professionals, policymakers, government agencies, and financiers with consistent, actionable insight into the burgeoning U.S. energy storage market. According to the Q2 2015 report,…
Innovative components pave the way to cheaper wind turbines
Wind turbines began cropping up across the landscapes of Spain and Germany in the 1990s. These two countries have the highest wind energy production in the EU. But according to the Global Wind Energy Council, the global installed power capacity in Europe — which is 134,007 MW — has been surpassed by Asia with 141,964…
Protecting wildlife at wind energy plants with 3D ultrasonic whistle
Biologists at Texas A&M University are partnering with scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst at the interdisciplinary intersection of energy research and wildlife protection in a federally funded project to design and manufacture ultrasonic, whistle-like pulse generators to help bats and other wildlife steer clear of wind turbines. Michael Smotherman, an associate professor in…
Facilitating the development of offshore wind energy in the U.S.
The Energy Department’s Wind Program is seeking feedback from the wind industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders regarding the key challenges currently facing offshore wind energy and the Wind Program’s implementation of the Energy Department’s National Offshore Wind Strategy report released in 2011. Since the release of the National Offshore Wind Strategy…
Ames Laboratory scientists create cheaper magnetic material for cars and wind turbines
Karl A. Gschneidner and fellow scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have created a new magnetic alloy that is an alternative to traditional rare-earth permanent magnets. The new alloy—a potential replacement for high-performance permanent magnets found in automobile engines and wind turbines–eliminates the use of one of the scarcest and costliest rare…
Industry and academia invited to submit presentations for FPIRC 2015
The National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) and the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) invite industry and academic researchers to submit an extended abstract of their work for consideration as a presentation at the 2015 Fluid Power Innovation & Research Conference (FPIRC 2015), which will be held October 14-16, 2015, at the Radisson…
Duke Energy is funding $1 million in energy storage research for renewables
Storing energy from the sun and wind, and using it efficiently on the electric grid, will be the focus of new research at Southern Indiana’s Battery Innovation Center (BIC) near the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center. Duke Energy and the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) are partnering with the Battery Innovation Center to…
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issues first wind research lease in Federal offshore waters
As part of the Obama Administration’s Climate Action Plan to create American jobs, develop domestic clean energy resources and cut carbon pollution, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced today that it has executed a wind energy research lease with the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME). This is BOEM’s…
Iowa State engineers study benefits of adding a second, smaller rotor to wind turbines
Hui Hu picked up a 3-D printed model of a typical wind turbine and began explaining two problems with the big, tall, three-bladed machines. First, said the Iowa State University professor of aerospace engineering, check out the base of each blade. They’re big, round structural pieces. They’re not shaped like an airfoil. And so they…
Schneider Electric Smart Grid Lab is officially open
Schneider Electric, Ryerson University, and the Ontario Ministry of Energy announced the official opening of the Schneider Electric Smart Grid Laboratory (SESG Lab) at Ryerson’s Centre for Urban Energy (CUE) in Toronto. The facility, Canada’s first university-based smart grid laboratory, is now available to partners and collaborators seeking to test new products or operational strategies,…
Q&A: U.S. needs new narrative as sequester threatens research funding
As the federal spending cuts known as sequestration begin to take shape, analysts are considering the potential impact it will have on programs. Mandatory spending, such as food stamps and social security payments, is protected. But discretionary spending, the category that includes research funding for solar and wind, is on the chopping block. Windpower Engineering…
A grave R&D gap in U.S.
By Norm Augustine, American Security Project America is in grave danger of losing its edge. For over one hundred years, American leadership in science, technology, engineering, and manufacturing has been unrivaled. It has created for us not only one of the highest standards of living any civilization has ever achieved, but also brought American preeminence…
Texas offshore projects to share $43 million
The Department of Energy recently announced $900,000 in funding for programs in Austin and College Station, as part of 41 projects across 20 states. The University of Texas is getting $500,000 to evaluate the potential effects of offshore wind energy facilities on electronic equipment, such as airborne radar and GPS operations. The Texas Engineering Experiment…