Into the Wind - the AWEA Blog

 Yesterday, the Amarillo Globe-News carried an opinion piece by Public Utilities Commission of Texas Chair Barry Smitherman on how Texas has become a national leader in wind power and how expanding transmission is needed. Two readers posted negative comments, one on costs and the other on a variety of complaints. Here is a response from Michael Goggin, AWEA's Electric Industry Analyst:

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I'd like to thank Mr. Smitherman for his very thoughtful article that logically explains why new transmission lines are essential for Texas to continue leading the ...

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Texas is number one in wind energy, not least for its forward-looking approach to getting transmission built to serve its wind projects. Here is an excellent article by the state's Public Utilities Commission Chairman Barry T. Smitherman on how the commission is approaching the prospect of approving transmission in the Texas Panhandle.
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While the Panhandle has some of the best wind resources in North America, there aren't enough power lines to support meaningful wind development. Therefore, it's time to build the transmission lines needed to deliver this clean, ...

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It’s rare that we take on the media directly, but this is one of those Times. This week the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), an institution funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, issued a comprehensive report assessing the feasibility of substantially increasing the use of wind energy in an area known as the Eastern Interconnection, a term used to describe a wide area of the northeastern United States.

It’s a crucial question because states in the Midwest and Northeast are calculating how to meet state renewable energy requirements, which have been legislated in order to expand deployment of renewable energy and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

The NREL study is a big deal because ...

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Wind for Schools, the program funded by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to support wind energy education programs at universities, primary and secondary schools, announced a series of $60,000 grants to universities in Alaska, Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Virginia to lead projects in those states.

The grants will help the schools develop educational programs to improve understanding of wind technology among students in the states. The grants will be awarded to Appalachian State University (North Carolina), James Madison University (Virginia), Northern Arizona University, Pennsylvania State University, and University of Alaska.

The Wind for Schools program is aimed in part at helping ...

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 A long-awaited, detailed study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on integrating large amounts of wind energy into the Eastern region of the United States was released today, and the conclusions are very encouraging.

“Twenty percent wind is an ambitious goal, but this study shows that there are multiple scenarios through which it can be achieved,” said David Corbus, NREL project manager for the study. “Whether we’re talking about using land-based wind in the Midwest, offshore wind in the East or any combination of wind power resources, any plausible scenario requires transmission infrastructure upgrades and we need to start planning for that immediately.” More details of the report can be found at ...

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Back in the summer of 2008 T. Boone Pickens became the nation's biggest booster of wind energy. He spent a fortune on advertising, carried his whiteboard wherever he went, and promised to build the biggest windfarm ever, in Texas. Then the credit market seized, and natural gas boomed, and the wind part of the Pickens Plan went flat.

But the Pickens Pullback has not kept Texas from continuing to grow its wind capacity. Texas continues to lead the U.S. in installed wind capacity, with 9000 MW.

Wind accounted for 6 percent of the electricity produced in Texas last year, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), up from 4.6 percent in 2008 and well above an estimated 2 percent ...

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This was a week in which the wind news seemed to move offshore. First, there was Interior Secretary Salazar meeting with interested parties in the long-running Cape Wind drama; Salazar promised to end the suspense--make a decision on the project--by April.

Then Fishermen's Energy announced a small but potentially symbolic offshore wind farm--it could be the first to be built--that would supply electricity to Atlantic City, a place where the tourists would probably like to see the turbines (as opposed to some residents of Cape Cod).

Today, Secretary Salazar announced another initiative, a meeting next month in Washington of governors from states along the Atlantic Coast that are considering wind projects. Salazar ...

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Getting the first wind turbines offshore the United States has been anything but easy. Now Atlantic City is upping the stakes, and betting it will be the first. At the winter meeting today of the Metropolitan Business and Citizens Association (MBCA) held at the Resorts convention facility, Fishermen's Energy Corp. announced plans to build a 20-MW wind farm nearly three miles offshore from the resort town.

The project would consist of six turbines, Fishermen's general counsel Paul Gallagher told the business audience.
The turbines would be visible from the Atlantic City boardwalk but, in contrast to the experience of the sponsors of the ...

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 The New York Times online is devoting space to a timely debate over the land use impacts of increased renewable energy use. Here is a sample, a quote from Randy Udall, a Colorado-based energy analyst

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The wind and solar potential west of the Mississippi is gargantuan. But today wind provides just 2 percent of U.S. electricity, and solar less than 1 percent. You can’t scale these carbon-free power sources up, and link them to urban areas with new power lines, without having impacts.

Those impacts can be minimized by thoughtful siting and technological advances. To reduce water consumption, for example, solar ...

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 In state after state, we’ve seen that having support from key leaders, such as governors, is critical to the development of a thriving wind energy industry, from manufacturing to distribution to wind farm installations that will create jobs and generate tax revenues. So it’s natural that Wyoming wind developers – who want to take advantage of the state’s first-class wind resources and help bring similar economic benefits to Wyoming – are a little disappointed by recent comments from Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D). Last week, at a Chamber of Commerce appearance, he said, referring to energy developers in Wyoming, “We’re going to have an even playing field…Nobody gets a free ride,” he said, “…because fair is fair.”

Sounds good. Yet, a few days later, in a

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