The AWEA Blog: Into the Wind


Finding my windy roots

Posted: 22 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

This guest blog post, written May 15, is reprinted from the Clean Currents blog with the permission of the author, Meghan Tighe.

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago for WINDPOWER 2013, the American Wind Energy Association's annual conference and trade show.

As a conference volunteer, my primary responsibility was to administer surveys to representatives of fifty different companies that manufacture components for wind turbines here in the United States. There are approximately 8,000 parts in a wind turbine, and about two-thirds of those parts are sourced from manufacturing plants located in the U.S.

Over the ...


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GWU issues RFP for renewable energy

Posted: 17 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

George Washington University (GWU) has released a Request for Proposals for wind and/or solar projects for the purchase of 75,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year of renewable energy on a long-term basis (15-20 years).  This RFP was released in coordination with a similar RFP from the Department of General Services (DGS) of the District of Columbia government, which wishes to purchase 150,000 MWh annually on a long-term basis.  The two RFPs are on the same schedule and will conduct a coordinated evaluation process with the goal of awarding purchase contracts to the same bidder.   Responses are due June 14, 2013, by 2 p.m. EDT.


CustomerFirst Renewables (CFR) has been engaged by GWU to direct its procurement effort.  CFR’s support will include RFP support, economic ...


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Public opinion watch: It's a landslide: 87% of Illinois voters want more renewable energy

Posted: 16 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

Nearly 77 percent back legislation to fix state's Renewable Portfolio Standard

 

Wide majorities of likely Illinois voters believe it is important that the state maintain its commitment to increase its use of renewable power and support legislation that would achieve this goal by fixing the state's broken renewable portfolio standard (RPS) law, according to a Zogby poll released yesterday.


The survey, conducted for Clean Energy Trust (CET) and Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), found an overwhelming majority (86.5 percent) of likely Illinois voters believe it is very important or somewhat important that Illinois ''continue to get an increasing amount of its energy from secure and clean power sources.'' Renewable energy companies ...


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Health system's data centers first in Pennsylvania to commit to 100% Pa. wind power

Posted: 15 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) said Monday that its data centers have gone “green” to support both clean energy and local job creation. Through the purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) for Pennsylvania wind power equal to its data centers’ annual energy usage, the health system became the first in the state to make such a commitment for its data facilities.  


UPMC’s green energy purchase, the center said in a news release, "expands its long-time pursuit of environmentally friendly practices." UPMC purchased 15,400 RECs generated by wind farms in Pennsylvania from


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Fact check: 5 things the AP missed in its recent coverage of wind energy

Posted: 14 May 2013 John Anderson, Director of Siting Policy

We all plug things in, and that energy has to come from somewhere. Despite what a story on the Associated Press wire today would seem to suggest, wind power is the most environmentally benign source of utility-scale electricity, and a leading solution to climate change, the greatest threat to wildlife. AP writer Dina Cappiello interviewed AWEA and wind company wildlife experts at length, but left out virtually everything we told her. Here are the top five things her story left out:

1) American wind power is one of the most environmentally sound sources of energy. Wind power has less of an impact on the environment than the AP story states.

- No energy source – or really, any human activity, for that matter - is completely ...


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Women of Wind Energy honors Lucille Olszewski, Dr. Julie Lundquist, Ian Baring-Gould at annual luncheon

Posted: 13 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

The nonprofit group Women of Wind Energy (WoWE) honored Lucille Olszewski, Dr. Julie Lundquist, and Ian Baring-Gould last week at its annual luncheon during the WINDPOWER 2013 Conference & Exhibition in Chicago.


The awards put the spotlight on professionals at the pinnacle of the industry as well as on the up-and-coming next generation of leaders. This year continued the tradition of awarding a “Women of Wind Energy Champion” for someone who has repeatedly gone above and beyond to encourage and support the career development of women in the wind energy sector. All three winners, WoWE said in a news release, "provide examples of achievement, creativity and courage."

...


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WINDPOWER 2013 Update: Large turbine vendors see need for policy certainty, fairness

Posted: 10 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

Following the very late extension on January 1 of the federal wind energy production tax credit (PTC), the U.S. wind power market appears headed for a sizable drop this year, followed by a solid recovery in 2014, according to panelists at the WINDPOWER 2013 Large Turbine Vendors Forum.

The overarching theme of what the market needs—policy stability—is nothing new, but the panelists’ remarks reflected the experience of the past year and a half, during which the domestic supply chain of turbine component manufacturers suffered serious whiplash as a result of the PTC extension delay. Gamesa CEO Borja Negro spoke most strongly about the results, saying at one point, “Without a stable policy framework, I don't think we'll invest further [in this market].” The last year has been ...


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WINDPOWER 2013 Update: Google powering ahead with renewable energy

Posted: 08 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

CHICAGO--Google, one of the nation's leading high-tech companies, has a strong commitment to renewable energy and plans to stick with that commitment over the long term, Gary Demasi, the firm's Director of Operations for Data Center Location Strategy and Energy, said today at the WINDPOWER 2013 Conference & Exhibition here.

"Google's values around renewable energy go up to the C-level of the company--Larry Page is a supporter," Demasi said. "As a company, we've been carbon-neutral since 2007."

Recently, Facebook, another tech ...


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MidAmerican Energy announces $1.9-billion investment in additional wind generation capacity

Posted: 08 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

Plans to build up to 1,050 MW before end of 2015

 

MidAmerican Energy Co. today said it will add up to 1,050 megawatts (MW) of wind generation, consisting of up to 656 new wind turbines, in the state of Iowa by the end of 2015. The wind expansion will enhance economic development and provide more than $360 million in additional property tax revenues over the next 30 years, the company said, and payments to farmers and other landowners totaling $3.2 million per year are also expected as a result. In addition, the expansion is planned to be built at no net cost to the company’s customers and will help stabilize electric rates over the long term by providing a rate ...


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WINDPOWER 2013 Update: Analysts see future market of 4-8 GW/year in U.S.

Posted: 07 May 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

Without a turn toward long-term policy stability and predictability, the U.S. wind energy market is likely to settle out at somewhere between 4 to 8 gigawatts (GW) from 2017 on, according to presentations at today's Market Update session at the WINDPOWER 2013 Conference & Exhibition in Chicago.

The speakers included Andy Lubershane of IHS EER, Justin Wu of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and Dan Shreve of MAKE Consulting. Among the highlights of their discussion:

- According to Mr. Lubershane, wind power with the existing Production Tax Credit (PTC) incentive is very inexpensive and competitive in high-wind regions: "At least 500 megawatts is reflected in a series of recent utility requests for proposal (RFPs) on the basis of low cost" rather than state ...


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