Wind Power News: Colorado
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These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
Blowing our cash? Experts say renewable energy money too difficult to follow
The rapid growth of Renewable Energy Credit sales across the nation, including at CSU and in the City of Fort Collins, may be hitting its stride as City officials are looking to replace REC purchases with more efficient alternatives that more directly benefit REC consumers.
A REC is a unit of energy generated by using infinite natural resources that can be powered by infrastructure such as wind turbines or solar panels.
The Environmental Protection Agency dictates that …
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CSU plans wind farm to power entire university
CSU is planning to develop a wind farm that will power the entire university with energy to spare.
The project’s lead researcher, Bill Farland, said the wind farm will run between 35 and 75 wind turbines with the capacity to generate 100 to 200 megawatts of power, on the university’s 11,000-acre Maxwell Ranch near the Wyoming border.
Farland said construction will not start for a couple of years.
The economic benefit CSU will retain from the wind farm’s …
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Wind broker Clean and Green goes belly up
Owner closes one business, registers two more
Boulder-based wind-credit broker Clean and Green “has suspended all business activities until further notice.” At least that’s what its Web site says, but if you want more information, don’t bother calling — the phones are disconnected.
The company, owned by local Gerry Dameron, has sold renewable energy credits to individuals and businesses across Boulder County — including Illegal Pete’s, the Boulder Bookstore, Izze and Pharmaca — to allow the companies …
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Firefighters get a feel for very high rescues
Working on an object nearly 30 stories high can be a harrowing experience for anyone. For the crews that maintain the wind turbines in southeastern Colorado maintaining a safe working environment is paramount.
At the Colorado Green Green wind farm south of Lamar, in the rare case of an accident or medical emergency, crew members are trained to help with the extraction of the injured person off the tower said site Safety Coordinator Jim Gill. …
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Walsenburg wind farm moves ahead
Pole Canyon Wind wants to erect more wind monitoring towers to see if the power is there.
WALSENBURG — A wind farm project that eventually could supply energy to more than 100,000 homes is one step closer to becoming a reality.
The Pole Canyon wind farm project would use 41 wind turbines to create 100 megawatts of renewable energy per year and bring 10-15 permanent, full-time jobs to the county.
Pole Canyon Wind LLC, led locally by project …
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Power line plans take shape
Power generators, distributors and others in the electrical power chain will be asked to bid for shipping rights on a new Wyoming-to-Colorado power line.
Developers of the “Wyoming-Colorado Intertie” project will hold an open-season auction in June, hoping to collect commitments for up to 900 megawatts of transmission from eastern Wyoming to the Colorado Front Range.
Wyoming wind is expected to make up a significant portion of the power committed to the line, according to officials. If …
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Still some hurdles for Colorado in the wind market
Complex weather vanes are taking the place of a licked finger extended in the breeze to gauge the wind as Coloradans consider expanding the state’s ability to generate wind energy.
To study eastern El Paso County’s capacity for turning wind into energy, California-based Clipper Windpower has erected a 197-foot anemometer pole near Ramah and will put two more poles around Rush and Calhan.
Much needs to be determined, but the potential …
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Springs' energy future relies increasingly on wind
New laws, higher demand mean city will rely more on wind power
Colorado Springs Utilities will seek proposals in April for up to 100 times the amount of wind power it now buys, ramping up its presence in an exploding industry as some of its customers clamor for it to be more Earth-friendly.
Since entering the wind market in the late 1990s, the city-owned utility hasn’t bought more than 1 megawatt — a pittance in an 863-megawatt …
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Wind farm raises environmental impact concerns
A giant wind farm in northeast Weld County may be a groundbreaking model of how to generate clean, renewable energy while protecting wildlife occupying the same space.
But it’s also been on the receiving end of some environmental criticism.
Since January, 274 wind turbines spread across 31,000 acres within the Pawnee National Grasslands have been producing electricity for Public Service Co. of Colorado, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy Inc., providing enough power for 95,000 homes.
The $400 million …
Wind turbine parts unexpectedly failing
Some components on Vestas Wind Systems-manufactured wind turbines at Platte River Power Authority’s Medicine Bow Wind Project are failing more than 15 years earlier than expected, according to PRPA.
Since the Medicine Bow, which is in southern Wyoming, went online in 1998, 30 major outages have occurred on the wind farm’s nine turbines due to component failure, said John Bleem, PRPA division manager.
Although outages vary, Bleem said repairs have led to turbines being down for as …
