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Wind Power News: April 2007
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Comments sought on wind farm
A public meeting is planned Wednesday, May 2, at 7 p.m. at The Dalles Civic Auditorium to discuss the Cascade Wind Project proposed on Sevenmile Hill by UPC Wind Development LLC. The Oregon Department of Energy is holding this public information meeting to help people understand the process, to answer questions, and to hear comments. The applicant’s representatives will be there as well. On April 10, UPC submitted a preliminary application for a site certificate for the proposed Cascade Wind . . . Complete story »
Inquiry call on offshore windfarm
The Welsh Assembly Government has told the Department of Trade and Industry there should be a public inquiry into a planned offshore windfarm at Llandudno. An application was submitted to the DTI in November 2005 to build and operate the Gwynt y Mor offshore windfarm. Welsh Labour leader Rhodri Morgan said a “full public inquiry” was needed. The Lib Dems and Plaid said the final decision on the project should be taken in Wales, while the Conservatives said they had . . . Complete story »
Hayes wind farm site "˜not iconic'
The site chosen for Meridian Energy’s proposed wind farm on the Lammermoor Range west of Middlemarch was not an outstanding landscape and was of no particular significance, the first day of Project Hayes hearings in Alexandra was told yesterday. Meridian counsel Andrew Beatson disputed the Central Otago District Council’s planning report, which gave the area “iconic status”, telling the hearings panel the phrase “iconic” was becoming over-used. The site was not identified in the district plan as having outstanding value . . . Complete story »
Protest signs stolen
The repeated thefts of protest signs against a proposed windfarm development near Smeaton has angered the Spa Country Landscape Guardians group. The group represents residents and landholders opposed to the proposal of 19 turbines to be constructed near their town. SCLG spokesman Will Elsworth said about 40 signs had either been pulled down or stolen and the thefts would be reported to police. “We are very concerned at the community cohesion and a potential breakdown,” Mr Elsworth said. “Many people . . . Complete story »
Analysis: rulings may help alternatives
April 2007 could go down as a milestone in the development of alternative power in the United States thanks to a pair of new rule changes pertaining to the construction of electricity transmission lines. The U.S. Department of Energy’s declaration last week of high-priority “energy corridors” in the Southwest and mid-Atlantic regions, coupled with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of a new California policy on transmission financing, removed two potential stumbling blocks to the construction of new high-capacity power . . . Complete story »
Winsconsin Public Service explores wind options
Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group (NYSE: TEG), is looking to build or buy a wind generation facility of approximately 100 megawatts of nameplate capacity somewhere in the Midwest. “To help meet our renewable energy requirements, we are exploring wind options throughout the footprint of the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO), our regional electric transmission authority,” said Public Service Director ““ Renewable and Special Projects Rob Benninghoff. “That includes the area roughly from the Dakotas to . . . Complete story »
State study identifies ocean sites suitable for wind farms
A 13-square-mile tract of ocean one to three miles off the south shore of Block Island is a prime candidate as a site for a 56-turbine wind farm, a state study concludes. Other candidates include ocean areas east and west of the Block Island ferry navigation channel not far from the mainland shore. In all, the 132-page RIWINDS report issued last week identifies 11 sites where consultants believe the generation of electricity by wind would be feasible and economically competitive. . . . Complete story »
LURC accepts wind farm application
A proposal to build a 38-turbine wind farm in rural Washington County passed its first administrative hurdle recently when state regulators officially accepted the application for review. The Maine Land Use Regulation Commission recently deemed as “complete for processing” Evergreen Wind Power LLC’s application to build a wind farm along Stetson Mountain in northern Washington County. Later this week, LURC staff will ask the agency’s board to authorize a public hearing on the project, which, as proposed, would generate an . . . Complete story »
Vote planned on limits to wind farms
A revised proposal for wind farm regulations could be voted into law by the Farmersville Town Board Monday night. Town officials last December entertained a public presentation by Noble Environmental Power, the wind farm developer now launching a 67-turbine facility in Eagle in Wyoming County and expected to seek a similar permit in Centerville in Allegany County. The board took the company’s suggestion to draft the law for protection in the absence of any zoning ordinance. If passed, the law . . . Complete story »
Millions thrown at the turbines
Landowners in the North-East are being offered staggering sums of money to site wind farms on their property, The Journal can reveal today. A contract seen by The Journal for a site in the region could see the landowner rake in more than £6m for agreeing to the turbines. It demonstrates the huge temptation for landowners, who are offered a guaranteed income way in excess of what they could gain from any other source, for no outlay of their own. . . . Complete story »
