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Wind Power News: August 2010
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.
NASA seeks wind farm for Plum Brook Station
NASA officials are blowing into town for a public hearing on the space agency’s plans for a wind farm at NASA Plum Brook Station. The Sept. 14 meeting at Sandusky High School is a necessary step for NASA to complete an environmental impact statement on the proposed wind farm. It’s part of the federal government’s effort to “go green” and obtain alternative energy at its facilities. The current schedule calls for the wind farm to go operational in summer 2013, . . . Complete story »
Wind farm study due in the spring
KINGMAN – Representatives from BP Wind Energy and the Bureau of Land Management visited Kingman, White Hills and Dolan Springs last week to provide an update on a 500-megawatt wind farm planned for the White Hills area, approximately 40 miles northwest of Kingman. The project would place up to 335 wind turbines on more than 40,000 acres of federal land – 31,000 acres from the BLM and around 9,000 from the Bureau of Reclamation. The original project had the turbines . . . Complete story »
Not blowin’ in the wind, just blowing earnings
It’s an ill wind that blows no good. Or in the case of Infigen Energy, it was a case of not very much wind at all. The wind farm specialist, with operations in Australia and the US, yesterday notched up a $75.3 million loss after the breezes took a little time out during the past financial year. Considering the company once formed part of the self-immolating Babcock & Brown juggernaut, many might look on yesterday’s numbers as almost respectable. Unlike . . . Complete story »
Wind farm investment runs out of puff
Infigen Energy says wind farm investment is suffering a ”bust” due to complex policy changes and uncertainty over government responses to climate change. But the company – whose shares have lost a quarter of their value since June – is confident this will become a ”boom” within a few years, as power retailers are forced to obtain a growing share of their electricity from renewable sources. The country’s biggest specialist wind developer yesterday reported a $73.5 million full-year loss, after . . . Complete story »
Research at CWRU’s new structural laboratory could aid Lake Erie wind farm effort
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Case Western Reserve University has opened an unusual new laboratory, one that employs brute force – with electronic precision – to test the limits of materials. And what is going on at the Vanderhoof Infrastructure Research and Education Facility and Schuette Structural Laboratory could help the effort to build wind farms in Lake Erie that can stand up to the lake’s destructive storms and icing without costing a fortune to build. For several months, civil engineering professors Arthur Hucklebridge Jr. . . . Complete story »
Landowners are briefed on transmission line rights
SAN ANGELO, Texas – Having firefighting crews handy during construction, establishing guidelines for who can come on the property and even avoiding the spread of tree diseases are all among the issues that landowners may address as they negotiate rights of way for transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity. Those elements were part of the advice offered by Judon Fambrough, an attorney who works with the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, during his presentation Monday in San Angelo on the broader . . . Complete story »
Environmental Court’s decision on Sheffield wind project stormwater construction permit opens the floodgates for stormwater pollution
“This Lowers the Bar for All Permits” Energy, community, and environmental activists reacted today to the Vermont Environmental Court’s decision on the appeal of Sheffield Wind’s construction stormwater permit, which was released Aug. 26. In a decision that has wide reaching implications, Justice Meredith Wright ruled that First Wind does not need to monitor baseline water quality prior to construction at their ridgeline location, and can use Best Management Practices for low risk environments to ensure that the Sheffield project . . . Complete story »
Les dernières éoliennes? [The last wind turbines?]
Les projets de parcs éoliens en Suisse mobilisent des opposants plus résolus que jamais. Les huit nouvelles éoliennes géantes du Mont-Crosin (Jura bernois) ont pourtant poussé sans tempête. Mais les 108 autres risquent de devoir baisser pavillon. [Wind energy projects in Switzerland are mobilizing opponents who are more resolute than ever. The eight new giant wind turbines of Mont-Crosin (Bernese Jura) have gone forward without trouble yet. But the 108 others risk having to lower their banner.] Elles viennent à . . . Complete story »
Maine wind farm not soothing to all ears; Turbines’ sounds have town divided
VINALHAVEN, Maine – Three white wind turbines, their 124-foot blades stretching 39 stories high, churn out more electricity than is used on this picturesque, pine-studded island off mid-coast Maine. Some residents call them objects of graceful art, others point to lower utility bills, and the environmentally conscious hail the benefits of clean energy. But to some families living near the land-bound turbines, which began spinning in November, the blades signify something else. “That noise is so insidious that you can feel . . . Complete story »
Massachusetts Senate One last gust for wind bill
The Senate will try again today to pass a bill supporters say will streamline the location of wind power facilities in Massachusetts. The legislation, which has received mixed reviews from Berkshire lawmakers, passed both the Massachusetts Senate and House. However, the Senate failed to take a final parliamentary vote before the clock ran out July 31 in the Legislature’s formal session. Senate President Therese Murray and fellow Senate Democrats are trying to push through the bill during the informal session, . . . Complete story »
