Wind

A proposal to use superconducting cables to transport renewable energy across the United States will be unveiled Tuesday.

The Tres Amigas Project would act as a hub to connect the three major electricity grids in the U.S. and a conduit for solar and wind power, according to a press release. New Mexico governor and former energy secretary Bill Richardson is expected to lay out the details of the plan at a press event in Alburquerque, N.M.

The U.S. has substantial renewable energy potential, such as wind power from the Midwest and solar in the southwest, but the … Read more

One of the world's largest wind farms is now operational in the area surrounding Roscoe, Texas, E.ON Climate & Renewables (EC&R) announced Thursday.

The series of 627 wind turbines providing a 781.5-megawatt capacity covers about 100,000 acres and four Texas counties. But it's not an isolated wind farm per se, nor a uniform series of turbines.

The wind complex is a collaborative wind project with the community that included negotiations with over 300 landowners, and a mix of different turbines made by several companies including Mitsubishi, General Electric, and Siemens.

"Texas continues … Read more

General Electric filled out its offshore wind turbine portfolio by buying ScanWind, which makes direct-drive turbine components.

GE on Monday said that it has completed the acquisition, which was valued at a about $18.5 million. ScanWind, which is headquartered in Trondheim, Norway and has a design center in Karlstad, Sweden, is now testing 11 turbines off the Norwegian coast.

ScanWind makes a drive train that eliminates the need for a gear box in a wind turbine. Direct drive turbines typically add cost to turbines but they are gaining use in small turbines and other places where low maintenance is … Read more

BOSTON--Start-up FloDesign Wind, one of a number of companies looking to shake up the wind turbine business, said a prototype of its jet engine-inspired turbine was three times more efficient at converting wind to usable energy than traditional designs.

The Massachusetts-based company is seeking to raise a series B round of $25 million later this year to deploy and test the real-life performance of its 150-kilowatt turbines, said CEO Stanley Kowalski III at the Cleantech Forum conference here on Thursday.

FloDesign Wind last year was spun out of aerospace engineering company FloDesign, which has supplied components used in military helicopters … Read more

Helix Wind has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Venco Power, a Germany-based manufacturer of vertical axis small wind turbines, for $3.9 million in cash and common stock, the company announced Thursday.

With Venco comes greater access to the small wind residential market in Europe, along with three new products the company plans to add to its small wind product line, according to Helix Wind CEO Ian Gardner.

While all three models are for the small wind market, each has a distinctive look and different capacities. The Venco Twister 300-T produces power at wind speeds as low as … Read more

A day after the federal government awarded $500 million to renewable-energy projects, the American Wind Energy Association is pointing to a study that concludes that the investments will lead to "green collar jobs" as intended.

The U.S. Treasury and Energy departments on Tuesday said that 12 renewable-energy projects, 10 of them in wind, were awarded cash grants, a move meant to bring financiers back to the U.S. wind industry and create manufacturing and construction jobs.

On Wednesday, the AWEA said that a new study shows that the government stimulus on wind is money well-spent when it … Read more

Despite all the talk about needed breakthroughs in batteries, Pacific Gas & Electric is pursuing a less high-tech approach to store wind power: underground compressed air.

The utility on Wednesday said that it is seeking $25 million in smart-grid stimulus funds to build an underground compressed-air storage facility that would be able to deliver as much electricity as a medium-size power plant for about 10 hours.

PG&E said the project is part of its smart-grid initiative and would take about five years to develop and build but, in a company blog post, didn't offer any other details … Read more

While wind turbines save money on power in the long term, the initial outlay for buying and installing one can be prohibitive to many homeowners even if they live in a state that offers generous rebates.

Helix Wind makes relatively small vertical-axis wind turbines that can generate electricity with winds as low as 10 mph. These small-scale wind turbines are designed for residential and small-business owners looking for microgeneration.

It may be a classic business model that helps potential customers fund this new technology.

Helix Wind has partnered with Atoll Financial Group, a financial services company based in Washington, D.… Read more

After more than five weeks and 5,765 miles of driving through Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and very, very small parts of Arizona and Nevada, Road Trip 2009 is over.

This was the fourth year I've done this project, and I've now covered a fourth major region of the United States. In 2006, it was the Pacific Northwest; in 2007, the Southwest; in 2008, the deep South; and this year, it was the Rocky Mountain region. All told, my CNET Road Trips have taken me through 21 states and have covered 18,618 miles. And while there … Read more