The tiniest state in the nation may build the first U.S. offshore wind farm, after privately held Deepwater Wind on Thursday landed a deal to sell power from the first phase of a Rhode Island project that eventually could supply 15 percent of the state's electricity.
Under a 20-year power purchase agreement, developer Deepwater Wind will sell electricity from up to 8 turbines producing 28 megawatts to National Grid.
Earlier this year Rhode Island set a target to obtain 20 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2015.
Many states and their utilities have looked to solar and wind power to meet clean energy goals, but Rhode Island expects offshore wind power to make up the bulk of its green energy.
Currently there are no offshore wind projects operating off the United States.
The other contender to become the first U.S. offshore wind farm is Cape Wind, a 130-turbine, $1 billion wind farm planned off the coast of neighboring Massachusetts, that has been mired in protests by critics.
"It's probably always going to be cheaper to build land-based wind farms than offshore wind farms," Deepwater's Chief Executive William Moore said in an interview.
"But the situation here in southern New England is actually much closer to the situation in Northern Europe where there isn't a lot of land suitable for large land-based wind farms," said Moore, who spent 13 years working on onshore wind sites.
The executive said a combination of geography--a medium water depth of 80 to 100 feet is needed--and construction logistics--like access to specialized vessels to install the turbines--have held back U.S. offshore wind projects.
The first phase of Deepwater's project, called the Block Island Wind Farm, is expected to start operations in 2013. Its turbines are planned to go up 3 miles off the coast of Block Island in state-owned waters, which developers believe will ease the permitting process.
The project includes plans to build a transmission line to Block Island, which currently relies mostly on diesel fuel. Any excess electricity generated by the project that the island does not use will be fed to the state's main grid.
For the first year of the project, the electricity will cost 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour. In August, the average retail price of electricity in Rhode Island was 13.85 cents per kilowatt hour.
Deepwater also plans to build a larger utility-scale offshore wind power project in federal waters. The developer must sign a separate power purchase agreement for that farm, rated at 385 megawatts.
Moore said that the company could build the larger project in 2014 or 2015 and could grow it to 500 MW.
"For Deepwater projects, there are pretty significant economies of scale. What we're looking at is building a larger project and interconnecting that to other adjacent states," Moore said.
Together the projects would generate about 1.3 million megawatt hours of electricity annually, enough to meet 15 percent of the state's energy needs, and cost $1.5 billion.
Deepwater, whose largest investor is hedge fund DE Shaw, is funding the project through private equity and debt.
The developer expects to select a supplier for the first phase of the wind farm in the early part of 2010, Moore said.
Manufacturers that make offshore wind turbines include Siemens AG and Vestas.
Deepwater, which is also focused on the markets of New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, also plans to bid for a proposed utility-scale offshore wind project off New York in the first quarter of 2010, Moore said.
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GE's 2.5-megawatt wind turbines, installed at a wind farm in Germany.
(Credit: General Electric)Power company Caithness Energy has given General Electric a $1.4 billion contract to supply wind turbines and 10 years' worth of maintenance for an Oregon wind farm, GE announced Thursday.
The massive 845-megawatt wind farm, Shepherds Flat, will be located near Arlington, Oregon, but span approximately 30 square miles and cover parts of Oregon's Gilliam and Morrow Counties.
GE estimates that it will supply 338 of its 2.5-megawatt wind turbine models to be installed between 2011 and 2012. Although they have been used in Europe and Asia, the company says the Shepherds Flat project will include the first U.S. installations of these specific GE turbines.
"When completed, [the Shepherds Flat project] will be larger than any wind farm currently in operation around the globe," GE said in a statement.
Of course, that comment depends on how you decide to calculate what constitutes a single farm and whether it matters if the wind farm is on land or in the ocean. In July, for example, Texas announced plans to host two 750-megawatt offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Regardless of whether this wind farm will be the largest, or among the largest in the world, there's no question that once completed, it will make a significant impact on power supply.
Shepherds Flat, which has been contracted to provide to power utility Southern California Edison, is predicted to generate about 2 billion kilowatt-hours per year. That's enough power to supply about 235,000 households annually, according to statistics provided by GE.
That power does not come without significant layout costs. New York-based Caithness Energy predicts that the project setup will cost $2 billion, including necessary improvements to area roads and power connection equipment to the grid in order for the wind farm to be operational.
GE and Caithness Energy have also touted how the project will bring some jobs to American workers. An estimated 400 workers will be hired for construction of Shepherds Flat, scheduled to break ground in 2010 and be complete in 2012, and an estimated 35 permanent workers will be hired to operate the wind farm. The estimated number of jobs to be created for the wind turbines' assembly, in a GE plant in Pensacola, Fla., was not disclosed.
Individuals and commercial businesses around the world are increasingly drawn to small wind turbines to supplement energy consumption, according to a report released Wednesday by Pike Research.
The niche industry of small wind turbines, which saw $165 million in revenue in 2008 and $203 million in 2009, will grow to $412 million by 2013, according to Pike's "Small Wind Power" report.
It can be attributed to the fact that on a cost-per-watt basis many are finding small wind turbines to be less expensive than solar panels, David Link, senior analyst at Pike Research, said in his report.
This is especially true in the U.S. and the U.K. where government support in the form of incentives, tax credits, and municipal height restrictions for structures being lifted for small wind turbines.
There are still places that see wind turbines as "visual pollution." But Pike's report found legislative reviews and incentives indicating that government support for wind turbines is increasing.
However, there are still hurdles.
Because of wind energy's intermittent nature, wind turbines are usually seen working in conjunction with another energy source such as diesel generation. This, coupled with permitting issues depending on a resident's municipal rules, could provide a holdup to market growth, according Pike.
The report is in keeping with the American Wind Energy Association's assessment of the U.S. small-wind industry market that came out in May. It found a 78 percent increase in sales from 2007 to 2008, but that seemingly impressive percentage figure is largely due to a modest starting place. Despite the jump in growth, the report estimated that only a total of 10,000 small wind turbine units were installed in 2008.
German conglomerate Siemens, the world's market leader in offshore wind turbines, is aiming to become one of the top three suppliers to the wind power market by 2012, the head of its Wind Power unit said.
"The global wind power market will grow from about 30 billion euros ($44.43 billion) annually today to more than 200 billion euros by 2030. We anticipate especially robust growth in the Asia-Pacific region," Siemens Wind Power CEO Andreas Nauen told reporters Wednesday.
"The market growth in North America and Europe, however, will also be significant," he added.
Siemens, a bellwether of euro zone's biggest economy, has been hit hard by the recession and weaker demand for industrial products but its energy business was last year's star performer as appetite for renewables cushioned a fall in group new orders.
Siemens has said its goal of generating 25 billion euros of sales from its "green" technologies in 2011 is a conservative estimate, with growth drivers from government stimulus programs worldwide.
New orders at its renewables division rose 146 percent to 786 million euros in the fourth quarter to September 2009, while revenue rose 5 percent to 661 million euros, benefiting from an order backlog in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
Siemens is the offshore market leader in terms of installed capacity--currently 10,000 megawatts--and the sixth-biggest supplier to the wind market behind Denmark's Vestas, General Electric, Spain's Gamesa, Germany's Enercon and India's Suzlon.
European Union countries have to present detailed plans on how to reach renewable targets for 2010, with wind energy expected to see a surge in investment, according to the European Wind Energy Association.
Nauen said Siemens intends to increase its wind power activities "significantly" in Europe, particularly in Scandinavia and Britain.
He said for 2009 he expected Siemens' market position to have reached the fifth-largest from being the sixth in 2008.
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(Credit:
Easy Energy)
Outdoorsy types are sure to love mobile solar chargers, but what about those who rarely see sunlight? (No, we're not referring to "Twilight.")
Easy Energy will launch the YoGen, a mobile charger that solely relies on hand power. The pocket-size charger lets you generates energy by repeatedly pulling a ripcord, similar to the way a lawnmower is started.
YoGen Max generates energy through a foot pedal.
(Credit: Easy Energy)The Las Vegas-based company created this product as a part of its mission to "satisfy the enormous worldwide demand for practical, compact, 'green energy producing' manpowered chargers." Easy Energy is also in the process of launching YoGen Max, a laptop charger that lets you generate energy by continually pressing a foot pedal.
Similar technology can be credited to Baylis, a company that created a wind-up MP3 player in 2008.
Preorders can be placed at the YoGen store and will ship within the next month. The $40 charger is available in black or clear, but you'll have to choose between Apple and ... Read more
NEW YORK--New York State is looking for developers to build wind farms on its Great Lakes that could generate 120 to 500 megawatts of power to boost the amount of electricity that comes from renewable sources by 2015.
The New York Power Authority would buy all the power generated from the offshore projects, which could be located in either Lake Erie or Lake Ontario.
Offshore wind power costs about twice as much as land-based wind projects, according to industry estimates. Offshore wind farms cost about $4 million per megawatt if no interest accrued during construction.
However, typically offshore wind farms can generate more power. Five firms are studying the Great Lakes wind project, which was first proposed in April.
A combined cycle natural gas plant, which does produce carbon dioxide, meanwhile costs just about $1 million a megawatt.
One megawatt powers about 800 homes in New York.
Companies interested in making a proposal have to inform the state-owned power generator by March 20. Proposals are due June 1.
The state will announce any winners by ... Read more
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SAN FRANCISCO--Technology giant Intel is seeing big opportunities in wind forecasting for power generation, and in information management for electric vehicles, John Skinner, Intel's director of marketing for its Eco-Technology division, said Tuesday.
Intel already sells microprocessors to wind turbine manufacturers and this would be an expansion of that business.
Adoption of wide-scale wind power would rely on accurate forecasting, such as when the wind would blow and how fast, he said.
"There's a lot of opportunities for sensor technology and high-performance computing," he said in an interview on the sidelines of an industry conference. "We are starting to explore it."
Intel has said it wants to grow its processor and software presence outside the traditional markets and has invested in a number of green technology companies through its venture capital arm, Intel Capital.
Wind and solar power have gained in popularity but mass adoption has been hindered by the fact that neither power works around the clock. Solar panels don't work at night and wind turbines only spin when the wind ... Read more
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Helix Wind's The S322 vertical wind turbine
(Credit: Helix Wind)Helix Wind announced Wednesday that it's beginning a trial run in Southern California to see if its wind turbines might be useful for powering cell phone towers.
The manufacturer is becoming known for its small vertical-axis wind turbines that can generate electricity with winds as low as 10 mph, as well as its unique business model to finance them.
The pilot program, conducted in conjunction with cell phone tower operator Core Communications, will experiment with whether the turbines powering cell phone towers could also generate surplus energy to sell back to the energy grid.
If they generate enough surplus power, small wind turbines could provide a new source of income for cell phone tower operators as well as a new power source.
Helix Wind's turbines, which will be installed in early 2010, will run for up to three months before being re-evaluated.
According to statistics provided by Helix Wind, there are approximately 3,500 cell phone towers in Southern California, and ... Read more
Painting the Golden Gate Bridge yellow might cause less fuss than trying to install a wind farm off Cape Cod's historic coast.
But when you're trying to build where the wind is strongest or the sun is brightest, you never know what obstacles you may run into.
In Massachusetts, a proposed wind farm called Cape Wind was dealt a blow last Friday that will delay what would be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. The Massachusetts Historical Commission agreed with local Indian tribes who claim that the location for the wind farm should be considered for listing in the National Historic Register because the Wampanoags' history and culture are "inextricably linked to Nantucket Sound," according to the opinion.
An offshore wind farm in north Wales, U.K.
(Credit: Vestas)"If the tribes are successful, that would have a severe chilling effect (on the entire wind industry) because tribes up and down the coast could make the same claim," said Mark Rodgers, the communications director for Cape Wind. "Never before has
... Read moreFor wind power to take a firmer hold, a missing ingredient must materialize: data.
Wind Pole Ventures is building a business as an information broker, gathering more accurate wind speed information for sale to wind farm developers. Last month, the Lexington, Mass.-based start-up signed on its first customer, Invenergy, which will use Wind Pole's data service to better predict wind performance.
There's better wind speed data at the top, says Wind Pole Ventures.
(Credit: U.S. Air Force)Wind power has grown rapidly in the U.S. over the past few years, but the output of large-scale farms has not always matched expectations, which means those projects are less profitable than predicted. Varying wind speeds also make managing the reliability of the grid more complicated, as unanticipated dips can cause outages.
Wind Pole has bought the rights to place wind speed measuring devices, called anenometers, on microwave towers. There were 1,200 of the towers put in place for communications during the Cold War, some of which are used as cell ... Read more
