Recently in Wind Power Category

A late-night vote Thursday by the Ohio House demonstrates Ohio's bipartisan commitment to bringing clean energy, job creation and greater investment in local communities vying for renewable energy projects.

Sub Senate Bill 232 passed the House by a vote of 91-7 and the Senate concurred shortly after passage by a vote of 27-5 with a final reconciled bill headed to Gov. Ted Strickland's desk before summer recess, according to the grassroots coalition Wind and Solar Jobs for Ohio.

"With this vote, Ohio public officials have positioned the State to create and protect thousands of local Ohio manufacturing, construction, operations and maintenance jobs in the wind industry," said Brad Lystra, manager, economic development partnerships for the American Wind Energy Association.

The bipartisan effort and passage of Sub Senate Bill 232 was critical to bringing Ohio's tax structure for wind development sites in line with surrounding states as developers finalize decisions on which projects to prioritize to leverage expiring federal stimulus funding.

Lystra applauded the bipartisan spirit and the leadership of Sen. Chris Widener (R-Springfield) who championed Senate Bill 232, Gov. Ted Strickland, and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Tom Leston (D-Warren) for working together to advance Ohio's clean energy future.

"By eliminating this tax disadvantage, Ohio lawmakers have strengthened the renewable market and secured millions in new tax revenue for local communities," Lystra said. "Additionally, Ohio's struggling manufacturing industry will get a significant boost from wind turbine component part orders and position itself to see even greater investments from wind and solar manufacturers looking to expand into new markets and supply chains."

Wind and Solar Jobs for Ohio is a coalition of businesses and organizations that support the adoption of a competitive tax structure for wind and solar projects in Ohio. For more information on the coalition and the specifics of the seven proposed wind farms for Ohio, visit www.windandsolarjobsforohio.com.

E.ON has placed an order with Siemens Energy for the supply of 87 2.3-MW SWT-2.3-101 wind turbines for the Papalote Creek II wind power plant in San Patricio County, Texas. With a total installed rated capacity of more than 200 megawatts (MW), the Papalote Creek II wind farm is expected to provide clean power to approximately 60,000 households.

"With this new project, E.ON and Siemens continue their great partnership in the wind power business," said Jan Kjaersgaard, vice president and general manager of Siemens Energy's Wind Power Americas business. Siemens is already one of the top three wind turbine suppliers in the U.S. According to the American Wind Energy Association's year-end 2009 market report, Siemens installed more than 1,160 MW out of the more than 10,000 MW installed total in the U.S. in 2009.

"We are delighted to partner with Siemens in the next phase of our Papalote Creek II wind farm in south Texas," said Steve Trenholm, CEO, E.ON Climate & Renewables North America. "This project will create more than 300 temporary jobs and provide an investment of more than $300 million to the local tax base. E.ON is pleased to make this investment and help further the growth of the U.S. renewables market."  

E.ON and Siemens have partnered on several U.S. wind farm projects in the past. Siemens supplied 54 2.3-MW units for E.ON's Forest Creek wind farm near Big Spring, Texas, in 2006 and 55 2.3-MW wind turbines for the Champion wind farm in Nolan County, Texas, in 2007.

The Siemens scope of supply for the Papalote Creek II wind power plant includes delivery and transportation of the 87 SWT-2.3-101 wind turbines with a rated capacity of 2.3 MW each. With a diameter of 101 meters, the rotor of the new SWT-2.3-101 has a swept area of 8,000 square meters, which equals one-and-a-half football fields. Delivery is expected to begin in May 2010 and the wind farm is expected to be commissioned in the fall of 2010. Siemens also will provide service and maintenance for two years.

To better meet the increasing demand for clean energy in the Americas, Siemens is currently constructing its wind turbine assembly facility in Hutchinson, Kansas, which is scheduled to become operational in December 2010. The 300,000-square-foot wind turbine nacelle facility is expected to employ up to approximately 400 "green-collar" employees. Siemens also recently expanded its 600,000-square-foot blade manufacturing facilities in Fort Madison, Iowa, which it opened in 2007. The blades for the Papalote Creek II wind power plant will be manufactured in Fort Madison, Iowa.

Wind power is part of Siemens' Environmental Portfolio. In fiscal 2009, revenue from the Portfolio totaled approximately EUR23 billion, making Siemens the world's largest supplier of environmentally friendly technologies. In the same period, the company's products and solutions enabled customers to reduce their CO2 emissions by 210 million tons. This amount equals the combined annual CO2 emissions of New York, Tokyo, London and Berlin.

The Siemens Energy Sector is the world's leading supplier of a complete spectrum of products, services and solutions for the generation, transmission and distribution of power and for the extraction, conversion and transport of oil and gas. In fiscal 2009 (ended September 30), the Energy Sector had revenues of approximately EUR25.8 billion and received new orders totaling approximately EUR30 billion and posted a profit of EUR3.3 billion. On September 30, 2009, the Energy Sector had a work force of approximately 85,100. Further information is available at: www.siemens.com/energy.

E.ON Climate & Renewables (EC&R) is responsible for the E.ON group's renewable energy and environmental protection activities around the world. Tapping renewable energy sources offers enormous alternatives, both from a business perspective and for the environment. E.ON Climate & Renewables will be investing EUR8 billion in renewable energy and environmental protection projects from 2007 - 2011 to expand the share of renewable energy in E.ON's portfolio for the long term. E.ON has thus taken a leading role in developing renewable energy sources worldwide. For more information, please visit www.eon.com/renewables.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by E.ON Group management and other information currently available to E.ON. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. E.ON AG does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

SOURCE Siemens Energy, Inc.

Western Wind Energy Corp. ("Western Wind" or the "Company") announced today its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2009.

Highlights for the Year:

    -   Raised $6.3 million in new equity.
    -   Received zoning approval for its 120MW Windstar wind energy project.
    -   Engaged a senior lender to provide $200m in financing for Windstar
        subject to final lender approval.
    -   Entered into a turbine reservation order for Windstar with a leading
        turbine supplier.
    -   Received a 24 year extension of the Mesa land lease and the right to
        repower and expand.
    -   Secured an 11MW PPA for a combined wind and solar project in Arizona.
    -   Signed an amendment to the Windstar PPA that updates the terms to
        reflect the current market conditions and completion schedule.
    -   Secured additional prime wind and solar resource land in Tehachapi,
        California.

Subsequent to the year end:

    -   Closed two loan agreements with institutional investors for a total
        of $2.5 million.
    -   Selected a Institutionally recognized EPC - BOP contractor for
        Windstar
    -   Commenced Engineering, design and preliminary construction on
        Windstar

2009 FINANCIAL RESULTS

The Company is pleased to announce a 10% increase in electricity production to 58,859 MWh for the year ended December 31, 2009 compared to 53,579 MWh for the year ended December 31, 2008. However lower natural gas prices led to a decrease in the average Short Run Avoided Cost electricity selling prices which resulted in revenues decreasing 45% to $2,798,496 compared to $5,116,652 for the year ended December 31, 2009. Net loss from continuing operations increased from $4,993,000, or fifteen cents ($0.15) per share, for the year ended December 31, 2008 to a net loss of $5,023,162, or twelve three cents ($0.12) per share. The slight increase in net loss from continuing operations for the period was due to lower revenues and no interest recovery in 2009, which were mostly offset by a $1,400,182 (34%) decrease in general and administration costs and decreases in foreign exchange losses and amortization. Net loss for the year was $5,023,162, or twelve cents ($0.12) per share, compared to a net loss of $2,269,275, or seven cents ($0.07) per share, for the prior year. Net loss last year included income from discontinued operations of $2,724,047 primarily relating to a one-time US$3,000,000 reduction of the loan principal due to the Mesa loan repayment before the agreed upon repayment date of June 24, 2008. The net gain recorded was $2,900,000 after taking into account a Mesa Loan extension fee of $100,000.

Although electricity production for the three months ended December 31, 2009 was similar to the same period in the prior year, the decrease in average Short Run Avoided Cost electricity selling prices resulted in revenues decreasing 53% to $321,952 from $687,666 for the three months ended December 31, 2008. Despite the drop in revenues, net loss for the three months ended December 31, 2009 improved 33% to $1,512,001 or two cents ($0.02) per share compared to a net loss of $2,251,537 or seven cents ($0.07) per share for the comparable period in 2008 due primarily to a reduction in amortization, stock based compensation and travel expenses.

The Company's financial position continued to strengthen as cash increased from $1,817,371 as at December 31, 2008 to $1,882,152 as at December 31, 2009. Shareholders equity improved 11% from $22,442,493 last year to $24,843,162 primarily as a result of $6.3 million of new equity from the issue of shares and warrants.

The information in this news release should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2009, prepared in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles, and the Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2009. The financial statements and MD&A will be available at the Company's website at www.westernwindenergy.com and at www.sedar.com.

Western Wind is a vertically integrated renewable energy electrical production company that currently owns over 500 wind turbines with 34.5 MW of rated capacity and a further 131MW of expansion power purchase agreements in the States of California and Arizona. Western Wind further owns additional development assets for both Solar and Wind Energy in California, Arizona, Ontario, Canada and a development team in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Western Wind is in the business of owning and acquiring land sites and technology for the production of electricity from wind and solar energy. Management of Western Wind Energy includes individuals involved in the operations and ownership of utility scale wind energy facilities in California since 1981.

More new wind power capacity was installed in the EU in 2009 than any other electricity-generating technology, new statistics published today by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) reveal. 39% of all new capacity installed in 2009 was wind power, followed by gas (26%) and solar photovoltaics (16%). Europe decommissioned more coal and nuclear capacity than it installed in 2009. Taken together, renewable energy technologies account for 61% of new power generating capacity in 2009.

Investment in new European wind farms in 2009 reached EUR13 billion, including EUR1.5 billion offshore. 10,163 MW of wind power capacity was installed across the European Union - a 23% increase compared to 2008 installations - made up of 9,581 MW onshore (up 21% from last year) and 582 MW offshore (up 56% from last year).

2009 is the second year running that more wind power capacity has been installed than any other electricity-generating technology, and wind's share of newly installed capacity increased from 35% in 2008 to 39% in 2009. It is also the second year running that renewable energies have accounted for the majority of new investments.

"It is a remarkable result in a difficult year" said Christian Kjaer, CEO of EWEA. "The figures, once again, confirm that wind power, together with other renewable energy technologies and a shift from coal to gas, are delivering massive European carbon reductions, while creating much needed economic activity and new jobs for Europe's citizens."

The countries with the biggest share of new capacity installed in 2009 were Spain (24% - 2459 MW), followed by Germany (19% - 1917 MW), Italy (11% - 1114 MW), France (11% - 1088 MW) and the UK (10% - 1077 MW).

Wind power's total capacity in the European Union has now reached 74,767 MW, up from 64,719 MW by the end of 2008 with Germany remaining the EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by Spain, Italy, France and the UK.

The wind capacity installed by the end of 2009 will in a normal year produce 163 TWh of electricity, meeting 4.8% of total EU power demand[1].

Commenting on prospects for 2010, Kjaer added: "I am quite optimistic about the medium-term outlook for wind power in Europe, but project finance is still tight and it is clear that more orders must be announced in the coming months for the sector to repeat the 10 GW installed this year."

Please click here to download the pdf with the full analysis of the data.

http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/emag/statistics/2009generalstats

---------------------------------

[1] According to the latest figure from Eurostat, final electricity consumption in the EU-27 was 3,372 TWh in 2007.

SOURCE EWEA - European Wind Energy Association

"Wind energy can replace a large proportion of the polluting and finite fuels we currently rely on," explained Andris Piebalgs, EU Energy Commissioner, at the opening session of the European Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition (EWEC) organised by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) this morning. "It makes good sense to invest in indigenous sources of power which hedge against unpredictable fossil fuel prices and in which Europe has a real competitive advantage".

According to the European Commission, 3.5% of the world's proven coal reserves are in the EU. We sit on less than 2% of the world's gas; less than 2% of its uranium and we have under 1% of the world's oil. "The fight over the world's rapidly depleting fuel resources is already intensifying," emphasised Arthouros Zervos, EWEA's President, at the session. "It will only become more brutal with time and Europe will lose the battle. European companies have two thirds of the EUR35 billion global market for wind power technology. Wind energy is Europe's contribution to peace, progress and prosperity and we should urgently develop, promote and export it to the best of our ability."

Wind energy's contribution to prosperity is analysed in detail in a new EWEA report launched today, which Zervos presented to delegates. 'The Economics of Wind Energy' provides a detailed insight into wind energy economics and compares the costs of wind to those of other power-generating technologies.

Zervos also announced that EWEA has increased its 2020 target for installed wind energy capacity in the EU from 180 GW to 230 GW, including 40 GW offshore. He explained that "the agreement on the EU Renewable Energy Directive in December 2008 and its mandatory 2020 renewables targets for the Member States have increased our optimism for the sector's outlook. We have therefore increased our targets. However, these targets will only be met if all the Member States implement the directive swiftly and effectively."

Previously, EWEA's target was set at 180 GW of installed capacity in the EU by 2020, including 35 GW offshore. The new 230 GW target would produce approximately 600 TWh per year in the EU by 2020, power equivalent to the needs of 135 million average EU households (60% of EU households) and meeting between 14 and 18% of EU electricity demand (depending on total demand in 2020).

Mechtild Rothe, Vice President of the European Parliament said that wind energy can make a real difference to employment and economies. "Wind energy is an excellent example of how to intelligently invest in a future-orientated sustainable economy getting thousands of people into jobs," she said. "Especially in these times of uncertainty it is very important that the European wind energy industry has created more than 60,000 new jobs over the past five years. These are not mere statistics - this is the competitive strength of Europe! Wind energy has definitely become a driving force of our economies. We have learned from the current crisis that we should not wait until the problems are there before we act - we need to invest in wind energy now."

Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA), focused on the environmental benefits of wind energy in his presentation, saying that it "has an important role to play in climate change mitigation" but to tap into wind's full potential "we need effective national policies and a strong international framework. We need to reinforce, expand and link up our transmission networks. We must also increase research and development efforts in wind energy technology." Tanaka went on to stress the importance of focusing economic recovery plans on green investments for a short-term stimulus and long-term benefits.

Roland Sunden, CEO of LM Glasfiber and Chair of EWEC 2009 said today that "in 2008, more wind was installed in the EU than any other power generating technology. The track record of wind is the most visible proof that it creates great value. And as the financial and economic crises deepen, this becomes especially relevant, and that relevance creates a historic window of opportunity for everybody who is committed to combating climate change, to supporting technological leadership and to creating new competitive exports and jobs."

Andre Antolini, President of the French Renewable Energy Association (SER) cited France as a specific example of the difference wind can make to the economy. He said that "in France there are now over 130 companies that produce components for - or offer services to - the wind energy sector. Wind energy helps industry and the economy." Marcin Korolec, Secretary of State for the Ministry of the Economy in Poland, agreed. "The development of wind energy stimulates the whole economy, particularly at times of crisis", he said.

Jean-Louis Bal, Renewable Energy Director at ADEME, reinforced the important effects meeting the 2020 targets will have on Europe's future, saying that "the 20-20-20 by 2020 objectives represent an important investment, but also an investment whose medium and long term benefits are far higher than the costs."

To give a visual display of the benefits of wind energy Roland Sunden switched on a 'wind energy counter', which will run until the close of EWEC. The counter will show how much electricity wind has provided in Europe, how many investments have been made and jobs created in the sector, and the number of turbines built during the four days.

EWEC is taking place in Marseille and will run until Thursday 19 March. Other sessions will cover political, grid, technical and scientific issues related to wind energy. Broadcast-standard videos highlighting the main activities at EWEC will be made available on www.thenewsmarket.com as from Tuesday, 17 March.

To download 'The Economics of Wind Energy', click here: http://www.ewea.org/index.php?id=11.

SOURCE EWEA

Wind-generated electricity from the upper Midwest will become cost-competitive with power generated from more conventional fuel sources like coal, while providing substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions when connected to the nation's electricity grid via new extra-high voltage transmission lines, a new study by The Brattle Group (www.brattle.com) has concluded.

The study, "Transmission Super Highway: Benefits of Extra High Voltage Transmission Overlays" provides some of the most significant evidence to date that renewable resources offer an important and economically-feasible means to respond to escalating energy demands in a carbon-regulated environment with domestic energy sources. The study was commissioned by ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC)

In testimony today before the U.S. Senate and Natural Resources Committee, Joseph L. Welch, chairman, president and CEO of ITC, discussed the study's findings and urged Congress to facilitate renewable energy by updating the policies that govern America's power grid. He also stressed the need for new transmission development to enable states to meet renewable portfolio standards (RPS).

"Right now, the outdated laws that govern our electricity grid are standing in the way of America's energy goals," said Welch. "If Congress is serious about making renewable resources available, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, meeting renewable portfolio standards, and addressing climate change and other environmental challenges, they need to start by modernizing the rules that govern the grid.

"Transmission, which should be the enabler, is today a roadblock to the development of the full potential of renewable resources such as wind, solar and geothermal resources," Welch stressed.

The Brattle study shows that wind power from the windiest parts of the country can economically displace fossil-fuel power sources after 2020 under likely climate policies. The current lack of extra high voltage transmission lines through these regions -- the upper Midwest states including North and South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota -- is a significant barrier to harnessing this valuable resource as a viable energy solution in a carbon-regulated environment. The study concludes that extra-high voltage transmission projects like ITC's proposed Green Power Express (www.thegreenpowerexpress.com) are essential for accessing the nation's most important renewable energy resources.

The Green Power Express transmission project will traverse portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana and will ultimately include approximately 3,000 miles of extra high-voltage (765 kilovolt) transmission. The entire project is currently estimated to cost approximately $10-12 billion. ITC has been working with many of the upper Midwest wind developers over the last year in conducting a realistic accounting of their wind development plans and sites, which resulted in the design of the Green Power Express. The project could result in the efficient movement of up to 12,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power from the upper Midwest states to load centers in the Midwest and ultimately to the East Coast and eliminate up to 280 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over a 10-year period, the Brattle study concluded. This represents the annual emissions of about seven 600 MW coal plants.

In his testimony, Welch stressed that these environmental and cost savings will only be realized if projects like the Green Power Express can be developed and built in a timely manner. He urged Congress to establish mandatory industry participation in regional transmission planning authorities and for these organizations to aggressively pursue a new planning strategy that promotes electric grid interconnection across the country. Seven regional planning authorities -- collectively regional transmission operators or independent system operators (RTO/ISO) -- oversee transmission issues over wide areas in the continental U.S.

Welch called for a greater federal role in determining the need for new transmission projects that will support renewable resources but added that states should continue to maintain the primary lead in determining where new transmission lines will be sited within their borders. Welch additionally noted that it is essential to improve the cost allocation system to ensure that the entire region that benefits from a project shares the costs.

"Our country is trying to tackle 21st century energy challenges with an electric transmission grid largely built more than 30 years ago while operating under an outdated regulatory system," Welch told the committee. "To put it simply, we will not meet our energy security, efficiency and environmental goals if we don't change how we do business. We urgently need to reform how we plan, locate and pay for new transmission. This requires moving beyond the parochial interests and fractured regulatory structure that has led to decades of underinvestment in our electricity grid."

Welch pointed out that Congress and federal regulators have the ability to modernize the rules to allow private companies such as ITC and others to make these critical infrastructure investments. He emphasized that the congressional policy changes needed to facilitate this investment "don't require an infusion of taxpayer dollars, but will create new jobs and help address our looming energy and environmental crises."

ITC supports improvements to the transmission planning process as proposed in the draft bill recently released by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) (http://energy.senate.gov/public). ITC also supports a greater federal role in siting transmission, but believes states should continue to decide where lines are routed.

"A modern grid will solve our environmental and renewable energy challenges and improve reliability and associated costs to the economy," said Welch. "Now is the time for Congress to encourage private investment in America's energy infrastructure."

More information on the study can be found on ITC's website at http://www.thegreenpowerexpress.comwhite_papers.php and on The Brattle Group's website at www.brattle.com. SOURCE ITC Holdings Corp

Agreement will prevent 10,000 tons of CO2 from entering the environment

The wind energy industry in Europe is beginning to be affected by the global economic slowdown. Some companies have begun to cut down their forecasts and production for 2009. This is the first sign of a slowdown in this industry.
The positive side-effect of this situation is that turbine prices will reduce (due to a fall in raw material prices) and the delivery time of components will also reduce. According to Gouri Nambudrpad, Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan, this situation will create a balance in supply and demand where earlier there was a state of overheated undersupply.
To read the complete article on the Market Watch website click here.

Wal- Mart Stores Inc. is set to become the first major retailer to buy energy directly from a specific wind project. The corporation signed an agreement to purchase wind energy from Texas based Duke Energy Corp. that would cover 15% of its energy needs in hundreds of stores in Texas.

The project will supply around 226 million kilowatt- hours of renewable power each year which will come at a fixed price unlike conventional sources of energy such as natural gas whose prices keep fluctuating.

This step by the retail giant comes after their announcement earlier this year, to cut down their global plastic shopping bag waste by one third per store by 2013. Last year they announced their plans to equip 22 locations in Hawaii and California with solar panels to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Pic courtesy Lone Primate from flickr.com

Oklahoma is geared to become a leader in the renewable energy industry. With a huge wind corridor in western Oklahoma and lots of investments being made in the development of perennial native grasses as biofuels, Oklahoma is quite focussed on adhering to President- elect Obama's visionary goals to make America, energy independent in the years to come.
The state has the potential to generate 40,000MW of wind energy in their western region. With Obama's administration planning to introduce wind energy into the national grid, Oklahoma could profit a lot if they develop their wind energy industry.
Added to this, their plans to convert perennially growing switchgrass into a biofuel, could find Oklahoma emerging as a leader in the renewable energy sector even as the whole world attempts a meteoric shift towards making their economies run on renewable energy.
To read the complete article on the Forbes website click here.

An article on knowledge@wharton says that the progress made by electricity generating wind turbine technology in the US is influenced greatly by the know-how brought in by European companies.

This article gives a number of examples to show how European companies are moving in to fill the opportunities created by the United States' increasing interest in alternate energy.

Some of the companies with large projects include Danish firm Vestas Wind Systems, Spanish firms Iberdrola, Acciona and Gamesa and German firms Fuhrlander, Nordek and Siemens.

US policy has so far extended a Production Tax Credit, or PTC, on electricity generation from wind, making it competitive with conventional power such as coal. Technologically advanced wind turbines produce electricity at a cost of about five cents per kilowatt-hour, comparable to a coal plant. But the initial investments required to build the wind-power generating facilities are in millions of dollars, and government encouragement by way of tax credits has not been steady.

According to a report by Greenpeace and the Global Wind Energy Council, Wind has the potential to supply one third of the world’s electricity by 2050.
Ambitious or unrealistic?

Despite 9 years of government support and subsidy, wind farms in the UK, one of the windiest locations in the world, have been erected at a snail’s pace.
Roughly just 1.4 percent of total UK electricity supply comes from wind power. Though the government wants 20 per cent of electricity generation to come from renewable sources by 2020 (most of that capacity provided by wind farms), there are many hurdles.

Primarily, the problem is inadequacy of the electricity infrastructure. The second problem is nimbysism, that is though most people say they approve of wind farms, the average time it takes to get a wind farm through planning is 5 years!

Offshore wind farms were supposed to be the solution. But development has barely begun because of problems with shipping lanes, bird life, radar interference and soaring costs.
Tax breaks in the US and Germany for investors in wind farms have caused a run on turbines, and the soaring cost of steel, required to embed giant turbines 20 meters in the sea bed, make off-shore wind farms look distinctly uncompetitive.

Greater incentives to build offshore can be offset only by higher electricity prices in the long run.
All in all, wind seems good in theory, but plain old blustery in practice.

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Picture Courtesy: www.flickr.com

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has cut a deal with 3 Phases Energy Services to purchase more than 100 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in renewable energy certificates, making it the first federal agency to purchase renewable energy equivalent to 100 percent of its annual electricity needs.

This green power purchase brings the total to nearly 300 million kwh per year which is equivalent to 100 percent of the EPA's nationwide electricity need annually. This maount can power 27,970 homes for a year.

The arrangement effective from Sept. 1 extends yearly green power purchases to more than 190 EPA facilities nationwide and supports the development of wind farms.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said that with this move they are committing to alternative, renewable power sources, and meeting the president's call to green our nation's energy.

In 1999, EPA's Region 9 laboratory, in Richmond, Calif., became the first federal facility to purchase green power equal to its total annual electricity consumption. This was the beginning of the green power purchasing program. Since then, the program has steadily expanded to reduce demand for conventional electricity sources by supporting such renewable energy sources as wind power, geothermal sources, and biomass - primarily through the purchase of renewable energy certificates, or RECs which help reduce emissions associated with conventional electricity sources.

On an annual basis, the EPA's total green power purchases manage to offset more than 600 million pounds of carbon dioxide - nearly the amount 54,000 cars emit during a year.

The EPA is an active partner in the agency's own Green Power Partnership, a voluntary public-private program that promotes renewable energy.

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Plans for a wind farm that could supply half of Cape Cod's electricity to be built off of Buzzards Bay may have to be revised after a report finds that the wind turbines would be illegal under the Ocean Sanctuaries Act and may also threaten the roseate tern, an endangered bird species.

The Ocean Sanctuaries Act prohibits structures from being built on the seabed or under the subsoil and also forbids construction or operation of offshore or floating electric generating stations in the Cape and Islands Ocean Sanctuary. So the developer's plan to build the 120 450-foot tall turbines would be illegal.

Developer Jay M. Cashman who had hoped to see the turbines produce clean energy by 2011 said he's willing to work with state officials to come to an agreement on the wind farm which cannot go ahead without approval from state regulators.

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BP PLC has bought US wind energy firm Greenlight Energy Inc. for about $98 million to supplement its wind power business in North America.

BP said that the purchase give BP Alternative Energy instant access to a large number of high-quality wind development projects. Greenlight Energy owns the rights to develop 39 wind farms in the US which have the potential to produce a combined power generation of 6.5 gigawatts as opposed to Europe's largest power station which produces about 3.68 gigawatts.

This purchase follows BP's agreeement with Clipper Windpower to acquire 50 percent interest in 5 US wind energy projects and turbine supply options for $30 million.
With BP also securing an option to buy 9.6 million of the Californian firm's shares, Clipper Windpower shares lifted by a third.

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A small but growing group of consumers are willing to pay premiums over the energy costs to support renewable energy.

Around 23,000 Minnesota households paid 30 percent more than the previous year for electricity, 4,30,000 households bought green power and utilities in 36 states offer some kind of green pricing.

Individuals like Rev. Francis Galles, living on a retired priest's income pays an extra $60 a year and is willing to pay more to see that at least some of the energy he uses is powered by wind turbines.
He feels he is doing his part in furthering a vision for the future of energy.

Progressive states and utilities are needed to lead the way in educating consumers about renewable energy sources.

While volunteer efforts are appreciated and programs like Capture the Wind are making great inroads in the use of wind energy as an alternative source some environmentalists wonder how much they can do to help without additional laws to back them up.

A Minnesota law requires utilities to offer customers the option of green pricing - customers can check a form and choose to have a certain portion of their energy in renewable energy. While the green energy isn't necessarily delivered to the customer, the utilities generate an amount equivalent to the purchase.

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