One part of President Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill that has benefitted wind energy and other sources of renewable energy is a program designed to help clean power projects pay off their loans. Known as the Renewables Loan Guarantee Program, it has already provided $1.481 billion to 10 different projects. In doing so, it’s accelerated those projects’ development and produced new jobs. Unfortunately, the program has also suffered some budget cuts, including a $2 billion deduction in late 2009 and most recently, on August 10th, another $1.5 billion. As a result, the original $6 billion dollar program is now down to $2.5 billion. While there is still a good deal of money left, and the program has already done admirable things, these are significant cuts which will slow down the arrival of clean electricity production in our energy mix and green job growth in our economy. We think these benefits form a strong argument for supporting continuous renewable energy investment.

All is far from lost, though. First of all, Congress has promised to restore the Loan Guarantees funds at a later date; it’s just a question of when they can find enough cash to do so. In the meantime, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and other renewable energy trade associations are hard at work campaigning to get the funds restored as soon as possible. According to a letter they wrote to Senate Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi:

“Failure to Failure to act on the Treasury Grant Program and other tax incentives or to restore funding to the DOE Loan Guarantee Program will jeopardize the renewable energy industries’ efforts to develop clean electric generation and create tens of thousands of jobs.”

Even though the project has lost funding, it has been strengthened in other ways. The program’s application deadline was originally August 24th 2010, but is now extended to October 5th,  allowing more projects to take a shot at the money. In addition, the Department of Energy recently invited companies that manufacture the parts used in renewable energy projects to apply for the grant as well (in the case of wind energy, these “parts” might include things like turbine blades and generators). All of these changes open the funds to a broader range of applicants.

Even outside the range of this one specific program, the general public policy landscape remains a source of optimism among renewable energy advocates.  The Production Tax Credit (PTC) supporting wind energy development is guaranteed by the stimulus bill to remain in place at least through 2012.  Also, while a national Renewable Energy Standard failed to pass during the last legislative session, there is growing national support for enacting one. In light of this,  government policy toward wind energy looks like it will remain very supportive despite the recent cuts.

One new transmission line under construction will carry renewable power as far as Las Vegas

Having good wind resources is only part of what’s needed for a thriving wind industry. Another essential component is transmission: wind farms just aren’t useful if there’s no way to get the power from the farm into the city. One state grappling with this issue is Montana, which has abundant wind resources but has struggled to build enough power lines to put them to use. That’s not to say that Montana doesn’t have a strong desire to embrace renewable energy (it does), but first the state must confront several daunting challenges when trying to complete new transmission projects. For starters, there’s a need to limit the extent to which power lines pass through protected forests and national parks; second, many landowners are hesitant to have lines built on their property when the majority of the power won’t even be used in their state; third, Montana is huge, so transmission projects are lengthy and thus expensive.

Despite this, the Energy Promotion and Development Division (EPDD) of the Montana Department of Commerce recently provided updates on six transmission projects currently under construction in the state. They include lines connecting wind farms in geographically remote areas of the state, and will also link Montana’s renewable energy sources to electricity markets as far away as Las Vegas. When built, the lines will add 12,000 megawatts (MW) of electrical capacity to the grid, nearly all of which will be used for clean energy projects. And in Montana, “clean energy” usually means wind. It has the fifth greatest wind potential of any state and about 50 wind projects in varying stages of planning and permitting. The Montana Department of Commerce says that it would like to achieve 10,000 megawatts (MW) of wind capacity in the near future, up from the 386 MW that are currently installed, in order to help meet the US Department of Energy’s goal of producing 20% of our energy from wind by 2030.

One interesting aspect of Montana’s recent push to boost its grid is an effort by the Western Governors’ Association (chaired by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer) to fast-track the difficult and time-consuming permitting process for building new transmission. According to Schweitzer, that effort comes out of a desire to get renewable power on the grid, and do it quickly. He’s quoted by one source as saying, “You can’t develop alternative energy sources until you get transmission. You can’t put electricity in a bottle and send it down the river.” The permitting process for building transmission is typically much longer and more difficult than the permitting process for building wind farms. According to the Department of Energy’s National Transmission Grid Study, major transmission projects often experience up to 10 years or more of delays before they can be built. As a result, there are hundreds of wind projects around the country, waiting on new transmission lines to proceed. This fact makes any effort to streamline the transmission process highly commendable.

The US transmission grid, which our own Department of Energy finds to be antiquated, will need significant additions and improvements over the next decade to accommodate renewable energy and improve reliability. Luckily, Montana is one state helping lead the way to solve this nationwide problem.

New wind manufacturing facilities: coming to a town near you

Even though the US has been the world leader in electricity-generating wind capacity for decades, many components of wind turbines—items such as generators, blades, and gear boxes—have historically been manufactured overseas. In fact, as recently as 2005, three quarters of manufacturing for the US wind industry was done on foreign soil. However, in recent years, explosive U.S. wind industry growth has amplified the demand for turbine imports, creating a supply shortage. As a result, a substantial increase in domestic wind manufacturing has occurred. According to the US Department of Energy, 68% of turbine parts are now made in the USA.

What has accounted for this change, besides growth in the industry? Many of the world’s largest wind manufacturing companies are recognizing the potential in the US market and opening new plants in the Midwest in order to be close to areas of high demand. According to the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) 20% Wind by 2030 report card, 65 new facilities have opened in the past two years alone. These new plants are creating jobs and bringing new life to manufacturing towns hit hard by the 2008-09 recession. Also, our workforce is gaining greater know-how: over 100 colleges and universities have now developed course work geared toward teaching students how to build and install turbines.

Being able to produce turbine parts domestically is a huge boon for the U.S. wind industry. It lowers transportation costs, allows the industry to take advantage of  US workers’ long history of manufacturing expertise, and spurs investment in US wind companies. These benefits are the reason that passing a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES) is such a priority for our nations wind industry: an RES would create market certainty and thereby encourage manufacturers to keep building plants in the US. That’s why we’re rooting hard for Congress to pass an RES in fall 2010. Contact your Senator or Representative today!

Watch out everybody, turbines are growing. According to the 2009 Wind Technologies Market Report (WTMR) released this August by the US Department of Energy, a turbine’s average nameplate capacity (the maximum output a turbine can produce), hub height (distance from the ground to the spot where the blades converge), and rotor diameter (diameter of the circle traced by the blades as they rotate) have all increased during the past year. The average turbine now stands 258 feet tall with a rotor diameter of 268 ft. It can also produce 1.74 megawatts (MW) of power under near-ideal conditions, up from 1.66 MW in 2008. These are encouraging signs; the larger the turbine, the more efficient it will be at low wind speeds. Turbines that can produce at low wind speeds are more reliable and thus make it easier to integrate wind into the electrical grid. The manufacturing and engineering skill needed to build big is also indicative of wind becoming more deeply entrenched in the American energy industry.

Furthermore, it’s not just the turbines themselves that are scaling up; the size of an average wind farm is increasing as well. The WTMR finds that the average wind farm constructed in the US in 2009 had a capacity of 91 MW, higher than any other year on record except for 2007. The larger the average capacity of a US wind farm, the more viable wind becomes as a major factor in the country’s energy mix. Also, larger wind farms are more affordable because of associated economies of scale, and more reliable because they have a lower variability of electricity production from high-wind to low-wind periods.

According to the WTMR, the total installed wind capacity in the United States is growing all the time, at an exponentially faster rate as time goes on. An especially exciting statistic is that the U.S. has the potential to install 300 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity if we build an interstate transmission network. Even though the vast majority of that capacity is undeveloped, it’s still a promising number. It means the Department of Energy’s goal of producing 300GW from wind by 2030 is firmly within reach. It also means that 2011 and 2012 are primed to be huge years for bringing more wind energy on line. All of this points to a reassuring bottom line: our energy future is looking much cleaner.

The US Department of Energy’s recently published 2009 Wind Technologies Market Report shows a rising trend in domestically manufactured turbine equipment.  According to AWEA’s annual market report, the share of domestically manufactured turbine components grew from 20-25% in 2005 to around 50% in 2009.

Financially, the numbers show a decreased dependence in imported turbine equipment in 2009 than the previous two years.  Despite the industry’s largest installation growth in 2009, only $4.2 billion was spent on imported parts and goods, compared to $4.6 billion spent in 2007 and an industry peak of $5.4 billion spent in 2008.  When we look at it in terms of percentage, it’s even more promising.  Around 85% of total turbine cost was spent on imported parts in 2006, decreasing dramatically over the next four years to 39% in 2009.  These figures consider the fact that some parts may be purchased in the previous year and used in the following, and a four month lag was adjusted to compensate for this assumption, and the analysis is made from September of the previous year to August of the following.

Wind Power Equipment Imports as a Fraction of Total Turbine Cost

The United States still leads the way in global importation of turbine equipment, representing approximately 34% of worldwide imports.  This seems like a rather significant percentage – especially since no other country reached 10% of global imports – but keep in mind, 2009 installations increased our annual capacity by almost 10,000 MW.  Plus, the United States contributed rather significantly to global installations, placing second after China (13,750 additional MW).  Spain trails in third with a significantly lower 2,331 additional MW installed.

Continuation of the domestic production trend could lead to future economic benefits.  Last year, 13 new facilities opened and 21 were announced.  Because of increased domestic production, a number of American manufacturers previously inactive in the wind energy sector were able to transition into the industry.  As a result of these developments, AWEA estimates that the wind energy sector employed around 85,000 full-time employees in 2009.  Although these figures were the same in 2008, the number of job-years was significantly higher for 2009 than for 2008.  This suggests that wind energy is providing stable jobs to our economy.

Based on the numerous sector projects announced in 2009, the US Department of Energy expects increased domestic production in the years ahead, but only if our wind power market remains stable.   Enforcing a national RPS could greatly facilitate the stability of the wind market.  Unfortunately, as we have mentioned in our previous blog post, a national RPS is no longer included in the energy bill.  We continue to encourage you to contact your Senators and urge for the inclusion of a renewable energy standard in future legislation.

Even though wind energy is a clean and cost-effective source of energy, it does have one slight drawback: no one can control when the wind blows. This occasionally leads to difficulties in matching consumers’ demand for energy with the available supply. For instance, when the wind is strong but demand for electricity is low (i.e., late at night), wind farm operators may have to turn turbines away from the wind to avoid overwhelming the electrical grid. Of course, the opposite scenario can also occur, in which the wind is not strong enough to meet demand for electricity during a peak period.

One potential solution for this problem has been the subject of much attention and research lately, and that solution is the use of batteries. Really, really, big batteries, that is. Batteries could help by allowing wind farms to store energy during periods of low demand and then transfer it to the grid when demand is high. These batteries would also come equipped with computers that could ensure the electricity is released at a fixed rate, making wind power similar to natural gas and other power sources which can start or stop production at a moment’s notice. Such a system would allow utility operators to schedule the supply of wind energy precisely according to need, increasing dependability.

Now, when I think of batteries, I inevitably imagine a sleek-looking pair of AA’s. However, it turns out batteries can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes if you look in the right places. A team at the University of Minnesota recently completed a study in partnership with Xcel Energy to determine whether a battery system could, in fact, be effective at transferring energy from off-peak to on-peak availability. Sure enough, the experiment was a success, but the battery they used (manufactured by NaS) was the size of two 18-wheelers and weighed a whopping 80 tons! And this is just one kind of exotic battery that may eventually be used in conjunction with wind farms; another is a flywheel system in which energy is transferred to a free-spinning rotor on an axis and stored kinetically. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

As you might expect for such bulky batteries (even the flywheels are the size of water heaters, and you need lots of them), the main drawback is that they’re not yet cost-effective. But as the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) Into the Wind blog reminds us, that’s okay, because grid operators can account for the variability of wind by utilizing other sources of flexibility in the grid:

“Every day, grid operators constantly accommodate variability in electricity demand and supply by increasing and decreasing the output of flexible generators – power plants like hydroelectric dams or natural gas plants that can rapidly change their level of generation.”

In fact, AWEA estimates that the US could increase its wind capacity tenfold before battery storage would really be necessary.

In the meantime though, battery storage is a neat trick that would have its uses. For instance, many small towns in isolated areas are not well-served by transmission lines. If the transmission were to fail for some reason, batteries could allow the town to keep an emergency center open until power was restored. It’s safe to say the Energizer Bunny would be proud.

The wind industry is a whole lot more than meets the eye. Behind those turbine towers serenely dotting the skyline is the bustle of manufacturing, construction, and maintenance work which goes into building and operating them. Throughout the Great Plains’ wind corridor, these jobs are helping revitalize small towns that have been hurt economically by the migration of traditional kinds of manufacturing overseas.  Nowhere is this process more noticeably transformative than in the state of Iowa, where the manufacturing of turbines and nacelles (the box on the turbine which contains the generator), account for 2,300 jobs.

Iowa has a rich history of manufacturing in areas that you might expect for such an agricultural powerhouse—its specialties  included farm equipment and food processing machinery. It also had plants devoted to products such as printing presses and coal trucks. This history meant that even though the state had to endure manufacturing slowdowns and concurrent job losses over the past 30 years, it always possessed human capital with knowledge of how to build things.  Components of wind turbines, such as blades which can weigh up to 15,000 lbs, fit into the same class of heavy machinery as much farm equipment. Thus, Iowa was in a great position to supply its wind industry with parts as homegrown as its corn.

Many wind manufacturing companies have chosen to locate in Iowa, including industry giants such as Germany’s Siemens and Spains’ Acciona.  This makes sense given the state’s abundant wind resources and reputation for being on the progressive edge of wind development. Iowa is known for passing one of the country’s first Renewable Energy Standards back in the day when this type of legislation wasn’t yet the norm. The state also offers tax incentives for wind companies who build plants there. All of this has resulted in small town success stories such as those profiled here and here.

The growth of wind manufacturing in Iowa makes it an interesting model for the wind industry as a whole. For one thing, it proves that wind has grown out of any possible classification as a “niche” industry. It powers job growth not just in manufacturing but also in the technical field (installing turbines) and the development field (planning wind farms). Although each field is highly specialized, Iowa shows that when brought together, these jobs can provide a dynamic boost across the whole economy.

Finally, Iowa’s prowess in all things wind is leading to some unforeseen benefits. First, the state has become a leader in wind research and education. Programs at the state’s colleges which train students to become wind technicians consistently find employers swooping in to hire students before they even graduate, and Iowa State recently established a Wind Energy Manufacturing Laboratory to focus on improving productivity and reducing costs at turbine factories. Also, another sign that Iowa’s proactive stance on renewable energy is paying off came July 20th when Google inked a 20-year contract to purchase 114MW of power from a wind farm in Story County.

All of this shows that wind energy’s benefits are constituted not just in the electricity it produces but also in the activity behind the scenes. Iowa (which produces a higher percentage of its energy from wind than any other state) is a great example of wind having a far-reaching positive impact on a region.

Scientists erecting a VAWT at FLOWE

A group of CalTech researchers are looking to redesign our future wind farms by observing the way fish swim in schools.  Fluid dynamics expert, John Dabiri, recently purchased two acres of land north of Los Angeles, where he established the CalTech Field Laboratory for Optimized Wind Energy (FLOWE).  The project was inspired by the findings from a classroom research study conducted by graduate students, Robert Wittlesey and Sebastian Liska, supervised by Dabiri.  Their results suggest that there may be substantial benefits to placing vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWT) in a strategic array, and that some configurations may allow the turbines to work more efficiently as a result of their relationship to others around them.

These results go against the industry norm as the most commonly used wind turbine in today’s market is the horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT).  Unlike the HAWT, the VAWT has no propellers and uses a vertical rotor to generate electricity.  Because of this design, these devices can be placed on smaller plots of land in a denser pattern.

So what do schools of fish have to do with the placement of wind turbines?

“[T]here is constructive hydrodynamic interference between the wakes of neighboring fish,” says Dabiri. “It turns out that many of the same physical principles can be applied to the interaction of vertical-axis wind turbines.”

When fish swim in schools, they align themselves strategically to optimize their forward propulsion, conserving maximum energy.  While studying the vortices left behind by these fish, Dabiri observed some that rotated clockwise, while others rotated counterclockwise.

These observations contrast with current wind farm designs, where turbines sit neatly in rows, all spinning the same way.  Dabiri, along with his team, are applying the patterns of these vortices to the placement of their wind turbines in hopes of obtaining maximum energy extraction.  Most often, VAWTS are smaller in size and used in residential settings.  The results of FLOWE could potentially change this limitation. As the technology becomes more advanced and is tested further, utility-scale applications could be on the horizon.  Once the team identifies the optimal placement, Dabiri believes it may be possible to produce more than 10 times the amount of energy currently provided by a farm of horizontal turbines.  However, as with any technology, we will to wait and see how it evolves.

VAWTs have been around for thousands of years, yet they still have not made a significant dent in the modern, commercial wind market.  Many industry experts, such as Ian Woofenden, believe VAWTs to be in many ways inferior to the traditional HAWT.  Their main inferiority, according to Woofenden, lies in company overhype of underperforming technologies, leading the consumer to believe that VAWTs are superior to HAWTs.

To salvage the VAWT’s reputation, AWEA created the Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC), an independent certification body that certifies small wind turbines to meet or exceed AWEA’s Small Wind Turbine Performance and Safety Standard.  The Council started accepting applications in February and many small wind companies, such as Windspire Energy, are eager to get certified.  Windspire Energy has provided three turbines for FLOWE.  In exchange, Dabiri will share his research results with the company.

Currently, FLOWE is in its initial phase, but Dabiri has big goals for the project.  He purposely chose to place the turbines in a real-world condition, as opposed to a computer generated model or a laboratory wind tunnel.  Dabiri feels that a field demonstration can easily facilitate a future expansion from a basic science project into a power-generating facility.  If the results of the pilot program are significantly favorable, Dabiri and his team hope to transition to power-generation experiments, where the power can be put to use either locally or via grid connection.  This could allow us to build wind farms closer to urban centers and power centers, reducing the cost of power transmission.

Note: As of July 22, 2010, reports indicate that the energy bill no longer includes an RPS.  We encourage you to call your Senators and tell them to urge the inclusion of a renewable electricity standard in the bill. See the American Wind Energy Association’s website for information on who to call.

One of the most commonly tossed-around acronyms in the renewable energy industry is the RPS, which in this case doesn’t stand for “rock-paper-scissors”. Instead, as many readers may already know, it stands for “Renewable Portfolio Standard”. To those not familiar with the concept, a Renewable Portfolio Standard is a government mandate which requires a certain amount of a state or country’s energy to come from renewable sources.

A national RPS—one which applies to the whole United States— is prominent on our radar right now because it plays a large role in the proposed energy legislation making its way through the Senate. It’s one of several energy reform measures being considered, along with a cap-and-trade system for limiting carbon emissions and other pollution restrictions targeted at utilities. The problem is that with the curtain about to fall on the current legislative session, there’s a lot of uncertainty in the Senate about which path to take.The case for a national RPS has been made by several groups hoping to get a last-minute bill to the table. Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Tim Johnson of South Dakota introduced a bill known as SAFEST (Securing America’s Future with Energy and Sustainable Technologies), which calls for a 25% RPS by 2025. Another effort was made by Senators Bryan Dorgan of North Dakota, Tom Udall of Colorado, and Mark Udall of New Mexico, who called for a suggested RPS of 15% proposed by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last year to be strengthened and signed into law. However, with the time crunch, it is possible that a bill will not be ready to vote on before the August Recess.

If passed, a national RPS would provide the wind industry and country with many benefits. Let’s cross our fingers that the Senate will find a way to take action on this!

1. Job creation.  We like to think about wind energy as a harmonious pairing of environmental sense and economic sense, and a study released by the Pew Charitable Trusts last year backs that up. According to the study, over the 10-year period from 1998-2007 the number of jobs in renewable energy increased 9.1%, compared to 3.7% for the economy as a whole. In the wind industry, the job increase over that same span was 23.5%. Also, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a 25% by 2025 RPS would create 297,000 jobs over the next 15 years.
2. Economic Development. According to the AWEA’s briefing on National Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards, each wind turbine installed generates $1.5 million in economic activity. In addition, the UCS predicts that enacting an RPS would produce more than three times as many jobs as continuing on our current, more fossil-fueled approach.
3. Consumer Savings . The UCS’s Clean Power, Green Jobs report found that a national RPS would reduce electricity prices up to 7.6%.
4. Global warming prevention. Climate change continues to receive lots of attention in the media, and we probably don’t have to tell you about the effectiveness of renewable sources in cutting emissions. However, it’s interesting to note that 2010 has featured the warmest January-June period on record. And that wasn’t all from the New York Times’ “Green” blog; here’s an instance of two pictures speaking a thousand words.  
5. Energy independence.  Passing a national RPS has the nifty side-effect of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. In addition, it should promote economic security by helping keep clean energy jobs in the US, instead of ceding the upper hand to countries such as China (read all about China in our blog below).  According to Senator Klobuchar, “The strength of our nation is tied to the strength of our energy economy. Not only are we still dependent on foreign oil, but other countries are making great strides in developing clean energy technologies.”

Photo by: Mike Locke

The United States wind industry gained a new competitor as China surpasses Germany last year to reach the world’s #2 spot for total installed capacity.  Currently, the US sits in a comfortable lead with 35,159 MW of total installed capacity;but with China’s exponential installation growth, our hold may not be very strong.  According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), in 2004, there were only 764 MW of wind capacity installed in China.  That number has been doubling almost every year, reaching 25,805 MW by the end of 2009.

Goals for wind turbine installations have been growing as well.  In 2007, China announced a national target of 5,000 MW installed by 2010.  Only a year later, that number increased to 10,000 MW.  After a whopping 13,785 MW growth in 2009, China set a new target of 35,000 MW installed by 2011, and 150,000 MW installed by 2020—a fivefold jump from the original 30,000 MW goal in 2007 and 50,000 MW more ambitious than the US goal of 100,000 MW installed by 2020.

The push behind China’s renewable energy boom lies in their National Renewable Energy Legislation.  First effective in 2006, the legislation states a national preference for the development and utilization of alternative energy resources.  This meant setting a national commitment of 15% renewable energy use by 2020 and providing increased government funding for green energy research and projects.  The legislation also requires power grid operators to purchase all energy generated from renewable sources, with a penalty for those who do not abide.

Engineers work on a wind turbine part.

Despite our difference in governing styles, the United States could stand to learn a thing or two from China’s National REL—especially in the economic success it has created.  According to the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA), renewable energy accounted for 1.12 million jobs in 2008 and is climbing by 100,000 each year.  The majority of these jobs come from manufacturing companies.  China is currently the leading producer of wind turbines and solar panels.  In the wind industry, that success was facilitated by the adoption of the “70% domestic” rule in 2004 which states that all turbines in Chinese wind farms must have at least 70% of its parts made in Chinese factories.  The impact was phenomenal.  The Chinese turbine production industry has grown from only six manufacturers in 2004 to nearly 90 at the end of 2009.  The government recently abolished this requirement to allow for more participation in the international market.  According to GWEC, only 17 Chinese-made wind turbines were exported in 2009.

The American market has the potential to grow at such an electrifying pace as well if we adopt a National RES.  The “Job Impacts of a National Renewable Energy Standard” study, conducted in 2009 and published by the RES Alliance for Jobs, found that a 25% by 2025 national standard would support an additional 274,000 jobs than an industry without a public policy.  The American Solar Energy Society’s (ASES) Green Jobs Report also forecasts more favorable outcomes for implementing an RES.  In the “business as usual” scenario, which means no changes in policy or major initiatives, the report only predicts a 130% increase in revenue and a 160% increase in jobs created in the next two decades.  The alternative scenario, which calls for a sustained public policy commitment, predicts a potential revenue growth of 1,200% and a 1,300% increase in jobs in the next two decades.  These are astounding differences for the adoption of one piece of legislation.

Change in Renewable Electricity Supported Jobs in 2025 With a 25% RES by 2025.

Every other summer, my parents and I take a trip back to China to visit our family.  I will never forget how my homeland greets me as I step onto its streets.  Outside, the sun burns earnestly on a cloudless horizon.  Its light is obscured by a permanent layer of smog, causing the sky to remain a dusty gray-blue hue and trapping in the oppressive heat.  Take a breath, and the summer’s fever invades the lungs, infecting the veins within milliseconds.  “Sauna days,” my uncle chuckles as he lifts my last suitcase into the car, “do you miss them?”

I don’t.  I really don’t.  Sauna days are the worst part of my Eastern adventures.  Hopefully, these muggy summers become more bearable with the help of a strong national commitment to greener energy, making my future vacations a lot more enjoyable.  As for the rest of the seasons I spend in the good old US of A, here’s hoping we are headed in the same direction.

Much to our excitement, wind energy continues to grow as a way of meeting U.S. demand for electricity, now accounting for about 40% of the new yearly additions to the country’s electrical capacity. However, as the industry continues to grow, one of the challenges it continually faces is transmitting electricity from rural wind farms to the urban areas that need it.  To put this issue into perspective, the US transmission system is like a highway system with many local roads but few interstates; a fine system on a local level but not as good over long distances. To overcome this barrier, the federal government and the American Wind Energy Association are advocating for the creation of an intrastate electrical superhighway that would connect the country with a spider web of high-voltage transmission lines. The only question is deciding who pays for it — an especially tricky question since long-distance power lines would benefit many people over a large geographic area. The oil- and coal-based power plants that have the lions’ share of US energy production don’t have this problem: luckily for them, they can be built near cities, limiting the need for long-distance transmission.

Luckily, solutions have begun to arrive from the grassroots level. A recent breakthrough was made by the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), a regional association of power companies which helps manage the transmission grid in the American Southwest. Several weeks ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved their new cost allocation plan which creates a “highway/byway” system of paying for transmission. Basically, the cost to build power lines that carry large amounts of power (300+kV) are distributed among many utilities in the region because the lines will serve wide areas. Smaller transmission lines (less than 100kV) are paid for entirely by local utilities since they are intended mostly for local use. For lines of intermediate size (100-300kV), local utilities pay much of the cost but other utilities around the region chip in too. FERC’s acceptance of this plan clears the way for SPP and other utilities to start building longer transmission lines, especially in the wind-rich Heartland, which is SPP’s primary area of service.

This newly approved highway/byway system will allow transmission lines to be built between Wichita, KS, Spearhead, KS, and Hitchland, TX. Once completed, these lines will span much of southern Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle, one of the most wind-abundant regions in the country. The construction of these power lines will likely be a huge boost to area wind projects whose electricity will now become accessible to new population centers.

New interstate transmission lines on a national scale would help consumers save billions of dollars. For instance, according to one study done by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), a $4.9 billion dollar investment in new transmission would pay for itself in less than three years and save ratepayers about $1.7 billion per year for each year after that. Not bad. Further investment in transmission would also act as a huge incentive for the wind industry to expand into more wind-rich locations, bringing all the benefits of new jobs, local income, reduced emissions, and fewer “natural” catastrophes (ie, oil spills) with it.

Federal efforts to plan new interstate transmission lines have been repeatedly thwarted in the past by one question: who pays for the updates? SPP’s cost allocation plan could be the revelation that finally marks the genesis of a nation-wide interstate transmission overhaul. What we need now is for more regional transmission operators to adopt “highway/byway” plans similar to SPP’s. The adoption of such policies would be a good first step toward a much-needed update to our national grid.

According to the famous musical which bears the state’s name, Oklahoma is “where the wind comes sweeping down the plain”. With the passage of a new law in the Sooner State, it looks like the state’s energy providers will soon be making more use of it. The law, called the Oklahoma Energy Securities Act (OESA), sets a goal that by 2015, 15% of the state’s electricity should come from clean sources.

Wind projects under development in Oklahoma.

Given that Oklahoma is located right in the middle of Tornado Alley, you’d expect the law to have especially strong effects on the state’s wind industry. And sure enough, Oklahoma is one of the most wind-abundant states in the country. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) classifies the vast majority of the state as a Class 3 or Class 4 Wind Power Density area, which is a medium rating. However, most of the places that have high (class 5-7) ratings are difficult-to-access locations such as the crest of the Rocky Mountains. When you look at wind power potential and feasibility together, Oklahoma is about as promising a place for wind development as you can find.

As with all energy legislation, there was considerable debate over the exact terms of the law. The 15% clean energy level was set as a goal rather than a mandate, so companies are encouraged to comply, but not required. However, the law clears the way for Oklahoma to possibly match the “20% renewable energy by 2020” standard of neighbors Missouri and New Mexico. (For a complete look at various states’ renewable energy goals and mandates, click here). It also passed with overwhelming bipartisan support (91-2 in the House) in a state with a senator famous for declaring “global warming is a hoax”.

It is particularly encouraging that the OESA was passed with input and support from Oklahoma’s leading utility companies. One of the companies, Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., plans to have its energy from wind production jump from 270MW to 750MW by 2012. That’s basically a tripling of wind capacity in just two years.  Hopefully, developments like this point toward a future where popular support for Oklahoma’s wind industry hits a critical mass.

The expected changes accompanying the passage of the OESA also show that wind energy offers environmental and economic benefits at the same time, as the law is expected to create jobs by encouraging wind and other alternative energy companies to locate in Oklahoma. It should also increase the profits of Oklahoma’s already multi-billion dollar wind industry, according to the Tulsa World newspaper.

With much of the industry at this week’s WINDPOWER Expo in Dallas—including National Wind, check us out at booth #407—we thought this might be a good time to run down a variety of recent wind energy stories.

• First up, a new study has been released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that adds to their 2008 study, 20% Wind by 2030. On the surface, this new study isn’t quite as sexy—it’s title, after all, is the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study—but it’s conclusions are just as promising.

  A bit of background: The WWSIS study was conducted to investigate the potential impact of a significant addition of wind and solar energy to the power system of West Connect, a series of affiliated utilities throughout Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Specifically, the study focused on the feasibility of the group generating 30% of its load from wind energy and 5% from solar. The study concluded that achieving such a high penetration is feasible and would require only a few key change to current practices. Chief among these changes would be creating better systems for aggregating renewable energy over large geographic areas—thus reducing overall variability—and scheduling energy disbursements at more frequent intervals.

  The study mentions a number of the benefits to the Western states should they implement West Connect’s plan. Most strikingly,”operating costs drop by $20 billion/yr, resulting in a 40% savings due to offset fuel and
  emissions.” While this drop in operating costs does not include the cost of constructing a wind farm, it illustrates how much money a wind farm can save over fossil fuels while operating.

• In other news, “Ontario’s chief medical officer of health says there’s no evidence that the noise from wind turbines leads to adverse health effects.” While Dr. Arlene King offers that some people living near turbines may experience headaches or sleep disturbances, she concludes that wind turbine noise is not sufficient to cause hearing loss or other health effects. While this shouldn’t come as a surprise to regular readers, it’s always nice to receive validation from someone with Dr. King’s credentials.

• Former President George W. Bush was the keynote speaker at this week’s WINDPOWER conference. He was apparently well received—”The audience welcomed Mr. Bush enthusiastically, giving him standing ovations at the beginning and end of his speech,” the article states—and spent much of the talk discussing signing Texas’ renewable portfolio standard in 1999 when he was governor, and about the country’s need to transition to renewable forms of energy. He said he’s enjoying retired life, living back on his ranch and being out of the limelight.

Well that about wraps it up. Keep your eye on AWEA Into the Wind blog for more updates on the WINDPOWER expo.

Cover of the May 10th issue of The New Yorker magazine. Cover by Bob Staake.

Last week’s issue of The New Yorker magazine featured one of my favorite recent covers. As displayed on the left, the cover depicts the morass of Cape Wind, the oft-covered wind farm proposed off the coast of Massachusetts: a pilgrim sails out from the colony of Cape Cod, joust in hand, prepared for a duel with the turbines in front of him. I’ll try and contain the English major side of my personality that really wants to textually analyze the illustration, except to say that I think the allusions to Don Quixote are apt and ferociously clever, as Cape Wind’s journey over the past decade has been nothing if not quixotic.

The last few weeks have provided a veritable flood of news about Cape Wind, and since we haven’t talked about the project in a little while, we wanted to fill you in and ensure that you’re up to date on all the latest developments:

• First, and perhaps most importantly, on April 27th the US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that Cape Wind had been given regulatory approval to proceed. Hurdles still remain, however. Groups opposed to the project, including the Wampanoag tribe–who believe the wind farm would violate their tribal rights to unobstructed views of the sunrise for sacred ceremonies–are likely to file lawsuits that could delay the project for years. Having said that, Mr. Salazar stated that he does not believe the lawsuits will ultimately derail the project. Another hurdled faced by the project is that when its approval was announced, no agreement had been reached with a utility company to offtake the electricity produced by the turbines. However…
• …on May 7th, utility company National Grid announced that they would buy half of the project’s output, or a nameplate capacity of 150 MW. That electricity would make up about 3% of the load that National Grid generates or buys. While the electricity produced by Cape Wind will cost more per kilowatt hour than electricity generated by other sources, Jim Gordon, the President of Cape Wind Associates, says National Grid’s customers will see their rates rise by only five cents a day as a result of the purchase. While Cape Wind will need to find an off taker for the second half of their output before securing financing and beginning construction can begin, Gordon said their deal with National Grid will provide a helpful framework when working with other utilities.

So there’s your Cape Wind update in a nutshell. We’ll continue to keep you posted on updates to the project and other cool New Yorker covers.