CalWEA lauds California Legislature’s bill

The California Wind Energy Association (CalWEA) has praised the California Legislature for adopting a legislation passed last week. It requires the state’s utilities to acquire 33% of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020. These bills -- AB 64, SB 14, and SB 62- encourage a majority of the required renewable energy to come from sources located in California or from sources delivering energy to California. The bills enable about 25% of the renewable energy mandate to be fulfilled with credits. The Association said the move has found support from consumer, labour, environmental and renewable energy groups besides electric utilities. However, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to veto the 33% renewable portfolio standard passed by the California Legislature. Although Schwarzenegger supports the 33% RPS goal, his office indicated that the legislation lawmakers have approved is a protectionist scheme. Main concerns are related to too many regulatory hurdles and also measures that would limit out-of-state deliveries from wind, solar and geothermal energy sources.

Robin Rigg farm begins power production

E.ON’s Robin Rigg wind farm in the Solway Firth off the coast of Scotland has begun production. The €400 million project comprises 60 turbines. On its completion later this year, Robin Rigg will produce 180 MW of renewable power.

Report highlights offshore wind power’s potential

The economic competitive potential of offshore wind power in 2020 is 2,600 TWh, equal to 60- 70% of projected electricity demand, rising to 3,400 TWh in 2030, equal to 80% of the projected EU electricity demand, says a recent report by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). In March, EWEA had increased its 2020 target to 230 GW wind power capacity, including 40 GW offshore wind. To reach 40 GW, the EU would require an average growth in annual installations of 28% - from 366 MW in 2008 to 6,900 MW in 2020. Over 100 GW of offshore wind energy projects have already been proposed or are already being developed by Europe’s offshore wind developers. Last year saw 366 MW of offshore wind capacity installed in the EU, taking the total installed capacity to 1,471 MW in eight Member States.

ETI plans £5m monitoring system project

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has launched a £5 million condition monitoring project. The company will develop and demonstrate a new monitoring system. The project will be implemented in conjunction with several partners including Insensys, EDF Energy, E.ON, Romax Technology, SeeByte and Strathclyde University. These companies will make advanced systems to monitor the condition and performance of turbines and predict future maintenance requirements for key components so they can be corrected before expensive damage occurs. The efforts could result in a benefit of up to £50,000 per turbine, per year, according to the company.

Nordex  makes progress with its $100m facility

Wind turbine maker Nordex has started work on its $100 million manufacturing facility in Jonesboro, Arkansas. It will begin production in mid-2010. The first phase of construction has started at the 187-acre site in Craighead Technology Park. Nordex expects to produce up to 300 wind turbines a year by 2014 . It plans to locally employ close to 100 people by the end of 2010.

Floating wind turbine inaugurated

Norwegian company StatoilHydro has inaugurated its Hywind demonstration wind turbine. Located 10 kilometres offshore Karmøy, Hywind is the first full-scale floating wind turbine and has a capacity of 2.3 MW. The Hywind demonstration unit will operate for a period of at least two years.