Green Energy News | January 14, 2001

January 14, 2001 – Vol.5 No.42

ENERGIES... week of January 14, 2001

WEAPONS TO WIND POWER. Following last week’s announcement of a new major wind power project comes possibility of yet another large wind project in the American west. This time the state of Nevada could be host to a 260 megawatt facility to be built by M&N Windpower and Siemens Energy and Automation. To be constructed in stages, the first 85 megawatts could be online in 2002, the remainder by 2004. The project will go ahead, if financing is worked out, power purchases are made and the all-important tax credits for renewable energy are extended beyond 2001. A guess is tax credits will survive given the current energy crisis in California. Customers for the new power are expected to come from that neighboring state.

The 664 acre site 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas was formerly used for nuclear weapons testing. Siemens will design and construct the project. The 325 turbines are expected to come from NEG Micron, a shareholder in M&N which will operate and maintain the project once built.

HYBRID WIND. It’s no surprise to anyone that the wind doesn’t blow all the time at a particular location. No wind, no wind power generated, and electricity must come from elsewhere.

Acknowledging this situation, and also looking to meet the expected growing demand for electric power in the upper midwestern United States, Northern Alternative Energy, through its affiliate Navitas Energy and Xcel Energy, will build a $400 million 650 megawatt hybrid wind/ gas turbine power project in the states of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. The project includes 100 megawatts of wind power and 550 megawatts of natural-gas-fueled turbine power.

Five sites have been chosen, but lucky Minnesota will get all of the 100 megawatts of wind power and 250 of gas turbine. The gas turbines have the ability to kick in only at peak demand periods or when the wind isn’t blowing. Visit Navitas at http://www.windpower.com/ .

COMBUSTION WITHOUT EMISSIONS? Keep emissions from power plants 100 percent contained, and a major battle for the environment could be won.

ThermoEnergy Corporation has received patents on 27 claims related to its ThermoEnergy Integrated Power System (TIPS) process. According to the company TIPS changes the combustion process and tweaks the Rankine cycle (a process cycle used in steam power generation) to enable the capture of carbon dioxide as a liquid for sequestration or beneficial uses. TIPS would operate on variety of fuels - even cheap, low grade fuels - and still meet current and proposed U.S. emissions regulations. The company claims TIPS will eliminate emissions of acid gases, atmospheric particulates and Mercury. If proven, TIPS could be retrofitted to existing power plants or new plants could be built around the process. TIPS could also be used to make hydrogen for fuel cells.

ThermoEnergy is working with the U.S. Department of Energy and others to develop preliminary process configuration and schematics for a full sized TIPS power plant. A patent doesn’t guarantee the success of a process, only that it is unique. Visit ThermoEnergy at http://www.thermoenergy.com/ .