World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

August 17, 2003 – Vol.8 No.21

WORLD WIND WATCH.

The tally is in. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) 1400-1600 megawatts of new wind energy capacity should be installed in the U.S. by the end of 2003. The newly installed turbines should bring the U.S. total to over 6000 megawatts - enough green energy to power 1.57 million average American homes.

The surge in wind installations this year has been encouraged by the looming expiration of the production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy, which may no longer be available to wind power producers after 2003 unless Congress acts. Fortunately, continuation seems likely as the Senate and House versions of an energy bill for the nation have identical 3-year extensions of the PTC. Visit the AWEA at http://www.awea.org/.

The state of Texas now has more than than 1000 megawatts of wind energy installed and is now the second largest producer of wind energy in the U.S. behind California. And, according to the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association, Texas could become the U.S. powerhouse for wind energy with 10,000 megawatts installed in 5-8 years.

Besides good wind resources in that vast state, additional wind capacity is being driven by a Texas mandate to build 2,000 megawatts of renewable capacity by the end of the decade. Utility companies operating in the state also must purchase Renewable Energy Certificates to partially offset the amount of conventional energy supplied to the grid. Visit the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association at http://www.treia.org/ .

Once a wind project gets underway - even offshore - construction proceeds rapidly. The sooner a project is online, the sooner the project begins paying for itself.

GE Wind Energy and Irish green utility Airtricity have announced that construction of the first phase of the Arklow Bank offshore project is now in full swing. Being built 10 kilometers off the coast of Ireland in the Irish Sea, the first phase will have seven GE WindEnergy 3.6 megawatt turbines to provide 25 megawatts of power to the Irish grid when complete in October of this year. Additional phases of the project, if approved, could bring the capacity to 520 megawatts.

Across the same waters as the Arklow project, the first of 30 2-megawatt Vestas turbines have been installed at the 60 megawatt North Hoyle offshore wind farm. North Hoyle is being built by National Wind Power and is expected to be complete by later this year. Visit GE WindEnergy at http://www.gewindenergy.com/ , Airtricity at http://www.airtricity.com/ and National Wind Power at http://www.natwindpower.co.uk/ .

Out of concern for diminishing fossil fuel reserves, Pakistan is planning to have 10 percent of its total energy needs supplied by alternative sources by 2015. The country’s Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has announced that its first grid-scale turbine has been installed near Karachi - a 1.2 megawatt turbine.

The AEDB expects the nation’s oil reserves to be depleted in 10 years, with natural gas gone in 20. Pakistan is also considering solar power to meet its alternative energy goal.