World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

August 15, 2004 – Vol.9 No.21

WORLD WIND WATCH.

Even on the calmest days there always seems to be a breeze on the streets of a city – and it isn’t just from passing cars. Light breezes funneled around and over the tops of buildings are compressed to accelerate to higher velocities.

Why not take advantage of this phenomenon to generate power? McKenzie Bay is attempting to do just that as well as take advantage of tall buildings in cities. Wind is usually stronger at altitude than at the surface.

The Michigan based-company has eight contracts to evaluate wind resources that could lead to more than 600 DERMOND wind turbine installations both on the surface and the rooftops of buildings.

The latest wind resources study will be for the feasibility of mounting a 200-kilowatt turbine atop the Savoy Condominium in Toronto, Canada. The Windstor (sm) system if installed on the roof of the 210 unit, 22-story building would include the turbine itself, an electricity management system and a battery energy storage system. Ownership of the system would remain in McKenzie Bay’s hands. Visit McKenzie Bay at http://www.mckenziebay.com/ .

Spain has new wind capacity target: Have 20,000 megawatts of wind capacity up and running by 2010. The increase from 13,000 megawatts of the previous target is an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the growing economy as well as reduce energy imports. The country now imports 80 percent of its consumed energy.

Spain, with an installed wind capacity of 6200 megawatts ranks third behind Germany and the U.S.