World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

September 19, 2004 – Vol.9 No.26

WORLD WIND WATCH.

Look out East Coast U.S.A., wind power is blowing in your direction.

Gamesa, the Spanish maker of utility-grade wind turbines, has opened development offices in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. The company, which already has wind projects underway in Illinois, Minnesota,Wisconsin, South Dakota and Iowa, has plans to build 600 megawatts of wind capacity in Pennsylvania.

The new office will give Gamesa easy access in the Mid-Atlantic region to states beyond Pennsylvania which have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) that require the construction of new renewable energy. New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland and Rhode Island have those mandates.

Gamesa will also begin building turbines next year in the U.S. Visit Gamesa at http://www.gamesa.es/ .

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has announced that it has signed a letter of intent to purchase the proposed 220-megawatt Wildhorse Wind Power Project from Zilkha Renewable Energy.

Wildhorse, to be built in Washington state’s Kittikas County, will have 100 to 133 turbines (depending on the capacity of the turbines chosen) spread out over 5000 acres.

With the letter of intent signed, but still waiting permits and approvals, Wildhorse could be completed in 2006. With the renewal of the production tax credit (PTC) for wind capacity installed in 2005, PSE might push to have the project completed next year instead of risking the possibility that Congress won’t extend the tax break into 2006. Visit PSE at http://www.pse.com/ and Zilkha at http://www.zilkha.com/

Magrath Wind Power Project, near the town of Magrath, Alberta, Canada is now connected to the electric grid. The 20 turbine, 30-megawatt capacity facility, owned by Suncor Energy, EHN Wind Power Canada and Enbridge, was built for CAD $48 million ($37 million). Magrath will receive CAD $9 million ($7 million) from the Canadian government’s Wind Power Production Incentive (WPPI) program over the next ten years. Visit Suncor at http://www.suncor.com/ .