World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

December 12, 2004 – Vol.9 No.38

WORLD WIND WATCH.

When Vestas bought NEG-Micon it also inherited that company’s proprietary wood/carbon fiber blade technology. Up to thirty percent lighter than traditional fiber glass reinforced polyester blades, the wood/epoxy/carbon fiber technology allows for longer slender blades that can begin turning at lower wind speeds.

Vestas is using the inherited composite technology in its developmental V-120 4.5 megawatt offshore turbine.

The company must have high hopes for the wood/carbon technology as it has agreed to purchase considerable quantities of carbon fiber products from Zoltek Companies during the next three years. Zoltek believes the supply agreement could be worth $80-100 million.

The deal, which Zoltek claims is its largest ever, will provide Vestas with Panex 35 fiber that has been approved and certified for use in producing rotor blades.

Vestas may also be in some financial hot water. Reuters news agency has reported that Vestas is running short on cash and may seek an additional stock offering to raise capitol to allow the company to move some of its production from Denmark to the U.S. or China. The lowered value of the dollar makes U.S. exports much less expensive, particularly in Europe. Vestas turbines built in the U.S. would be cheaper than those built in Denmark.

Despite the reinstatement of the production tax credit (PTC), Vestas hasn’t been particularly successful at obtaining new contracts in the U.S. GE Energy, which makes some wind turbines here, has picked up the lion’s share of new orders.

Visit Zoltek at http://www.zoltek.com/ , Vestas at http://www.vestas.com/ .

Alliant Energy has announced it will add 50-100 megawatts of new wind capacity to its Forward Wind Energy Center near Brownsville, Wisconsin. The expansion of the facility will be complete by the end of 2005 to take advantage of the PTC, which unless renewed by Congress and signed into law, will expire at the end of next year.

The new capacity will bring the wind energy component of Alliant’s energy portfolio to about 450 megawatts. Alliant's renewable energy portfolio now stands at 580 megawatts, about 10 percent of its total generating capacity. Visit Alliant at http://www.alliantenergy.com/ .

The Empire District Electric Company of Joplin, Missouri has signed a 20-year contract with PPM Energy to buy the electric output of the 150-megawatt Elk River Windfarm in Butler County, Kansas.

Output from Elk River is expected to be about 10-percent of Empire’s total energy resources. Wind-generated power is expected to begin flowing in about a year.

Kansas, being in the wind-swept plains of the U.S., is ripe for wind power development. Visit Empire at http://www.empiredistrict.com/

Britain’s second large offshore wind farm is now online.

The 30 turbines of Scroby Sands, off the beach at Great Yarmouth, with a combined capacity of 60 megawatts, brings the U.K.’s total offshore wind capacity to 124 megawatts, second in the world in offshore wind. (Denmark is first.)

The next offshore windfarm nearing completion is the 90-megawatt Kentish Flats project . On and offshore wind capacity now under construction in the U.K. is about 600 megawatts. All of those projects are expected to be complete in 2005, including Kentish Flats.

For more information about the wind projects in the U.K. visit the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) at http://www.bwea.org/