Signal Energy • Wind | Solar
NEWS Signal Energy designs and builds record-breaking wind project in Texas
Friday, February 06, 2009
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Signal Wind Energy, LLC announced today that the Snyder Wind Farm in Scurry County, Texas is operating with 21 Vestas V90 3.0 megawatt wind turbines atop 105-meter towers. Signal Wind was the design/build balance of plant general contractor on the project, which has the tallest utility-scale wind turbines in the United States.
U.S. Wind Industry Sees Record
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has announced its year-end results for the wind industry, and it’s an exciting picture: A record 8,358 megawatts of new capacity were installed in 2008, expanding the nation’s wind power generating capacity 50 percent in a single calendar year.
The fourth quarter alone saw 4,112 megawatts of new wind added — a figure that exceeds the annual additions for every other year except 2007.
“The U.S. wind energy industry’s performance in 2008 confirms that wind is an economic and job creation dynamo, ready to deliver on the President’s call to double renewable energy production in three years,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode.
Tax Incentives Assistance Project
(en Español)
On-Site Renewables Tax Incentives Solar Energy Systems – Small Wind Systems – Geothermal Heat Pumps Solar Energy Systems What are the tax incentives for solar systems?
Businesses are eligible for tax credits for qualified solar water heating and photovoltaic systems, and for certain solar lighting systems. Qualifying equipment will either use solar energy to generate electricity, to heat/cool or provide hot water to a structure, or will use solar energy to illuminate the inside of a building by means of fiber-optic distributed sunlight (tube systems and passive solar are not eligible). The credits are available for systems “placed in service” between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2016.
Homeowners are eligible for tax credits for qualified solar water heating and photovoltaic systems. Solar water heating systems produce hot water, photovoltaic systems produce electricity (including solar fans). The credits are available for systems “placed in service” at any dwelling unit, not necessarily the primary residence, between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2016.
Competition to Produce Mega Turbine (UK) >> Offshore Wind
The competition to build a new generation of mega turbines is heating up. Last November, British-led efforts to build a radically designed giant offshore wind turbine with a 275m wingspan were given a shot across the bows when a group of Spanish companies announced they were starting work on an even larger and more powerful turbine.
At stake is dominance of the nascent offshore wind sector as it steps up to the sort of scale that will enable it to compete with gigawatt-sized coal, gas and nuclear power stations.
Most of today’s large wind turbines are now more than 100m tall and generate about 3MW, meaning more than 300 or even up to a thousand such turbines are needed to match the output of a conventional power plant. By contrast, just one of the British 10MW “Aerogenerator” turbines being developed by designers and engineers, including Arup and Rolls Royce, could power 5,000-10,000 homes.
Affordable Wind Power For Homeowners
Renewable Energy…Affordable Solar and Wind Energy
Author: Avery Mann
Sun and Wind Are the Sensible Alternative Power Source
(SRE) Sempra Energy, BP in Wind Energy Joint Venture
A subsidiary of Sempra Energy (SRE) recently became an equal partner of a BP Plc. (BP) unit for developing a 200MW Fowler Ridge II Wind Farm in Benton County, Indiana.
The Fowler Ridge joint venture is currently under construction on a 17,000-acre site, about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis and is expected to be operational in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The 200MW facility will produce enough electricity for nearly 60,000 homes.
The project’s entire power output has already been sold under four, long-term 50-MW contracts. Three of these deals were signed with units of American Electric Power (AEP) and one with Vectren Energy Delivery (VVC) of Indiana for 20-year terms each. The project will use 133 wind turbines, each with the ability to generate 1.5 MW.
Wind Turbine Power Energy Casares Spain Europe
Wind Turbine Power Energy Casares Spain Europe A common form of power generation in Spain and throughout Europe is wind turbine power – a natural resource found in abundance particularly along the extensive coast and mountainous areas of Spain such as near the town of Casares.
As an important move towards Spain’s renewable-energy revolution, wind power has been endorsed by the government of Spain and now produces around 10% of the power requirements of Spain.
Taking advantage of the particularly gusty winds of the scenic hills and valleys near the town of Casares, is a field of wind turbines constantly humming and rotating to the rhythm of the wind.
Equity Preview
The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in Germany. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from the previous close.
DAX Index futures expiring in June lost 1.1 percent to 6,092.50 as of 8:16 a.m. in Frankfurt. The DAX climbed 1.5 percent to 6,155.93 yesterday.
Air Berlin Plc (AB1 GY): The airline posted a first-quarter net loss of 93.6 million euros ($114 million) compared with a net loss of 88.4 million euros a year earlier. The shares fell 0.5 percent to 3.52 euros.
Energy Dept. says wind power could be savior
The Golden State was a wind-power pioneer – it has some of the world’s first large-scale wind farms on the Altamont Pass and in the Southern California desert – and already derives about 1.8 percent of its power from the wind. New wind farms are planned for the Tehachapi Mountains and the Mojave Desert. If the nation experiences a wind-power boom, California is likely to see more.
Wind farms produce electricity without spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. They are one of several renewable energy sources that California officials hope will help slow global warming, by reducing the number of fossil-fuel power plants the state must build.
CANADIAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION
Court upholds current regulations for wind turbine setbacks
Ontario Divisional Court dismisses claim government ignoredits own Statement of Environmental Values (SEV) in developing setback regulation
OTTAWA, March 3 /CNW/ – The wind energy industry in Ontario is pleased with today’s Ontario Divisional Court decision to uphold the current regulations for wind turbine setbacks. The application by Ontario resident Ian Hanna suggested, among other things, that the government did not adhere to their own Statement of Environmental Values (SEV) in developing a setback of 550 metres for the siting of wind turbines. The Court ruled that set-back distances were established through an extensive public consultation process which considered the views of a wide range of stakeholders and that the Minister did consider the SEV.