Wind Farms

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27.7.10

Google blows

Google has signed up to a 20 year partnership with a wind farm  in Iowa, United States The energy produced will give Google enough power to maintain several of their data centers.
Google’s senior vice president for operations, Urs Hoelzle said: “This is a case where buying green makes business sense. By contracting to purchase so much energy for so long, we’re giving the developer of the wind farm financial certainty to build additional clean energy projects.”
This deal will be the first by Google Energy LLC, which was established last December to acquire large volumes of renewable energy by participating in the wholesale market. Google will start buying 114MW of energy directly from the wind farm on 30 July this year. The remaining 36MW from Story II are currently being sold to the city of Ames in Iowa.
In an official statement they explained
" In this case, we’re buying renewable energy directly from its source – the wind farm. We cannot use this energy directly, so we’re reselling it back to the grid in the regional spot market – but retiring the RECs associated with the power. By obtaining RECs through the purchase of green power, our deal has a greater impact on the renewable industry than simply buying “naked” RECs from third parties; our long-term commitment directly frees up capital for the developer to build more wind projects.
While we are happy to be purchasing renewable energy as part of our environmental commitment, this is also a structure that makes long term financial sense for Google. Through the long term purchase of renewable energy at a predetermined price, we’re partially protecting ourselves against future increases in power prices. This is a case where buying green makes business sense."
This step is consistent with strong environmental position of Google, with a special emphasis on energy and wind power. In May, they made the first direct investment in electricity generation with an investment  of $ 38.8m (£ 25.5m) for two wind projects in North Dakota, which use advanced turbine technology.
Rick Needham, green business operations manager at Google, acknowledged that the investment marked something of a shift in the company's green investment strategy after its earlier funding for a number of high-profile renewable energy start-ups.
"We have been dedicating resources to developing new technologies, including making investments in early-stage renewable energy companies such as eSolar and AltaRock," he said. "Smart capital includes not only these early-stage company investments, but also dedicated funding for utility-scale projects. To tackle this need, we’ve been looking at investments in renewable energy projects, like the one we just signed, that can accelerate the deployment of the latest clean energy technology while providing attractive returns to Google and more capital for developers to build additional projects."
Google's stakes in the wind farms are in the form of tax equity investments, in which investors take over a project and use federal tax credits granted to the project to offset their own taxes as a return.
There has been speculation for some time that Google will ultimately invest directly in large-scale renewable energy projects. The company's datacentres are among the largest consumers of electricity in the corporate world and the company has long maintained that it is in their economic interest to ensure the supply of renewable energy.

26.7.10

No Wind Turbines for Bodmin Moor Coastline

Cornwall councillors have voted overwhelmingly to scrap a  scheme by Community Windpower to erect 20, 413ft-high turbines at Davidstow.
Cornwall Council's east sub-area planning committee rejected the proposals last year, but  the decision was reversed by the strategic planning committee last October. subject to certain criteria being met relating to safeguarding local bird life and concerns over interference with air traffic control systems.  However, a report prepared for councillors said "neither the communications issue nor the bird issue have been resolved in any satisfactory way".
Loacal people were adamant and vociferous in their opposition to the scheme due to it's proximity to the Bodmin Moor Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the North Cornwall Coast AONB and Heritage Coast.
Ted Venn, of the Cornish branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), welcomed the decision. "If this had been built there would have been 61 turbines to the north of Bodmin Moor and that is what people were objecting to."
Source - This is Cornwall

15.7.10

Offshore Wind Developments are Good For Marine Life

A comprehensive report has found that offshore wind developments are not necessarily bad for fish and other marine life, In fact, they may be beneficial. The most risk is at the early stages of construction, when special care needs to be taken not to disrupt spawning grounds. This is usually a question of sensitive timing, and any disruption is generally temporary. The benefits come from trawling exclusion and planned habitat enhancement.
Source : http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2010-014.pdf

12.7.10

£10 million in grants to develop offshore wind technology

The Department of Energy and Climate Change. has announced £10 million will be given in grants to develop offshore wind technology
£5 million  will be awarded to 7 UK companies and aim to increase the UK supply chain for offshore wind.
A spokesperson for Converteam , one of the 7 companies , who will receive £1,000,000 said:
"I am pleased at the announcement of DECC’s support to Converteam, the UK's largest exporter to the Wind Industry, in building a full scale test and technology demonstration stand for game changing British wind power generation technology, at their Northern European Headquarters in Rugby, Warwickshire. In a four stage programme, Converteam will take their 'DC Architecture' through rigorous factory, onshore and offshore tests, to be proven in time for the start of The Crown Estate Round Three deployment phase.
For a given investment, by producing and delivering more electricity, this targets the electrical components of making offshore wind power cost competitive with onshore wind"
The Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust said of the 7 companies that have been awarded grants
"These businesses are great examples of an emerging supply chain which is set to grow into a world leader if it continues to get the right support to continue to develop novel technology solutions to grasp the sizeable opportunities in this emerging sector.”
Source Wind Power Generation News from the Carbon Trust and decc.gov.uk

9.7.10

Isle of Lewis residents object to Norwegian proposals

Two offshore wind farms have been proposed for the Isle of Lewis by Norwegian state-owned oil firm Statoil. 
One would  be situated just off the Point area near Stornoway, and  the other between Ness and Cape Wrath.
However, local people have already expressed opposition saying the development will be too big and will spoil the view. Source: BBC News