Big Wind Power Purchases Competitive with Natural Gas

• Xcel Energy increased its ownership of installed wind capacity from 325 MW to 675 MW at the end of 2015 by acquiring the 150 MW Border Wind Farm in North Dakota and bringing online its 200 MW Pleasant Valley Wind Farm in Minnesota.
• This doubling of its wind generation moved Xcel closer to its goal of getting 35% of its power for its Upper Midwest customers by 2030 from wind and, in these cases, it came at a price that is "competitive with new natural gas generation," according to Regional President Chris Clark.

[Utility Dive]

Wind Power Cheaper than Natural Gas

• Wind energy's current 20-year power purchase agreement price of $25/MWh beats the projected average of $32/MWh price for natural gas over the same time period, according to Xcel Energy CEO Ben Fowke.
• Fowke said Xcel does not expect natural gas, presently at an historic low of below $2.50 per MMBTU, to remain at that price indefinitely. The utility plans to invest in 1,600 MW of new wind capacity over the next 15 years as a hedge against natural gas price volatility, Fowke said.
• On Oct. 2, Xcel set a single-day record for wind energy electricity generation on its Colorado grid by supplying an average of 54% of its customers' electricity over the course of the entire day.

Xcel set a one-day wind energy generation record early this month. On Oct. 2, more than half of Xcel's system's electricity was generated by wind power for almost every hour. The utility also set a new one-hour record for wind energy output that day with 2,352 MWh, outpacing the record reached in 2014 of 2,203 MWh.

The utility's move to increase its wind capacity 20% by the end of 2016 aligns with a goal to cut 60% of its emissions by 2030.

In setting the one-day wind energy generation record, over 50% of the Xcel system's electricity was generated by wind power every hour of the day except the last one, during which it met 49% of load. 

The utility is planning to use wind to replace coal plants being retired to meet EPA pollution regulations. Xcel's plan bucks the trend being set by other U.S. utilities moving to natural gas to meet EPA regulations.

[Utility Dive]

Solar and Wind Just Passed Another Turning Point

Bloomberg Business: It has never made less sense to build fossil fuel power plants

Wind power is now the cheapest electricity to produce in both Germany and the U.K., even without government subsidies, according to a new analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

But that's less interesting than what just happened in the U.S. 

One of the major strengths of fossil fuel power plants is that they can command very high and predictable capacity factors. The average U.S. natural gas plant, for example, might produce about 70 percent of its potential (falling short of 100 percent because of seasonal demand and maintenance). But that's what's changing, and it's a big deal. 

For the first time, widespread adoption of renewables is effectively lowering the capacity factor for fossil fuels. That's because once a solar or wind project is built, the marginal cost of the electricity it produces is pretty much zero—free electricity—while coal and gas plants require more fuel for every new watt produced. If you're a power company with a choice, [or a regulator in California,] you choose the free stuff every time. 

It's a self-reinforcing cycle. As more renewables are installed, coal and natural gas plants are used less. As coal and gas are used less, the cost of using them to generate electricity goes up. As the cost of coal and gas power rises, more renewables will be installed. 

"Renewables are really becoming cost-competitive, and they're competing more directly with fossil fuels," said BNEF analyst Luke Mills. "We're seeing the utilization rate of fossil fuels wear away." 

The shift illustrates a serious new risk for power companies planning to invest in coal or natural-gas plants. Historically, a high capacity factor has been a fixed input in the cost calculation. But now anyone contemplating a billion-dollar power plant with an anticipated lifespan of decades must consider the possibility that as time goes on, the plant will be used less than when its doors first open. 

"...onshore wind and solar PV are both now much more competitive against the established generation technologies than would have seemed possible only five or 10 years ago," said Luke Mills, analyst at BNEF.  

[Bloomberg New Energy Finance]

Wind Prices hit all time low

The U.S. continues to be a global leader in wind energy, ranking second in installed capacity in the world, according to two reports released today by the Department of Energy. 

Total installed wind power capacity in the United States now stands at 61 Gigawatts (GW), which meets nearly 4.5% of electricity demand in an average year. 

The cost of wind energy in the U.S. is at an all-time low of 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy, and utility companies are in some cases electing to use wind as an energy source over fossil fuels because of its low cost.

Wind energy booming in the Midwest

"It's an economic boom for the county the likes of which we've never seen before," said Rodd Holtkamp, a Primghar banker and member of the county economic development board. 

There currently are no commercial wind turbines in O'Brien County, Iowa, but that's about to change in a big way.

MidAmerican Energy Co. broke ground in November on a 500 megawatt wind farm, the largest single site in Iowa history. It calls for 218 wind turbines spread out over 70,000 acres near the O'Brien County seat of Primghar.

Dubbed the Highland Wind Energy project, it’s part of a $1.9 billion expansion of Iowa's wind generating capacity that the Des Moines utility announced last year.

The foundation work for the Highland turbines started last fall and should be done by the end of the year, with the turbines and the more than 650 blades set to go up by the end of 2015, MidAmerican spokeswoman Tina Potthoff said.

MidAmerican, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, also is scheduled to begin work late this year on a high-voltage overhead transmission line that will start in northern O'Brien County, near Sanborn, and head east along the Highway 18 corridor into neighboring Clay County. The line is among several so-called “multi-value projects,” or MVPs, designed to alleviate congestion on the region's electric grid and provide a better route for sending Iowa and Minnesota wind power to the east.

Potthoff said the MVP 3 line will serve as a secondary line for the O'Brien County wind farm, which initially will connect to an existing line running diagonally through the county. Construction of a substation for the MVP line is scheduled to begin this year.

Another major high-voltage transmission line, called the Rock Island Clean Line, also is slated to start in O'Brien, just southeast of Sanborn. The 500-mile line will export 3,500 megawatts of wind-generated electricity -- three times more energy than the Hoover Dam -- from Northwest Iowa and bordering states to power-hungry customers in metro Chicago and other large cities to the east.

The developer, Houston-based Clean Line Energy, is awaiting approval from regulators in Iowa and Illinois before going ahead with the direct current line. The company estimates the line to be in service in 2017 following about two years of construction that would begin as early as next year in O'Brien.

Clean Line projects the $2 billion project will create 2,000 construction jobs and 500 permanent jobs, as well as spur development of 1,000 to 2,000 wind turbines within a 100-mile radius of the county.

At least three other companies are looking to develop wind-related projects in O'Brien but are not as far along in the process as Clean Line and MidAmerican, County Economic Development Director Kiana Johnson said.

California-based Eurus Energy has secured easements from landowners between Highways 60 and 59 for a wind farm called Hawkeye Point. The development is still in the planning stages, said Rich Crawford, a consultant working on the project.

Chicago-based Invenergy LLC, which developed the Highland Wind project and then sold it to MidAmerican last year, is working on a second project at a yet-to-be announced site in O'Brien County, Johnson said.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy, the nation's largest electric power utility, in a joint venture with American Transmission Co., is developing transmission lines to move wind-generated power more easily. One route is slated to run through far eastern O'Brien, with construction starting as early as 2016, Johnson said.

THOUSANDS OF WORKERS MAY BE NEEDED

More than a decade ago, wind energy developers started scouting potential sites in O'Brien, which lies on the southern tip of the Buffalo Ridge, an ancient glacial formation stretching into southwest Minnesota that's known for its consistent strong winds. But the early initiatives stalled because of the bottleneck in the region's electric grid, Johnson said.

"That was the holdup all these years. There was nowhere to go if they did build it," she said.

Under the current schedules, construction on the Rock Island Clean Line and the MidAmerican line and wind farm would overlap beginning in 2015. At the peak, hundreds, if not thousands, of construction workers could be on site.

Skilled laborers from around the country are expected to flock to the rural county of around 14,000 to fill the temporary jobs.

"We are trying to prepare, but we really don't know what all to expect," Johnson said. "Housing will definitely be an issue for everybody. It will greatly impact all of Northwest Iowa, not just O'Brien County."

With the Highland project underway, the few hotels in the county already are starting to fill up. Some local residents are renting rooms in their homes to out-of-town workers. Others laborers are commuting daily to O'Brien County from larger cities such as Sioux City and Sioux Falls.

The workers are expected to spend money on everything from lodging and meals to fuel and clothing, giving local merchants a healthy boost in sales.

"The trickle-down of those dollars going through the community time and time again is just going to be amazing," said Holtkamp, executive vice president at Primghar Savings Bank.

The economic benefits would extend well beyond O'Brien. Clean Lean, for example, recently agreed to buy $200 million worth of utility poles from Sabre Industries, contributing to job growth at Sabre's factory in Sioux City.

When up and running, the wind farms and transmission lines are projected to create hundreds of permanent jobs in the region, mostly in sectors that would support and service the new wind farms, such as makers of towers, blades and other turbine components.

Clean Line anticipates hiring a handful of full-time workers to maintain a  station that would convert the wind power from AC to DC before sending it on the transmission line. The convertor station would be built at a cost of $250 million to $300 million, said Beth Conley, manager of the Rock Island Clean Line.

SOME OPPOSE PLANS

The slew of wind-related infrastructure also would generate millions of dollars in additional property taxes for local governments, as well as produce a new cash crop for local farmers like Haack, who has granted MidAmerican easements for two wind turbines on one of his farms.

Haack said he would collect annual payments of around $9,000 for each turbine and a service road.

The Rock Island Clean Line is offering to compensate owners for the value of their land, plus an additional structure payment, based on the number and type of poles or towers. Owners have a choice of a one-time payment or an annual upfront payment. For two poles and a half-mile-long, 145-foot-wide right of way, an owner would collect a one-time payment of about $100,000, Conley said. 

Farmers retain ownership and the right to till the land under both the lines and turbines.

Haack heads a newly formed landowners association that backs all the wind projects and offers legal assistance to guide dues-paying members through the negotiations with developers looking to build in the county.

A smaller vocal group of landowners is opposed to the Rock Island Clean Line. Critics fear Iowa's eminent domain law for utilities would allow Clean Line to force a sale and easement even if the landowners aren’t willing to sell.

But fifth-generation O'Brien County farmer Jay Hofland said he strongly supports the transmission line, which would pass less than a half-mile from his rural home. Hofland said the lofty job prospects helped convince him to option farmland for the Clean Line convertor station near Sanborn.

"We do not do a very good job of keeping our young people around here, Hofland said. "I'm hoping that through this economic development my sons or some other young people in the community can stick around and gain from these jobs."

Hofland said the county has the potential to generate far more wind power than its own residents would ever use.

"As a farmer, I sell hogs, cattle and corn and soybeans," he said. "We export all of those things. I'm strongly behind exporting some wind energy out of this area. It's another energy stream and it's a good opportunity." [Sioux City Journal]

Facebook Running with the Wind

Facebook announced that its newest data center in Altoona, Iowa will be 100 percent powered by wind power when it goes online in 2015.

The electricity for the new data center will come from a nearby wind project in Wellsburg, Iowa, according to a blog post from Facebook. 

"When Facebook announced that they were going to Iowa, the utility company in Iowa, MidAmerican Energy, announced that they were shelving plans to build a new nuclear facility and then filed plans to build a wind plant instead," said Greenpeace IT analyst Gary Cook.

"The project will add up to 138 MW of new renewable wind capacity to the grid in Iowa – more than what our data center is likely to require for the foreseeable future," the Facebook blog says.

Scituate goes 100% renewable

With the inauguration of a 3 MW solar power station, Scituate became the first town in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to generate 100 percent of its power from alternative energy sources.

The project was developed by Gehrlicher Solar America, which earlier in 2013 opened a regional office in Boston to support its expanding New England market. Until now, the company has completed 16 MW of projects in the State and has an additional 62 MW in the pipeline.

The Scituate project was developed in partnership with Main Street Power Company, an owner and operator of solar assets, MS Solar Solutions, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, project developers Syncarpha Capital and Brightfields Development, along with Scituate's local government.

"The Town is very pleased to have this important project underway, and we look forward to the financial, educational and environmental benefits it brings to the residents of Scituate," said Shawn Harris, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen for the Town of Scituate, which is also home to a 1.5 MW wind turbine project commissioned in March 2012.

GE Wind Turbine (batteries included)

The next generation of wind turbines from GE comes with batteries included - to store energy when it isn't needed and provide energy when the wind stops or slows. [Climate Progress]

Wind Turbines survive EF-5 Tornado

Here is another reason to like wind power. 

This news report says that 2 wind turbines took a direct hit from 295 mph winds during the most recent EF-5 tornado and survived without any damage. 

Wind power lowers costs and greenhouse gas emissions

New report finds that wind energy in the mid-Atlantic region will lower electricity prices, save ratepayer's $6.9 billion dollars, and lower greenhouse gas emissions to help fight climate change by 14%.

Adding more wind power to the grid in the PJM region can lower gas and coal consumption and reduce regional wholesale energy market prices, saving nearly $7 billion per year in the mid-2020s, according to a new study conducted by Synapse Energy Economics on behalf of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG). The report found that doubling the wind generation already planned in the region would lower fuel costs and drive down prices by $1.74 per megawatt hour (MWh) in the largest wholesale competitive energy market in the world, PJM, which includes all or parts of 13 states and Washington, D.C. The savings also extend into the regions interconnected with PJM.

http://cleanenergytransmission.org/library/detail.php?id=178

Wind Power surpasses Nuclear in China

According to new statistics from the China Electricity Council, China's wind power production actually increased more than coal power production for the first time ever in 2012.

Thermal power use, which is predominantly coal, grew by only about 0.3 percent in China during 2012, an addition of roughly 12 terawatt hours (TWh) more electricity. In contrast, wind power production expanded by about 26 TWh. This rapid expansion brings the total amount of wind power production in China to 100 TWh, surpassing China's 98 TWh of nuclear power. The biggest increase, however, occurred in hydro power, where output grew by 196 TWh, bringing total hydro production to 864 TWh, due favorable conditions for hydro last year and increased hydro capacity. [Climate Progress]

Wind Power - Largest Electricity Supplier in Spain

Over the last three months wind farms produced more electricity than any other power source in Spain. 

Wind generation for January 2013 totaled 6.214 terawatt-hours, representing 27.7% of Spain's total power output, according to Red Electrica's website. That puts it ahead of nuclear and coal-fired electricity, the figures show.

Wind has accounted for more power than any other energy source for the last three months, a first for any quarter, the wind association said. Renewable energy, including solar and hydro power, accounted for 44.1% of all electricity generated during the quarter. 

Renewable energy accounted for 33% of all electricity generated in Spain over the last 12 months. 

[Bloomberg]

[Business Green]

[RED ELÉCTRICA DE ESPAÑA]

Texas Wind and Solar highly competitive with natural gas

Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has found that if you use updated wind and solar power characteristics like cost and actual output to reflect real world conditions, rather than the previously used 2006 assumed characteristics, wind and solar are more competitive than natural gas over the next 20 years.  

Every two years ERCOT uses a series of complex energy system models to model and estimate future conditions on the Texas electric grid.  This serves a critical function for legislators, utilities and regulators who need to prepare for changes as our electric use continues to expand and evolve.  This year ERCOT dug a little deeper into their historical assumptions and developed a version of the model that used current, real-world cost and performance data for wind and solar power.

What they found was astounding: without these real-world data points, ERCOT determined that 20,000 MW of natural gas will be built over the next 20 years, along with a little bit of demand response and nothing else.  Once they updated their assumptions to reflect a real-world scenario (which they call "BAU with Updated Wind Shapes") ERCOT found that about 17,000 MWs of wind units, along with 10,000 MW of solar power, will be built in future years.

These results show two drastically different futures: one in which we rely overwhelmingly on natural gas for our electricity, and one in which we have a diverse portfolio of comparable amounts of renewable energy (which does not use water) and natural gas. [Climate Progress] [Long Term System Assessment for the ERCOT Region - December 2012]

Motorola qualifies for WindMade label

Smartphone manufacturer Motorola Mobility has become the latest high-profile brand to obtain the WindMade certification label, confirming that its operations in the US source two-thirds of their electricity from wind farms.

The Google-owned company announced today that it has qualified for the international label, which requires organizations to source at least a quarter of their power from wind energy.

"Our reliance on wind power underscores our company-wide commitment to obtaining energy from clean and renewable sources and supports our energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals," said Bill Olson, sustainability director for Motorola Mobility.

The label will also help further cement parent company Google's reputation as one of the leading green energy investors in the US, which has seen the IT giant spend just shy of $1bn on renewable energy projects in recent years. [Business Green]

Scotland pledges to decarbonize power sector by 2030

Ed Miliband and the shadow Scottish secretary, Margaret Curran, 
with chief executive of Scottish Power Renewables, Keith Anderson. 
Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

The Scottish Government has unveiled plans to decarbonise its energy sector by 2030 and boost the offshore wind energy supply chain, as it also prepares to update its climate change strategy.

First Minister Alex Salmond confirmed that Scotland would aim to cut emissions from the electricity sector from 347 grams of CO2 per kWh in 2010, to 50g CO2/kWh by 2030, as recommended by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).

Recent figures showed Scotland has the best emissions reductions in Western Europe, ahead of Germany, Denmark and England, and is more than halfway to meeting a 2020 goal of reducing emissions 42 per cent against a 1990 base line.

The Scottish Government has backed calls for a UK-wide power sector decarbonisation target for 2030. [Business Green]

Wind Power - Renewed

In the last-minute tax maneuvering in Congress, wind power came out well.

Wind not only got an extension of its tax credit in the federal budget compromise, but the rules were also restructured: while the extension runs for only one year, the nature of the deadline has changed. Projects do not need to be finished and feeding electricity to the grid by next New Year's Eve; construction only needs to be started.

That change could prove critical. The renewal comes so late — developers had lobbied all last year to avert a Dec. 31 expiration — that most wind developers had simply stopped work on projects that could not be finished by the end of 2012.

The process of getting a wind farm going, including studying the wind resource, negotiating a land lease or purchase, obtaining environmental and construction permits, signing a contract to sell the electricity to a utility, getting financing, ordering the equipment and then installing it, can easily take more than two years.

A Senate aide who was involved in the run-up to the yearlong extension by Congress said that approval on New Year's Day could have been "like inviting somebody who is halfway around the world to lunch in an hour.''

When the numbers for 2012 are in, the wind industry expects it to have been a record year, surpassing the 10 gigawatts installed in 2010; the total in 2012 may have reached 12 gigawatts. Construction could resume at roughly the same pace. [NY Times]

Solar, Wind, Soot and Trash

RFK Jr. says we should put solar panels on every roof we rebuild after Hurricane Sandy - NY Times op-ed - http://nyti.ms/TXKXEi 

Federal government attempts to kick-start the offshore wind industry by awarding $28M in grants for 7 wind projects - http://nyti.ms/UYCrWl

EPA sets tighter soot rules to lower particle emissions linked to thousands of cases of disease and death each year.  http://   nyti.ms/UYCCB3

Just in time for the holidays, a new documentary about the ultimate fate of just about everything we lug home from the mall opens on Friday in limited release in the United States. "Trashed," directed by Candida Brady and starring Jeremy Irons, delves into the less festive side of consumerism and waste disposal. Here's the film's trailer. http://youtu.be/7UM73CEvwMY

The Future of Wind Energy

The Wind Production Tax Credit (PTC), which expires at the end of the year, has been an unparalleled success since it was enacted in 1992. In addition to helping lower the cost of wind energy by 90% and power the equivalent of 12 million homes, the PTC supports 75,000 wind jobs and helps raise $20 billion in private investment in wind energy each year.

Yet thanks to massive opposition raised by the Koch brothers and other polluters, we could be weeks away from losing one of the most successful programs to promote wind energy in the U.S., and tens of thousands of the jobs that have come with it. Not only that, but wind energy can lower our electricity bills. 

In an analysis filed with the state of Massachusetts, NStar estimated it could buy energy from three land-based wind projects at prices below the anticipated market cost for conventionally generated electricity, saving a total of $111 million over the life of the contracts. 

Much of that is in jeopardy if Congress fails to act. Tell Congress: Renew the Wind Production Tax Credit. 


Click here to sign a petition to renew the Wind Production Tax Credit. 
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/wptc/?r_by=50626-3366846-Qy0piHx&rc=confemail 

50,000 Megawatts of Wind Power!

According to a report published on October 17 by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), 2012 has been a record year for the development of wind power within the United States. The U.S. wind industry has surpassed 50,000 megawatts of electrical power generation capacity, with a total of 4,728 megawatts added this year alone and another 8,430 megawatts in active development throughout 29 states and Puerto Rico.

According to the AWEA, the PTC is responsible for generating more than $15 billion of private investment in U.S. wind farms every year – an incentive that is set to expire on December 31 of this year if it's not extended by Congress. 

"Whether wind will continue to be a bright spot in the U.S. economy now depends on whether Congress acts to extend the Production Tax Credit by the end of the year," said Denise Bode, CEO of AWEA, in an official press release. 

Wind Energy News

Three months before a tax credit is due to expire, officials in Oregon will cut the ribbon on what some say is the largest onshore wind farm in the United States. [NY Times]

Meanwhile US wind manufacturers have announced layoffs of more than 1,130 workers around the country. Every company shedding employees has blamed the looming expiration of the production tax credit for wind, which is set to expire at the end of this year. 

Earlier this month, 47 House Republicans sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (who's home state supports more than 5,000 wind jobs) asking him to kill the production tax credit for wind. Out of the 47 Republicans calling for an end to the wind investments, 46 voted against closing tax loopholes that let oil companies collect $4 billion in annual government support. [ThinkProgress]