Wind energy production nationwide increased by 1,649 megawatts during the third quarter, but you'd never know it by looking at wind installation in Iowa and Minnesota, the largest wind energy states in the Midwest. Both states recorded no gain in installed wind energy, although they have a total of seven wind projects under construction as the fourth quarter began.

As 37-mile-per-hour gusts blasted downtown Minneapolis on Thursday, hundreds of wind-energy executives were inside the Minneapolis Hilton, discussing the challenges their industry still faces. Chief among those challenges: weather-related down times and - perhaps more surprisingly - utilities unwilling to accept energy from wind farms because their high-voltage transmission lines can't accept any more power.

Across the Great Plains the wind blows incessantly, while in the remote Nevada desert the sun bears down without relief. Each holds the potential of a vast new energy resource. While wind turbine and solar projects are ready to capture this new, eco-friendly energy source, where are the transmission lines to get the power to where it is needed?

While the focus on renewable energy may be good for the environment and the local economy, the turbines themselves can be a traffic nightmare for those who must figure out how to move the massive parts across the country. Some also say they pose a safety risk. ...Lisa Linowes, executive director of the Industrial Wind Action Group, cited problems caused by large wind loads ..."Under the pressure to get construction done, corners get cut," Linowes said.

How big a deal is two cents? Well, it's a big deal if you're trying to produce wind energy. A federal production tax credit of 1.9 cents per kilowatt hour is set to expire at the end of the year. Wind energy producers generally expect lawmakers to renew the credit, but Congress has yet to act. With time running out, the wind power industry is scrambling. ...Xcel's Frank Prager said the end of the tax credit on December 31, is rippling through the wind industry. He said many U.S. companies are rushing to finish projects before the deadline.

Wind energy companies are hoping for quick action on a tax credit affecting their industry when congress resumes work later this month. The credit is set to expire at the end of this year. The organizer of a wind project in western Minnesota says that is creating uncertainty which could slow development of Minnesota's growing wind production. ...Most people in the wind industry expect Congress will act soon to extend the tax credit past the end of the year. Brent Olson of Big Stone Wind says that should happen in the next few months. If it does not happen, he and others will scramble to decide how that decision affects their corner of the wind energy world.

The largest wind turbine manufactured in the United States is running into some technical difficulty. Clipper Windpower Inc.'s 2.5-MW Liberty wind turbines at the 20-MW Steel Winds facility in Lackawanna, N.Y., are malfunctioning due to faulty gear sets. "At first, we were receiving great performance from the turbines," said Michael Alvarez, executive vice president and COO of UPC Wind Partners LLC, which co-owns the facility with BQ Energy LLC. "Over the summer, a gear-timing issue in the drive train's secondary stage was detected in some of Clipper Windpower's Liberty wind turbines at the Steel Winds site. The cause was found to be a supplier quality deficiency in the drive train attributable to the suppliers' manufacturing process. As part of Clipper's warranty, upgraded drive trains will be installed into all eight turbines at the Steel Winds site. Currently, two turbines are in operation."

The United States is expected to be home to an anticipated 49,000 MW of installed wind-power capacity by 2015, making it the world's largest wind-power producer, according to a recent report. Developers are expected to invest more than $65 billion between 2007 and 2015 in wind-power facilities, researchers say.

MILWAUKEE - Large turbines generating electricity in a radar line of sight can harm the ability of air defense radars to detect and track aircraft or other aerial objects, the U.S. Department of Defense said Thursday in a new study. The only way to make sure that U.S. forces can perform their air defense missions is to avoid putting the wind turbines in the line of sight of the radars, said the report submitted to the Senate and House Armed Services committees. Efforts have started to find other ways but they "require further development and validation" before they can be used, given that some turbines with rotating blades reach 500 feet high, the report said. "The numbers, height and rotation of these wind turbines present technical challenges to the effectiveness of radar systems that must be carefully evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ensure acceptable military readiness is maintained," the report said.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration has given the go-ahead to three Minnesota wind power projects after concluding they don't interfere with military radar.

A mix of federal and tax incentives, not to mention high fuel prices, are drawing local investors into the wind market. The federal government, for instance, offers a 1.9 cents-per-killowatt hour tax credit; in Minnesota, the state offers another1.5 cent credit. Small investors in Minnesota can negotiate with utility companies for further production credits. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, one or two turbines can generate profits of $100,000 per year, once the capital expenditures are paid off.

The typical Xcel Energy customer paid an extra 20 cents a month to the utility company for wind power the company paid for but couldn't transmit from wind farms from February 2004 to May 2005, the state Commerce Department said.

In late February 2009 the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) received a request from the Office of Energy Security (OES) in the Minnesota Department of Commerce, for a “white paper” evaluating possible health effects associated with low frequency vibrations and sound arising from large wind energy conversion systems (LWECS). MDH agreed to evaluate health impacts from wind turbine noise and low frequency vibrations. In discussion with OES, MDH also proposed to examine experiences and policies of other states and countries. Below are the Introduction and Conclusions of the white paper released in May 2009. The full report can be accessed by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

In this report we discuss some recent studies that have occurred in the United States since our previous work [2, 3]. The key objectives of these studies were to quantify the physical impacts and costs of wind generation on grid operations and the associated costs. Examples of these costs are (a) committing unneeded generation, (b) allocating more load-following capability to account for wind variability, and (c) allocating more regulation capacity. These are referred to as “ancillary service” costs, and are based on the physical system and operating characteristics and procedures. This topic is covered in more detail by Zavadil et al. [4].

Congress and many state legislatures, including Minnesota's, are exaggerating the potential for renewable energy, especially from wind, solar and biofuels. By assuming that wind can supply 20 percent to 25 percent of our electric power in the coming decade, or that farm fields can replace oil and gas fields, our representatives can avoid voting on hard choices.

What's the problem with the Pickens Plan? We've been told that the main obstacles to wind power are financial and technological. The Pickens Plan buys into this logic. But senior wind leaders know more. They have revealed that while technology and investment matter, one of their biggest challenges to installing large wind farms is building social acceptance. Don't Americans love wind power? A 2008 Zogby International public poll reported that 85 percent of the 7,000 Americans surveyed agreed that federal incentives should support wind-energy development. While polls show that most Americans overwhelmingly support wind power in theory, few communities are asking for large-scale wind projects in their back yards. ...While the Pickens Plan is bold, it lacks a nuanced understanding about the obstacles to wind power. Where there is a lack of social acceptance, it is often the result of industry players who assume that "green" power is always welcome and can operate outside the bounds of the democratic process. The Pickens Plan shares some of this hubris.