Small wind farm developer New Zealand Windfarms intends to install the turbines of Windflow Technology on an extension to its Manawatu wind farm despite their dispute over whether they are "fit for purpose". NZ Windfarms was at a resource consent hearing in Palmerston North last week, seeking to install 56 Windflow 0.5 megawatt two-bladed turbines on an extension to its Te Rere Hau wind farm in Manawatu.

A wind farm planned for southern Dakota County is getting some blowback from nearby residents. In a barrage of comments submitted to the state's Public Utilities Commission, neighbors and even a few people from other parts of the metro area criticized the proposal for a 10.84 megawatt wind farm in Greenvale Township, northeast of Northfield. The project would be the first to concentrate multiple windmills in the seven-county metro area, and many people objected to that idea.

A fight over whether a proposed wind turbine project bordering Naples will go forward heated up last week when the developer filed a lawsuit against the town, where 17 turbines were to go up. The Article 78 action, filed in state Supreme Court in Monroe County by developer Ecogen Wind LLC, seeks to overturn the Town Board's decision to stop the project by denying approvals and placing a moratorium on its development.

Witnesses began testimony this week on a proposal that could soon dot Champaign County with large wind turbines. Throughout the week, Everpower Renewables, the New York company proposing the Buckeye wind project, provided witnesses who testified before the Ohio Power Siting Board on everything from the potential effect of the turbines on Grimes and Weller Fields to what effects, if any, shadow flicker has on human health. Testimony is expected to continue into this week.

The Massachusetts native who helped found controversial wind-energy developers Cape Wind and First Wind expressed surprise late last week at news that his one-time partner in a separate wind-energy company in Italy has been arrested and charged with fraud. "I read about it in the papers, and I was very surprised," Brian Caffyn said from Hong Kong, where he is now building wind-energy farms in China and the Philipines.

The Government's renewable energy strategy is in tatters after a report exposing the true costs of generating electricity by wind power. An internal document from the National Grid, seen by the Sunday Express, says wind turbine energy will at times cost over 3,000 per cent more than conventional power. Industry experts say over-reliance on wind power could mean fuel poverty for consumers, as older power plants reach the end of their working lives while Britain's new generation of nuclear stations is still a long way off completion.

Critics of a proposed wind farm near Goodhue urged a state commission Thursday to scrutinize the project. Goodhue County landowners attended the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission meeting asking commissioners to question Goodhue Wind's status as a Community-Based Energy Development. C-BED developments are supposed to guarantee some level of local project ownership. The group also briefly discussed setback concerns.

Tazewell County leaders will tackle the controversial topic of wind turbines Tuesday during the first of two meetings that could determine the fate of a controversial East River Mountain project. The board meets Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Tazewell Middle School, and will begin the wind turbine discussion at 7:30 p.m. At that time, John Anzivion, senior vice president of the Springsted Company, is scheduled to present the results of a wind turbine economic impact study to the board.

Manitoba's green-energy projects are sucking wind compared to other provinces and companies that develop and service wind farms are starting to take their business elsewhere. While Manitoba's newest wind farm, a 300-megawatt project near St. Joseph, is mired in delays and nine more proposed projects have been shelved, Ontario has launched a radical program aimed at fast-tracking turbines. ...Wowchuk, who is in charge of Manitoba Hydro, said it's not fair to compare Manitoba to Ontario, since our province already relies almost exclusively on renewable energy but Ontario is powered largely by dirty coal. And, she said, Manitoba is blessed with cheap power, meaning ratepayers would take a hit if the province threw open its doors to wind power like Ontario has done.

A group from New York Power Authority was in the Port City Friday afternoon to provide information regarding the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project. Representatives from city, county and state government attended the meeting in the Council Chambers. Also in attendance were local residents as well as a handful from other counties. The group is visiting communities around the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie to provide information on the proposal as well as get a feel for the pulse of the communities regarding the project.

Gov. Don Carcieri this week signed modified legislation that would allow Deepwater Wind to install up to eight wind turbines in state waters south of Block Island capable of generating 12 megawatts of electricity operating at 40 percent efficiency.

Six thousand years ago, according to native legend and scientific calculation, Nantucket Sound was dry land, and people probably lived and hunted and fished there. Until global warming caused the sea to rise and cover the place. Ironically, the fact of that long-ago drowning now has become the basis of the latest challenge to the Cape Wind proposal to build a wind farm in Nantucket Sound. The big selling point of Cape Wind is that it would generate power without contributing to global warming, sea level rise and coastal flooding.

A court battle was underway to decide the future of Miami Valley wind turbines. As the debate went on indoors, protestors lined up outside the Governors office in Columbus. They were handing out flyers, letting people know that these wind turbines would be taller than the Statue of Liberty, and ruin the landscape. Ohio lawmakers were considering a proposal that would put 70 wind turbines on land in Champaign county.

An engineer who has researched the proposed Buckeye Wind Project in Champaign County says steps have been taken to reduce the noise impact on residents from the wind turbines but that complaints from residents are still ‘inevitable.' David Hessler, principal engineer with Hessler Associates Inc., testified Friday morning in Columbus before the state power siting board that is holding hearings on the Buckeye Wind Project. ...Turbines in other areas have been found to produce persistent wind-rushing sounds that some people living nearby say interfere with the quality of their lives.

The Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority is holding the first of two scheduled "open house" meetings at its facility on Saturday to discuss its plans to build a 380-foot tall energy-producing wind turbine. The first meeting, set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the BRSA's facility at 100 Oak St., is open to Union Beach residents only. A second meeting, open to all Monmouth County residents, will be held in December. The date has not been set, said Robert C. Fischer, executive director of the BRSA.

Campaigners have launched a website to gather support in opposition of plans to construct a wind farm with up to eight turbines near Kimbolton. The Stop Bicton Wind Farm website (www.stopbictonwindfarm.org.uk) has been created by Stow Longa resident, Richard Murphy who has also set up an action group. ...Mr Murphy said he was sceptical about the plans as he believes the impact would be greater than the environmental benefits.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) held a public hearing in Harmony on Monday evening to gather public input regarding the proposed EcoHarmony West Wind Project. The proposed 280 megawatt wind project will be sited in an area of about 23,000 acres west of Harmony and will consist of about 134 turbines ...The hearing was part of the public process for EcoEnergy's certificate of need and site permit application.

The latest effort by a local computer business to go green has some residents in a nearby subdivision seeing red. Other World Computing's new wind turbine, 131 feet tall not counting its three 63-foot-long blades, towers over the open space and farmland that surround it just southeast of Woodstock. But some residents of the Savannah Grove subdivision 1,600 feet to the west say it towers over them, as well. The refurbished turbine went up over the course of an October weekend to many residents' surprise, homeowner Ron Cyscon said.

A publicly owned wind turbine along M-72 in Leelanau County's Elmwood Township is out of commission. A generator bearing failed and the turbine ground to a halt, said Ed Rice, Traverse City Light & Power's executive director. The windmill has been broken for about six weeks.

Bell Acres council has approved construction of an alternative energy center that will include a 60-foot wind turbine, but not without a few conditions. Several of the stipulations involve possible noise issues, while others are intended to address residents' concerns for dozens of great blue herons that nest about half a mile away on the Bell Acres-Economy line. In a 5-0 vote Monday, council gave the Alternative Energy Center permission to create an 80-by-80 foot display site for three alternative energy products.