Government, companies once abandoned idea but now see geothermal power as part of energy equation

It takes energy to maintain energy from small wind farms. That was the conclusion of Idaho Power’s study on the impact of wind power, which was released Wednesday. Among other findings, the Operational Impact report said that small wind farms - those which produce 10 megawatts or fewer - require the assistance of hydroelectric power to compensate for generating fluctuations caused by changes in wind speed. Idaho Power uses its hydroelectric sources to provide additional energy when small wind farms are unable to stay at predetermined power levels. The report estimates that it costs Idaho Power $10.72 per megawatt hour to offset such fluctuations. The utility wants wind farm operators to pay that expense.

PARIS (Reuters) - Industrialized countries must boost spending in research and development in renewable energy and not focus on subsidizing the use of green but costly electricity, the West's energy watchdog said on Tuesday.

The grand U.S. ambitions of Indian wind-turbine manufacturer Suzlon Energy Ltd. are facing mounting problems. The Indian company -- the world's fifth-largest wind-turbine maker by sales -- earlier this year acknowledged that 65 giant blades on turbines it had sold in the U.S. Midwest were cracking because of the extreme gusts in the region. The company is reinforcing 1,251 blades, almost the total it has sold in the U.S. Now, other problems are emerging, in part because the company quickly ramped up U.S. sales to meet burgeoning demand for alternative energy. ...

Climatronics Corporation introduces two new sensors for wind turbine control and application; the F460 wind speed sensor and the Sonimometer sonic wind speed sensor.

CHICAGO, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Invenergy Wind LLC announced that it has contracted with General Electric Company ("GE") to purchase 350 MW of wind turbines for use in projects slated for construction in 2006.

PORTLAND Oregon Wind Corp. and Portland State University are testing four 40- watt vertical axis wind turbines at the school's campus this summer. The 40-inch-tall Helyx wind turbines built by Portland-based Oregon Wind Corp. can generate electricity for about $1.50 per watt, according to the company's co-founder, Toby Kinkaid. "That's pretty close to what the big boys can achieve," he says. Kincaid plans to sell the machines for $60 each by the end of 2007. One Helyx operating at full capacity can only illuminate one light bulb, but a shelving unit dubbed the WindWall can pool the energy generated from up to 36 turbines, according to Kinkaid. Oregon Wind Corp. says it needs $500,000 in equipment to enable mass production of the fiberglass blades.

Iowa Stored Energy Park Agency director Bob Schulte said that geology tests found the storage reservoir wasn't suitable for the scale of project officials envisioned. Essentially, the quality of the storage rock, which would have been sandstone, wasn't as good as officials were looking for.

Irish minister for communications, marine and natural resources Noel Dempsey has set a target to treble the contribution made by renewable energy from 5percent to 15percent of electricity produced by 2010. His announcement came at the launch of a new publication called Renewable Energy Development 2006. The report provides a broad overview of current policies in the field of renewable energy and serves as a concise introduction to the topical issues and challenges in the area.

"Unfortunately, electric power generated from wind energy is intermittent and variable. That means we need to have better measurements of wind power plants' output as we integrate wind energy into existing power systems. We also need to develop a way of managing wind power so it can be more readily called upon when needed."

THE nightmare of digging coal underground, suffered by generations of Welsh colliers, could soon be a thing of the past with Wales tipped to benefit from a new mining technology. Experts claim underground coal gasification could create tens of thousands of jobs across Britain, particularly in coal-rich places like Wales. The process involves drilling bore holes into coal seams, pushing steam and oxygen into one hole and drawing out the hot gas from another. It means not a single lump of solid coal would leave the ground. ..."Wind farms are definitely not the answer but clean coal definitely could be. There is enough underground to satisfy the UK's energy needs for many years."

Wind 2008 -- the not so good news -- The Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is the independent system operator that manages the region's grid with oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). As SGN reported in March 2008 (see Smart Grid News article link below), ERCOT operators had to react promptly on February 26 to balance load through demand response (DR) because of system reliability problems caused by wind intermittency. But systems reliability was not the only issue caught in the headlights by this event. The Wall Street Journal also spotlighted the economic impact; namely that the unexpected loss of wind generation caused wholesale power prices to soar from $299 per MWH to $1,055 per MWH in West Texas.

"Tidal power is an interesting form of renewable energy in that it is predictable. Other forms, like solar and wind energy, are less predictable," said Alex Farrell, assistant professor of energy and resources at the University of California, Berkeley. Because it is predictable, tidal power is a more dependable resource, he said.

The harsh truth is that money, rather than worries over global warming, is the only thing that will tempt the British to use alternative fuels en masse. And for the most part, the sums do not add up. Wind energy is a good example. Even the respected Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales does not recommend roof-mounted wind turbines, such as that embraced by Mr Cameron. Wind speeds around many houses are low and erratic, while a turbine is noisy and can damage a building, it points out.

Our correspondent assesses the options available for those planning Britain’s future energy needs. Generating electricity from nuclear reactors is as effective at combating global warming as any known form of renewable energy and is likely to remain so indefinitely.

Wind, almost everybody’s best hope for big supplies of clean, affordable electricity, is turning out to have complications. Engineers have cut the price of electricity derived from wind by about 80 percent in the last 20 years, setting up this renewable technology for a major share of the electricity market. But for all its promise, wind also generates a big problem: because it is unpredictable and often fails to blow when electricity is most needed, wind is not reliable enough to assure supplies for an electric grid that must be prepared to deliver power to everybody who wants it — even when it is in greatest demand........At a recent discussion of clean energy technologies held at General Electric’s research center in Niskayuna, N.Y, Dan W. Reicher, a former assistant secretary of energy for conservation and renewable energy, predicted that renewables, led by wind, could reach 20 percent of demand in the next decade or two. President Bush has also said that wind could supply 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. But Mr. Reicher drew a quick response from James E. Rogers, chief executive of Cinergy, one of the nation’s largest utilities, and chairman of the Edison Electric Institute, the industry’s trade association. “I love his optimism,” Mr. Rogers said. “But unfortunately, I have to deliver electricity every day.”