Shah said that the turbine has had a problem "synchronizing with the grid" since the spike, with the turbine able to run and produce energy but unable to get the energy on the grid.

Technology Massachusetts

PM3000, the software in question, helps regulate the flow of electricity from turbines to electrical grids. The theft resulted in a loss of $800 million for AMSC, according to the indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Wisconsin. Some 500 AMSC employees have lost their jobs following Sinovel's "egregious and unlawful behavior," McGahn said.

Technology Asia USA Massachusetts

Gov. Deval Patrick's challengers yesterday demanded he come clean on a now-scrapped state plan to spend $91 million on a ship for transporting wind turbines.

Technology Massachusetts

The 3-1 vote reversed last month's decision by a Dennis committee of the historic district to allow the 164-foot-tall wind turbine at a shellfish hatchery operated by the Aquaculture Research Corp. in Dennis. ..."It's in a sensitive wetland area."

Technology Massachusetts

NStar established a program for residents to subsidize wind farms in Maine and upstate New York, willingly tacking on $4 to $7 to monthly bills. Subscribers don't get those specific electrons, but they do contribute to greening the grid. National Grid offers a similar option. But out of 1.1 million Massachusetts customers, only 6,137 have signed up. Likewise, NStar's program is used by just 8,000 of its 1.1 million customers.

Technology Massachusetts

A tempest is brewing over the proposed wind turbine at White Crest Beach. Last week, vandals absconded with the stakes used to mark the site of the turbine. This week, a large group of Outer Cape homeowners gathered at National Seashore headquarters to voice their objections to the project. And it appears that the vice-chair of the Wellfleet Energy Committee, which spearheaded the project, has resigned.

Technology General Massachusetts

But a new proposal for a deep-water, off-shore wind farm answers all the skeptics' objections and, in addition to its environmental benefits, could be an economic boon to southeastern Massachusetts. Blue H USA LLC has recently installed the world's first deep-water windmill off the coast of Italy and now wants to bring that technology to the South Coast, which has been referred to as the Saudi Arabia of wind energy because of its dependable North Atlantic winds. Rather than fight critics, Blue H has embraced their concerns and worked to satisfy them, maximizing the positives of the technology while minimizing the perceived negatives. The solution? Locate the turbines out to sea on floating - but stabilized - platforms similar to oil rigs, far away from any people or animals.

Technology Massachusetts

Wind energy opponents often rattle off a litany of objections: Windmills aren't aesthetically pleasing (a notion many dispute); they pose a danger to migrating birds; they're noisy; they're inefficient and expensive. But a new proposal for a deep-water, off-shore wind farm answers all the skeptics' objections and, in addition to its environmental benefits, could be an economic boon to Fall River. Blue H USA LLC has recently installed the world's first deep-water windmill off the coast of Italy and now wants to bring that technology to the SouthCoast ...It turns out answering the critics is actually a benefit to the technology, as 90 percent of the potential energy from wind is well offshore in deep water.

Technology General Massachusetts

In some parts of the state, from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, wind turbines are springing up to power municipal offices, homes, and businesses as a push for cheap alternatives to fossil-fuel energy continues to mount. But in the suburbs west of Boston, where green sentiments often run deep, one major hurdle stands in the way of environmental advocates and energy cost cutters - insufficient wind speeds. ...The Stow Board of Selectmen has discussed building a wind turbine on town property, but its chairman, Stephen Dungan, said the panel found local wind speeds were simply not high enough to make it pay off. "Basically, the option wasn't there," he said.

Technology General Massachusetts

A new proposal for a wind farm off the coast of Martha's Vineyard is promising what people on all sides of the Cape Wind debate can embrace: turbines in a location where nobody has to see them. Blue H, a subsidiary of a Dutch company, announced this week that it wants to build 120 floating wind turbines in deep water 23 miles off Martha's Vineyard and sought government approval to install a test turbine. Company officials then joined with the main opposition group fighting Cape Wind's proposed wind farm off Cape Cod in touting Blue H as a viable alternative that would be far from ferry lanes and invisible from shore. "If you had a horse and buggy and then the automobile was invented, it makes sense to embrace the technology moving forward," said Blue H spokesman Martin T. Reilly.

Technology General Massachusetts

State and regional regulators acknowledge the hurdles - especially in northern New Hampshire - but don't have ready solutions. A bill before the New Hampshire Senate would have the state be ready to act if no regional solution is forthcoming. ISO New England, which manages power for the region, is considering changing rules so more of the costs of transmission upgrades could be shared regionally. But as things stand now, backers of projects generally must pay for upgrades needed to connect them to the system. "None of this is a real speedy process," acknowledges Michael Harrington, senior regional policy adviser for the state Public Utilities Commission.

Technology Energy Policy Zoning/Planning Connecticut Massachusetts Maine New Hampshire Rhode Island Vermont

In what one Cape Wind official called an "eyebrow-raising" development, plans for a deep-water wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts will be unveiled only hours before the start of a public hearing Monday on Cape Wind's proposal to build 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound. Blue H USA LLC will announce plans for a floating deep-water wind energy project 23 miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard and 45 miles from New Bedford, according to a representative for the company. ...The Alliance has long contended the Sound is not the right place for a wind farm and a deep water site would provide more wind resources.

Technology Massachusetts

Hull officials are moving ahead with plans to build four offshore wind turbines capable of producing enough electricity to power the town. An application filed last month with the state calls for erecting four power-generating windmills on a shoal known as Harding’s Ledge, roughly 1.5 miles east of Nantasket Beach. ‘‘This would be the first offshore series of wind turbines in the country,’’ Hull Town Manager Philip Lemnios said. ‘‘We had such a favorable response to our two land-based turbines, the townspeople are pursuing the offshore options.’’

Technology Massachusetts

Jiminy Peak and its 1.5-megawatt wind turbine were shut down yesterday morning by weather-related issues, delaying the ski resort's opening by two hours. But the mountain also reported 8 inches of fresh snow to close out a busy holiday season. ...National Grid reported lost power that affected the ski resort and about 84 customers in North Adams. The outage caused the $3.9 million wind turbine - known as Zephyr - to lose its juice. ...The 236-ton, 386-foot-tall turbine was installed in August and is expected to provide about 60 percent of Jiminy Peak's power and to pay for itself in seven years. But it can't run by itself. "If there's no power on the grid, there's no power to the turbine. It can't spin," said Katie Fogel, a spokeswoman for Jiminy Peak.

Technology Massachusetts

Gordon expects the federal report to closely parallel the state's positive environmental impact report issued by Bowles. But even if the federal report is favorable toward Cape Wind, it does not mean an end to the fight, something Gordon readily admits. "I don't want to be naive about legal challenges," he said in a telephone interview yesterday while on a family vacation in Vermont. But with public opinion polls indicating majority support for the project statewide, he imagines a day when even his detractors will come around. "I'm hoping that even the opponents, diehard opponents, will hopefully have a shift in their attitude and hopefully stop trying to delay and obstruct a project that is needed and enjoys growing support," he said.

Technology General USA Massachusetts

Sunday is National Children's Day - and what better gift to our local heirs than to assure they have plenty of clean power, undiminished shorelines and fresh air 35 years from now. ...Speaking of clean power, this column recently favored stalling the proposed wind farm on Horseshoe Shoals and sliding it to the back burner to await signs of new interest on the nuclear side of the wind/nuclear power equation. Wind turbines and nuclear reactors produce clean power, but there is a wide disparity in the amount each can produce, nuclear reactors achieving the significantly higher and consistent output.

Technology USA Massachusetts

HANCOCK - Less than two months after Jiminy Peak started up the wind turbine it calls Zephyr, GE technicians took the blades down yesterday to repair a faulty bearing that is preventing the device from working at peak capacity.

Technology Massachusetts

In contrast to the town's hesitancy to dive headfirst into wind energy projects proposed for Nantucket Sound - 61 percent of the voters in a special non-binding referendum at the April 11, 2006 town election said no to wind energy in Nantucket Sound - all the commissioners expressed their excitement for the emerging field of tidally generated electricity.

Technology General Massachusetts

Time and technology have caught up with Cape Wind. Its advantage of six years ago as a novel proposal is now flattened by the advance of deeper-water wind technology (as well as promised advances in wave and tidal energy generation). By the time Cape Wind could be up and running - by 2011 or 2012 at the earliest - commercial-scale deeper-water projects will be a reality. No matter how you spin it, deeper-water locations are a better alternative to Cape Wind. The winds are stronger, the potential is greater and the risks are significantly lower.

Technology Energy Policy General Massachusetts

BOSTON - Massachusetts will be one of two states building a state-of-the-art facility to test turbines used in wind power. The facility will place the state at the forefront of wind power and alternative energy, said U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who outlined the facility with Gov. Deval L. Patrick at a press conference yesterday. "This will make Massachusetts a global center for clean energy technology," Patrick said. "This is a big step for us."

Technology Taxes & Subsidies Massachusetts