wind

US utilities rush to invest in wind power

American utilities are locking in fixed-price contracts for wind power following the renewal of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy
US utilities rush to invest in wind power

A total of 66 US utilities bought or owned wind power at the beginning of 2013, nearly half of them for large amounts over 100MW. Since President Obama extended the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy in the ‘fiscal cliff’ bill, signed at the beginning of January, utilities have continued to sign up for more wind energy which is now more cost-competitive than ever.

AWEA applauds these utilities for maximizing the PTC opportunity to continue bringing low-cost, fixed price wind power to their customers” said Rob Gramlich, Interim CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). “From Xcel Energy in Minnesota to OG&E in Arkansas, electric consumers are racking up the savings as a result. The wind energy industry looks forward to our continued partnerships with utilities across the country to lock in the economic development, rate stabilizing and environmental benefits of more wind power.”

Among the utilities buying more wind power are Xcel Energy, MidAmerican Energy, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Oklahoma Gas & Electric, Minnesota Power, Alliant Energy Corp, Puget Sound Energy and numerous others. In Colarado Xcel Energy has set national records for generation more than half its electricity from wind power and is now seeking regulatory approval to accelerate its resource acquisition process to allow for the addition of value priced wind energy. MidAmerican Energy announced at the end of December that it had completed three more wind projects totalling 407MW in Iowa. Wind now comprises 30 percent of the utility’s generation portfolio.

“We have a great opportunity to see if additional wind resources in Colorado would be of economic benefit to our customers with the extension of the federal tax credit, but we must act quickly,” said Ben Fowke, chairman, president, and CEO of Xcel Energy. “Our request is not being driven by state renewable energy standards, but by the opportunity to reduce costs.”

The Michigan Public Service Commission, upon releasing its Report on the Implementation of the P.A. 295 Renewable Energy Standard and the Cost-Effectiveness of the Energy Standards on February 15th this year, said that compared to building a new conventional coal facility, renewable energy contracts are significantly lower in price, less in fact that any newly built generation including new natural gas combined cycle plants. Commission staff anticipates that the cost of renewable energy will continue to decline while the benefits form energy optimization savings and emission reductions from offset generation will continue to increase.

Currently installed wind turbines will displace nearly 100 million metric tons this year of carbon dioxide emissions, equal to about 1.8 percent of the entire country’s carbon emissions. Encouraged by the federal incentive, US wind power grew by about 28 percent in 2012 alone becoming the number one source of new electric generating capacity and pouring $25 billion of private investment into the economy.

Further information:

American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)

Baterías con premio en la gran feria europea del almacenamiento de energía
El jurado de la feria ees (la gran feria europea de las baterías y los sistemas acumuladores de energía) ya ha seleccionado los productos y soluciones innovadoras que aspiran, como finalistas, al gran premio ees 2021. Independientemente de cuál o cuáles sean las candidaturas ganadoras, la sola inclusión en este exquisito grupo VIP constituye todo un éxito para las empresas. A continuación, los diez finalistas 2021 de los ees Award (ees es una de las cuatro ferias que integran el gran evento anual europeo del sector de la energía, The smarter E).