Tag Archives: Wind Energy

Kenai regulates turbines

From Peninsula Clarion, Tuesday, November 24, 2009:

Kenai is doing more than any other city in the state in terms of encouraging wind turbine development within city limits, a leader in Alaska wind energy installation said.

On Nov. 4, the Kenai City Council passed an ordinance establishing the rules for building generators in the city. Nadia Daggett, Alaska Wind Industries’ owner called it the most progressive set of urban wind turbine regulations she’s seen in Alaska.

Click here to read the full story.

Corporation still planning Fire Island wind farm

From The Associated Press, Wednesday, November 25, 2009:

The Cook Inlet Region corporation says it plans to go ahead with the Fire Island wind farm project, despite a split last month with a developer.

The Anchorage Native corporation told The Anchorage Daily News it could fund the $165 million project by itself and hopes to sign a deal next month with another developer. The Legislature has committed $25 million for a transmission line to the Anchorage grid.

The wind farm could be generating electricity by the end of 2011.

Dutch Harbor wind turbine still standing

From Alaska Dispatch, Tuesday, October 27, 2009:

According to a Business Wire press release (via Reuters), a residential wind turbine installed by Helix Wind Corp. in Dutch Harbor withstood its first major winter storm. The storm brought winds in excess of 80 mph, and the turbine worked perfectly. One of its owners, Joshua Williams, said after acknowledging he sometimes dreads the cold, wet winters, “After this last storm, as I watched our new wind turbine generate the sea winds back at us, it felt good to get even!” Read more here. Alaska Beat’s favorite part? The release made certain to note: “Dutch Harbor’s weather is considered among the worst in the world.”

Alaska Wind Offers Residential Power Opportunities

BY Adam Wasch, Energy Outreach Consultant for CCHRC and UAF CES
Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner April 29th, 2009, Section A3

Alaska’s energy resources amount to more than the oil and gas that have so much transformed the state during the past 40 years. One largely untapped resource is wind power. Large-scale operations, such as a growing wind farm in Kotzebue and plans for a 1.5 megawatt wind farm on Fire Island near Anchorage underscore the potential of wind energy in Alaska. But what about residential wind power? Continue reading

Wind turbines – coming to a home near you

From the New York Times on Saturday, February 14, 2009:

Wind turbines typically spin from tall towers on hills and plains. But in these green times, some companies hope smaller turbines will soon rise above a more domestic spot: homes and garages.

An Energy Ball turbine.  Adam Bird for The New York Times

The rooftop turbines send the electricity they generate straight on to the home’s circuit box. Then owners in a suitably wind-swept location can watch the needle on their electricity meter turn backward instead of forward, reducing their utility bills while using a renewable resource.

Click here to read the whole article.

Grand plan for wind energy transmission

New York Times, 2/10/09

New York Times, 2/10/09

From the New York Times on Tuesday, February 10, 2009:

… This study covered the United States east of the Rockies, minus Texas and Florida, and was prompted by the utilities’ concern that state quotas for renewable energy, already in place — or a proposed federal mandate — would have to be met with wind energy generated much farther from the point of consumption than is common today.

The plan is “conceptual” and the system would not be completed until 2024.

The Joint Coordinated System Plan, as it is called, has been in development for months, according to the Midwest Independent System Operator, which is steering the project — and the full report will not be ready until the fall. But details of the plan were revealed on Monday in order to coincide with debate over the stimulus bill.

“This is information we believe that our leaders need to consider as they begin work under a new administration and start defining our energy future,” said John Bear, the president and chief executive of the Midwest I.S.O.

Click here to read the whole article.

Wind and solar manufacturers feeling the economic pinch

From the New York Times on Tuesday, February 3, 2009:

Wind and solar power have been growing at a blistering pace in recent years, and that growth seemed likely to accelerate under the green-minded Obama administration. But because of the credit crisis and the broader economic downturn, the opposite is happening: installation of wind and solar power is plummeting.

Towers for wind turbines on the ground at the DMI Industries plant in West Fargo, N.D. Falling sales and tight credit have forced the company to lay off nearly 20 percent of its employees.

Factories building parts for these industries have announced a wave of layoffs in recent weeks, and trade groups are projecting 30 to 50 percent declines this year in installation of new equipment, barring more help from the government.

Prices for turbines and solar panels, which soared when the boom began a few years ago, are falling. Communities that were patting themselves on the back just last year for attracting a wind or solar plant are now coping with cutbacks.

Click here to read the whole article.

University of Alaska Fairbanks to build energy research building

From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Wednesday, January 28, 2009:

Education leaders look to be sharpening their focus on energy research, a move spearheaded by tentative plans to build a 31,000-square-foot building dedicated to energy research — everything from wind and hydrogen to coal — at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The plan is on the fast-track. If it happens, it would meet a demand for more space for energy research and testing — a need previously limited in discussion to the context of a separate project, a proposed expansion of the university’s growing engineering programs.

University leaders are talking of building the $30 million center, which would house the 1-year-old Alaska Center for Energy and Power, during the next two summers.

Click here to read the whole article.

Click here for a link to the Alaska Center for Energy and Power website.

State of Alaska energy plan not popular with some lawmakers

From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on Wednesday, January 28, 2009:

A document submitted as a state energy plan falls short of its mark, while renewable energy projects submitted for funding might go too far, legislators said.

Members of the House Energy Committee, including Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, were critical of the Alaska Energy Authority’s state energy plan as director Steve Haagenson detailed the more than 240-page volume during a hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, a Democrat from Dillingham and committee co-chairman, said calling the report an energy plan was something of a misnomer. Instead, the report seemed a “first step” toward a state energy plan, he said.

Click here to read the whole article.

State of Alaska $100 million energy proposal

 

report cover

The State of Alaska has published its proposal for grant allocation from the Alaska Renewable Energy Fund. This money will fund the construction of a wide range of alternative energy projects throughout the state. The total proposed expenditure from the State of Alaska is $100 million, with a Federal match of approximately $300 million.

 

Click here for a link to the Alaska Energy Authority page that outlines the proposal and links to relevant documents.