Extracts from the Sept-Oct 2002 edition of Renew
These extracts only represent about 25% of it

14. Wind booms around the world

Wind turbine installations worldwide soared by 45% or 6.5 gigawatt (GW) in 2001, bringing global total windpower capacity to 24 GW, the according to the European, American and Indian wind energy associations, in a joint statement issued in the runup to the World Wind Conference in Paris in April. Europe, by far the most active wind region, increased its capacity by more than 35% or 4.5 GW MW in 2001 while the USA installed nearly 1.7GW and total capacity increased by more than 60%. India, the third-largest market after Europe and the U.S., installed around 240 megawatt and exceeded 1.5GW of total installed capacity.

As we noted in Renew 138, France plans to invest 10bn euros to build more than 10GW of wind generating capacity by 2010 and wants to increase its renewable energy sources to 21% of total demand in 2010, up from the current 15 %, mainly by tapping wind power. By the end of last year, France had 78 MW of wind power generation. Meanwhile though Germany moved up to 8,754 MW. But we hear that there has been some local opposition to Spains rapidly growing wind programme.

Shell goes for Wind

Shell is planning to expand its wind farm progamme to 1000 megawatts by 2005, by investing up to £1bn in new projects around the world. Although that’s still small compared to Shells overall annual expenditure of $12- $13 billion, it is still a sizable investment. Shell has pointed out that its wind generating capacity had already jumped from 8 MW to 140MW - a growth rate of 1,500 percent. Shell is also investing in solar energy technology, a field in which it is it already the world's number four player, with capacity of 50 MW. It also plans to look at geothermal, biofuels and hydrogen technology. In January, Shell boosted its presence in solar when it took full control of Germany’s Siemens and Shell Solar GmbH, one of the world’s few established producers of PV cells.

Russia’s first wind farm is in the Kaliningrad Region on the northern coast of the Semba peninsula, one of the area’s windiest spots. 20 turbines have been installed at the facility by Danish experts working in conjunction with Kaliningrad builders. Both groups hope to continue working together in the wind industry. The sides have signed a letter of intent to build a 50 MW facility at sea near the town of Baltiysk and Cape Taran, where wind is strong. Each turbine is equipped with onboard computers and can be controlled remotely from a dispatch center. (For the full story see www.solaraccess.com)

Dutch Push Renewables

While the new right wing Danish government seems to be backing off some of Denmarks commitment, to renewable energy and all things green (see Renew 136), and has, we hear, appointed arch Contrarian Bjorn Lomborg as an advisor, the Dutch government is trying to speed development. A report from Economics Minister to the Dutch parliament, Annemarie Jorritsma, calls for on-land wind energy to be expanded to 1,500 MW by 2010 and offshore wind farms to 6,000 MW by 2020. Currently, the Netherlands has about 500 MW of land-based wind capacity, plus two planned offshore wind farms, which would add 220MW (one of these a recently got the go ahead and there are talks of more- possibly up to 2GW). The report also recommends providing support for biomass projects. Jorritsma also expresses hope that the liberalisation of the electricity and gas sectors, which began in 1999, will be completed by the start of 2003. Some sectors have already been opened up, and households were allowed to choose their own green energy suppliers as of July 2001 - with over 680,000 having signed up so far.

For more see www.SolarAccess.com

US wind boost

The U.S. wind power industry is benefitting from a two-year extension of a key federal tax credit, which should restore momentum to an industry that saw record growth last year but then stalled due to a delay in the credit. The wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC)- an important factor in financing new wind power projects - was part of the economic stimulus bill signed in March by President George W. Bush. The PTC, which had expired on Dec. 31, will be extended retroactively from that date to Dec. 31, 2003. It provides a 1.5 cent/kWh tax credit for electricity generated by wind turbines. The tax credit means about $3 bn in wind energy investments- or projects totaling about 3,000MW- forecast over the next several years are now back on track. Last year, about 1,700 megawatts of new wind generation equipment worth about $1.7 bn was installed in the United States- more than double the previous record year of 1999 when 732 megawatts were added. That put the United States in second place behind Germany in terms of new capacity installed in 2001.

Meanwhile, with continuing fears about blackouts in California, Gov. Gray Davis has endorsed new state legislation aimed at increasing the amount of electricity produced from renewables from 12% to 20%

Tokyo residents to fund wind

In response to a government led invitation, if plans go through, a subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Co. is hoping to get 2,000 Tokyo residents to invest in two 1MW windturbines, costing 430m yen, on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay. Although there are wind co-ops in Denmark and locally owned schemes in Germany, it’s rare for companies elsewhere to call for resident's involvement. Investors would receive an annual dividend of 1 to 3 % of their investment during the operating period. Their initial outlay, which is considered an investment rather than donation to environmental causes, would be repaid after about 15 years. The electricity would be certified as "green energy", under the government programme and sold to 100 companies, It would cost at least 400,000 yen more than conventional power. But firms that use it would be certified as making contributions to the environment. The government’s programme aims to encourage small environmentally friendly power-generation companies. Seven other groups of companies have submitted proposals to the government.