Controversy Over Economic Benefit of Building the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Farm

Netherlands Offshore wind farm. Photo courtesy of knowledge.allianz.com.

Depending on what side your on, the evolving plans for an offshore wind farm in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie are either an economic boom for the state or a disaster that will cost taxpayers billions.

The inital project will be a five-turbine, 20 megawatt pilot wind farm that will be five-to-ten miles offshore of Cleveland. Construction on the initial phases is tentatively scheduled to be completed by late 2012.

General Electric has committed to providing the wind turbines and maintenance service for the initial 20-megawatt wind farm. After completion, it’s expected to be followed by subsequent projects with a long-term goal of 1,000 megawatts in the Ohio waters by 2020.

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo) believes the economics of scale will reduce energy costs. “We aim to develop a cost-effective approach for installing and maintaining offshore wind turbines,” said Dr. Lorry Wagner, the company’s president.

“We’re confident that working with GE, our combined efforts will be able to promote a self-sustaining and growing market for offshore wind in Lake Erie. We know that it will provide a lot of economic opportunity and emissions-free energy for northern Ohio,” she added.

Not everyone agrees with this assessment. Mary McCleary, an analyst with the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, warns that, “Financially, the wind turbines are a bad proposition for Ohio.”

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Solar Industry Helping Save Lives in Haiti

Solar panels being installed on a medical center in Il de la Tortue, Haiti. Photo courtesy of oaklandnorth.net.

Today marks eight months to the day that the earthquake hit in Haiti. While millions of dollars have been donated for relief efforts, the government has been slow to distribute needed help.

Partners in Health (PIH), a nonprofit medical and social services organization, says that in Haiti today, “More than a million people are still living under tents, tarps, and makeshift shelters in crowded encampments, with limited access to food, water, sanitation, schools, jobs, and social services. Many people are still in pain, hungry, and desperate.”

To help the relief efforts - at least from a medical perspective - Solar World has awarded The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) an in-kind grant of solar panels totaling 100 kilowatts to support the solar electrification of five health clinics for PIH in Haiti.

An in-kind grant is when a company or foundation donates goods or services, rather than giving money. The donated solar panels will be installed in the clinics located in the remote mountain highlands of Haiti that don’t have access to the electric grid.

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New England Energy Provider to Buy Power From Nation’s First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Farm

Scroby Sands Wind Farm, England. Photo courtesy of offshore-power.net.

As part of the nation’s continuing move to harness renewable energies that are both environmentally safe and cost-effective, National Grid - an energy supplier to about 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New York - has entered into an agreement with Cape Wind to purchase 50 percent of its output.

Cape Wind is a 468 megawatt offshore wind project planned for Nantucket Sound and is expected to go online by the end of 2012. The project is being developed by Energy Management Inc., a New England-based energy company.

Under the terms of the contract - filed this week with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities - beginning in 2013, National Grid plans to purchase 50 percent of the wind farm’s output, including electricity, renewable energy certificates (tradable energy commodities), and other potential market attributes for 20.7 cents per kilowatt hours.

Based on its forecasts of what customers will pay for electricity in 2013, National Grid projects this translate to a total monthly bill increase of $1.59, roughly two percent per month.

“We recognize that all renewable energy, be it on-or-off shore wind, solar or other source has a cost associated with it. Carbon-based generation comes with its own set of long-term costs, such as to our health and our environment,” said Tom King, president of National Grid.

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New Agreement: EU Members to Develop Stricter Building Energy Efficiency Codes By Yearend

With all the cold and snows this winter, many balked at the notion that climate change is real, but there’s one thing that no one can deny- energy efficienct homes and businesses save owners money.

Image courtesy of Tipperary Energy Agency Ltd.

This idea is part of what prompted representatives of the European Parliament and Council to recently agree to “recast,” which is another way of saying amend the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive that originally went into effect 2007.

Right now, it’s estimated that “buildings are responsible for 40 percent of energy consumption and 36 percent of European Union CO2 emissions,” said Andris Piebalgs, newly appointed European Commissioner for Development of Global Health.

“It is estimated that by strengthening the provisions of the directive on energy performance, the EU could achieve a reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 70 percent of the current EU Kyoto target. These improvements could save citizens around 300€ per annum per household in their energy bills, while boosting the construction and building renovation industry in Europe, ” added Piebalgs.

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Public Funding Making Business Sector Solar Retrofits More Viable

Solar Energy Consultant Bob Gentile and large solar array. Photo courtesy of Abundant Energy Inc.

As solar technology in the United States becomes more refined and public funds in the forms of federal grants and state rebates become increasingly available, more and more business are starting to retrofit.

Over the last few months, Florida has seen some of the nation’s biggest growth in the development and use of solar power. Last month, President Barack Obama was on-hand at the Florida Power and Lights DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center as it powered up for the first time.

With more than 90,500 solar panels, the plant is now the largest solar photovoltaic facility in the country, with the capacity to annually generate an estimated 42,000 megawatt-hours or enough power to serve about 3,000 homes.

By early next week, the installation of the largest privately owned solar array in Marin County, Fla. will be completed, according to Derrick Christenson, a real estate associate with Christenson Commercial.

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