Art in post-catastrophic geography. "Don't follow the wind project in Fukushima"

The U.S. wind industry experienced a banner year in 2008, again surpassing even optimistic growth projections from years past. At the same time, the last year has been one of upheaval, with the global financial crisis impacting near-term growth prospects for the wind industry, and with federal policy changes enacted to push the industry towards continued aggressive expansion. This rapid pace of development has made it difficult to keep up with trends in the marketplace. Yet, the need for timely, objective information on the industry and its progress has never been greater. This report - the third of an ongoing annual series - attempts to meet this need by providing a detailed overview of developments and trends in the U.S. wind power market, with a particular focus on 2008. As with previous editions, this report begins with an overview of key wind power installation-related trends: trends in wind capacity growth in the U.S., how that growth compares to other countries and generation sources, the amount and percentage of wind in individual states and serving specific utilities, and the quantity of proposed wind capacity in various interconnection queues in the United States. Next, the report covers an array of wind industry trends, including developments in turbine manufacturer market share, manufacturing and supply-chain investments, wind turbine and wind project size, project financing developments, and trends among wind power developers, project owners, and power purchasers. The report then turns to a discussion of wind project price, cost, and performance trends. In so doing, it reviews the price of wind power in the United States, and how those prices compare to the cost of fossil-fueled generation, as represented by wholesale power prices. It also describes trends in installed wind project costs, wind turbine transaction prices, project performance, and operations and maintenance expenses. Next, the report examines other policy and market factors impacting the domestic wind power market, including federal and state policy drivers, transmission issues, and grid integration. Finally, the report concludes with a preview of possible near- to medium-term market developments. This version of the Annual Report updates data presented in the previous editions, while highlighting key trends and important new developments from 2008. New to this edition is an executive summary of the report and an expanded final section on near- to medium-term market development. The report concentrates on larger-scale wind applications, defined here as individual turbines or projects that exceed 50 kW in size. The U.S. wind power sector is multifaceted, however, and also includes smaller, customer-sited wind turbines used to power the needs of residences, farms, and businesses. Data on these applications are not the focus of this report, though a brief discussion on Distributed Wind Power is provided on page 4. Much of the data included in this report were compiled by Berkeley Lab, and come from a variety of sources, including the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Appendix provides a summary of the many data sources used in the report. Data on 2008 wind capacity additions in the United States are based on information provided by AWEA; some minor adjustments to those data may be expected. In other cases, the data shown here represent only a sample of actual wind projects installed in the United States; furthermore, the data vary in quality. As such, emphasis should be placed on overall trends, rather than on individual data points. Finally, each section of this document focuses on historical market information, with an emphasis on 2008; with the exception of the final section, the report does not seek to forecast future trends.

Problem statement: Wind energy industry is a nonprofit organization that works hands-on with local and community based wind projects, providing technical support to create an understanding of wind energy opportunities for rural economic benefit. This study provides a detailed vision of the global wind power market and the Indian wind market in particular. It also helps in analyzing and forecasting key metrics relating to the installed capacities, market size and growth. Approach: It helps lay the foundation to build markets for locally owned wind projects in the southeast of Tamil Nadu as well as to help rural landowners and communities benefit more from corporate owned wind projects. As part of this effort, this study organizes state, regional and national wind energy for aimed at moving the wind energy policy and project development dialogue forward, especially regarding community wind projects. Results: This study is designed to give an overview of the wind energy industry and the many benefits and challenges to wind power development in India today. Yet most research in the wind industry remains focused on near term issues, while energy system models that focus on century-long time horizons undervalue wind by imposing exogenous limits on growth. This study fills a critical gap in the literature by taking a closer look at the importance, growth and tariff of large-scale wind. The report helps to comprehend the wind turbine industry and the regulatory framework regarding the wind market in India. It offers interesting results on the market share of the top manufacturers in the India wind turbine industry. Additionally, it also provides the profiles of ten major wind turbine companies in India. Conclusion/Recommendations: This has been an ongoing process to discover the best combination for a given environment in which the wind turbine has to operate and with various challenges met, India would be in a better position to develop and carry forward its own determined initiatives to better the prospects of the wind turbine technology in the coming years. This sectoral innovation systems framework is especially useful tool for analyzing the growth of wind turbine industry and in its essence to preserve the environment with reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Texas has seen a rapid decline in coal use in recent years, but still burns more coal and emits more carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide than any other state. Coal’s share of power generation in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system that covers most of the state fell to 20 percent in 2019, while wind grew to 20 percent and solar to 2 percent. Here, we investigate the potential for new wind and solar projects already proposed in the ERCOT interconnection queue as of June 2020 to replace the coal power that remained in 2019. The Wind Integration National Data Set (WIND) Toolkit is used to simulate the output of each wind project, and the System Advisor Model to simulate solar output, for 3 years of meteorological conditions. Mixed integer cost-optimization modeling finds that a portfolio of just 72 of the 108 wind projects and 42 of the 262 solar projects in the queue would be sufficient to replace most coal generation in ERCOT, leaving 10 percent of coal output uncovered and generating larger surpluses at other times. The complementary timing of solar and wind in Texas, with sunshine peaking midday and winds peaking overnight in the west and on summer evenings near the coast, enables these high levels of displacement to be achieved. In fact, the wind and solar portfolio would outproduce retired coal on summer afternoons when demand peaks, leaving small gaps in evenings and shoulder seasons when demand is lower.

The feasibility of near-term renewable targets will depend upon the time taken to get projects completed. Very few studies assess total project lead-times for renewable energy projects. This study investigates the determinants of lead-times for 170 onshore wind and solar PV projects completed in Australia between 2000 and 2023. We track multiple project stages and estimate the impacts of changes in ownership, experience, approval processes, rule changes, and a commissioning process that differs by size of generation. Australia has had a notable improvement in lead-times. Solar projects that commenced before 2010 had an average lead-time of 83 months (min: 63, max: 102). This decreased to 41 months for solar projects (min: 19, max: 75) that commenced after 2016. Onshore wind projects took longer to develop. Project lead-times were 136 months (min: 50, max: 200) when they commenced before 2005. This decreased to 53 months (min: 20, max: 85) for projects starting after 2016. Pre-construction lead-times decreased notably for both solar and wind, which implies that the approval process did improve. There is evidence from one jurisdiction that this did occur, particularly for onshore wind projects. Over the same period, commissioning lead-times were similar for wind projects but have increased for solar projects. On average, commissioning took up to 7 months longer after a change in the re-iterative process of tests and equipment changes to meet generator performance standards. Changes in project ownership occurred often (38% of projects) but this had little impact on lead-times. Accurate estimates of lead-times are important for investors, project-owners and policymakers. Yet, they are rarely reported.

Social implications of siting wind energy in a disadvantaged region – The case of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico

지구온난화 문제에 대한 대책으로 녹색 사업에 대한 관심과 투자가 높아지고 있다. 국내 건설 기업들도 기존 토목 및 건축 공종에서 신재생에너지 사업으로 영역을 확대해 나가고자 한다. 그러나 신재생에너지 사업은 투자경제성이 검증되지 않고 건설 기업들은 관련 리스크에 대해 명확히 인지하지 못하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 녹색 건설 사업의 일환으로 국내에서 수행되고 청정개발체제(CDM)사업으로 등록된 신재생에너지 사업의 투자경제성에 관한 단계별 분석을 수행하였다. 1단계에서는 UNFCCC에 등록된 국내 CDM 사업을 대상으로 분석을 수행하였으며, 그 결과 평균 IRR은 -3.19%로 사업들의 수익성이 저조한 것을 파악하였다. 2단계에서는 사업별(태양광, 풍력, 수력, 매립가스)로 IRR이 가장 낮은 사업을 선정하여 국내의 발전차액지원제도(FiT)와 탄소배출권(CER)판매를 통한 추가 수입을 적용하여 수익성 향상 여부를 정량적으로 분석하였다. 그 결과 투자경제성이 있는 사업은 매립 가스 및 풍력 사업이었으며 두 보조방안에도 불구하고 태양광 및 수력 사업은 수익성이 없었다. 또한 사업별로 보조방안의 비중이 상이한 것을 볼 수 있었는데 특히 FiT는 태양광, CER판매는 매립가스 사업이 가장 혜택을 보았다. 이에 비해 풍력 및 수력 사업은 보조방안으로 인한 추가 수입이 적은 것을 파악하였다. 4개의 대상 사업 중 매립가스의 IRR이 가장 개선되었으나 풍력사업이 NPV가 가장 높고 보조방안에 대한 의존도가 낮아 투자매력도가 좋은 사업으로 드러났다. 건설 기업들은 신재생에너지 관련 기술이 성숙하면서 경쟁력이 높아짐에 따라 장기적 관점에서 관련 사업에 투자와 경험을 구축하는 것이 중요할 것으로 판단된다. Green infrastructure projects have the potential to reduce global warming and deliver sustainable energy solutions. Recently, the construction industry has been expanding their portfolios in New and Renewable (NRE) projects. However, the economic feasibility of NRE projects have not been validated and construction companies are not acquainted with their associated risks. This research performed a two-tiered feasibility study of the domestic projects registered for CDM in the UNFCCC. The first phase involved calculating the average IRR and NPV of the domestic CDM projects, which showed that their profitability to be very low. In the second phase, four NRE projects (Solar, Wind, Hydro, Landfill Gas) were selected and additional income generated from Feed-in-Tariff and CER sales were added to determine the improvements in the projects' IRR and NPV. Results indicate that Solar and Landfill Gas projects benefited the most from the two support mechanisms, while benefits to Wind and Hydro projects were minimal. While the Landfill Gas project had the highest IRR, the Wind project was the most investment attractive due to its NPV and minimal dependency on FiT and CER sales. Construction companies should enter into NRE projects with a long term view as related technologies mature.

DNV Renewables (USA) Inc. (DNV KEMA) received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop the curriculum for a series of short courses intended to address Topic Area 5 A¢Â€Â“ Workforce Development, one of the focus areas to achieve the goals outlined in 20% Wind by 2030: Increasing Wind EnergyA¢Â€Â™s Contribution to Electricity Supply. The aim of the curriculum development project was to provide material for instructors to use in a training program to help professionals transition into careers in wind energy. Under this grant DNV KEMA established a A¢Â€Âœknowledge boostingA¢Â€Â program for the wind energy industry with the following objectives: 1. Develop technical training curricula and teaching materials for six key topic areas that can be implemented in a flexible format by a knowledgeable instructor. The topic areas form a foundation that can be leveraged for subsequent, more detailed learning modules (not developed in this program). 2. Develop an implementation guidance document to accompany the curricula outlining key learning objectives, implementation methods, and guidance for utilizing the curricula. This curriculum is intended to provide experienced trainers course material that can be used to provide course participants with a basic background in wind energy and wind projectmore » development. The curriculum addresses all aspects of developing a wind project, that when implemented can be put to use immediately, making the participant an asset to U.S. wind industry employers. The curriculum is comprised of six short modules, together equivalent in level of content to a one-semester college-level course. The student who completes all six modules should be able to understand on a basic level what is required to develop a wind project, speak with a reasonable level of confidence about such topics as wind resource assessment, energy assessment, turbine technology and project economics, and contribute to the analysis and review of project information. The content of the curriculum is based on DNV KEMAA¢Â€Â™s extensive experience in consulting and falls under six general topics: 1. Introduction to wind energy 2. Wind resource and energy assessment 3. Wind turbine systems and components 4. Wind turbine installation, integration, and operation 5. Feasibility studies 6. Project economics Each general topic (module) covers 10-15 sub-topics. Representatives from industry provided input on the design and content of the modules as they were developed. DNV KEMA developed guidance documents to accompany the training curricula and materials in order to facilitate usage of the curricula in a manner consistent with industries requirements. Internal and external pilot trainings using selections of the curriculum provided valuable feedback that was then used to modify and improve the material and make it more relevant to participants. The pilot trainings varied in their content and intensity, and each served as an opportunity for the trainers to better understand which techniques proved to be the most successful for accelerated learning. In addition, the varied length and content of the trainings, which were adjusted to suit the focus and budget for each particular situation, highlight the flexibility of the format. The material developed under this program focused primarily on onshore wind project development. The course material could be extended in the future to address the unique aspects of offshore project development.« less

The federal government and many states have recognized and are addressing the disconnect between extensive federal- and state-level incentives to promote distributed wind and solar power and outmoded local permitting and zoning procedures that impede installation of generation equipment. Federal renewable energy production incentives, loans, grants, and tax credits, and state renewable portfolio standards, tax rebates, and feed-in tariffs are all designed to encourage development of renewable energy facilities. Yet it is municipal and county governments that typically oversee the siting and installation of small- to mid-scale wind and solar projects.

"Community wind" refers to a class of wind energy ownership structures. The extent of local ownership may range from a small minority share to full ownership by persons in the immediate area surrounding the wind project site. Potential project owners include local farmers, businesses, Native American tribes, universities, cooperatives, or any other local entity seeking to invest in wind energy. The opposite of community wind is an "absentee" project, in which ownership is completely removed from the state and community surrounding the facility. Thus, there is little or no ongoing direct financial benefit to state and local populations aside from salaries for local repair technicians, local property tax payments, and land lease payments. In recent years, the community wind sector has been inhibited by manufacturers' preference for larger turbine orders. This often puts smaller community wind developers and projects at a competitive disadvantage. However, state policies specifically supporting community wind may become a more influential market factor as turbines are now more readily available given manufacturer ramp-ups and the slow-down in the industry that has accompanied the recent economic and financial crises. This report examines existing literature to provide an overview of economic impacts resulting from community wind projects, compares results, and explains variability.

This study presents a comprehensive investment analysis framework comparing onshore and offshore wind projects with traditional and modular nuclear projects. We assess investment potential excluding and including government financial support, akin to the system implemented in France. Results demonstrate that onshore wind projects rank as the most appealing investment option without government support, followed by offshore wind projects. In specific circumstances, modular nuclear projects prove more attractive based on specific metrics. Surprisingly, French government support tilts the scales, favoring offshore wind projects over onshore wind projects. To achieve investment parity with the most attractive wind project, modular nuclear power plants must receive a feed-in premium similar to that offered to offshore wind projects, leveraging their advantage of shorter construction times over wind projects.

Section 9006 of Title IX of The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (the '2002 Farm Bill') established the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program (the 'Section 9006 program'). Administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Section 9006 program provides grants, loan guarantees, and - perhaps in the future - direct loans to farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses for assistance with purchasing renewable energy systems and making energy efficiency improvements. In the three rounds of Section 9006 funding to date (FY03-FY05), roughly 40% of all grant dollars in aggregate have been awarded to 'large' (defined as > 100 kW) wind projects. Such projects are also typically eligible for the Federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) codified in Section 45 of the US tax code. Because the PTC provides a significant amount of value to a wind project, most 'large wind' applicants to the Section 9006 program have also tried to take advantage of the PTC. Through what are known as 'anti-double-dipping' or, more colloquially, 'haircut' provisions, however, the size of the PTC is reduced if a project receives certain other forms of governmental support. Specifically, Section 45(b)(3) of the US tax code reduces the size of the PTC in proportion to the aggregate amount of government grants, tax-exempt or subsidized financing, or other Federal tax credits that a project receives over time, relative to its overall capital cost (with the proportion not to exceed 50%). The legislative and regulatory history surrounding the PTC's haircut provisions suggests that grants and direct loans (but not loan guarantees) provided under the Section 9006 program will cause a PTC haircut. Focusing exclusively on 'large wind' projects, this report demonstrates that the magnitude of the haircut can be significant: Section 9006 grants lose between 11% and 46% of their face value (depending on the wind project's capital cost and capacity factor) to PTC haircuts. And because Section 9006 grants are most likely considered taxable income, an additional 20%-37% (depending on tax bracket) is lost to income tax payments on the grant. In combination, depending on the specific combination of tax bracket, capital cost, and capacity factor that pertain to a given wind project, the percentage of a Section 9006 grant lost to both income tax payments and the PTC haircut can range from 31% to 83% of the dollar value of the grant. Our base-case scenario falls in the middle of that range, at a combined loss of 58% (37% due to income tax payments, and 21% due to PTC haircut). Add to this the transaction costs of applying for a Section 9006 grant, as well as the possibility of an unsuccessful application, and some might be left with relatively little motivation to apply.

The theme of the work in this quarter was community-based wind and locally owned wind projects. The work Windustry has done is just beginning to touch the heart of the matter for a hugely interested audience of rural landowners and rural communities. We revised and published a Windustry Newsletter on two farmer owned wind projects called Minwind I and Minwind II. This article was largely researched and written last quarter but the principal individuals that organized the wind projects didn't want any more farmers calling them up than they already had, so they urged us to put a hold on the article or not publish it. This presented a unique problem for Windustry. Up to this point, we had not dealt with generating too much attention for a wind energy project. The story of a group of farmers and individuals pooling their resources for two locally owned commercial-scale wind projects is very compelling and the organizers of the projects were getting a great deal of attention from other farmers that want more details on the project. However, the organizers committed a large amount of their own resources toward the set up of this project which took many hours with their legal counsel and they did not have the capacity or the desire to provide answers for all the other farmers and individuals who were requesting information. Windustry worked with the business entity and did not publish the newsletter until we resolved some of the problems with the high level of interest in this project. Windustry resolved to address this issue by creating a custom track in the state and regional wind energy conference held in Minneapolis, November 21-22, 2002. There were a few sessions in the Landowner and Citizen Workshops track that were specifically created to talk about the ''how-to's for rural landowners to put together their own projects. Also, the conference's Community-Based Wind track addressed what makes a good project and what moneylenders are looking for when they evaluate wind projects. All of this contributed to the general knowledge base for other farmers to understand what it takes to put together their own wind energy enterprise. In a limited way, Windustry is beginning to define, differentiate and explore new types of wind energy business models. A good initial step is defining community-based wind as projects that are publicly owned--by a municipality, a rural electric coop, a county, or public entity like a school system, or hospital or jail. Ultimately, this work will lead to new materials on wind energy business models for rural landowners and communities.

Experts predict continuing deployment of wind turbines in the United States, which will create more interactions between turbines and surrounding communities. Policymakers can benefit from analyses of existing wind projects that enable them to better understand likely effects on residents around proposed projects. Our analysis of a randomly drawn, representative national survey of 1705 existing U.S. wind project neighbors provides previously unavailable detail about factors influencing the attitudes of these neighbors toward their local wind projects. Overall, we find positive-leaning attitudes, which improve over time as individuals self-select into communities near existing wind projects. Hearing wind turbines leads to less-positive attitudes, although living very near to turbines does not, nor does seeing wind turbines. In fact, our findings suggest complex relationships among nearby residents’ attitudes, their perceptions about the particular fit of turbines within their landscape and community, and their perceptions of wind project impacts on property values. These findings—along with the positive correlation between perceived planning-process fairness and attitude—suggest areas of focus for wind project development that may influence social outcomes and acceptance of wind energy. The concluding discussion provides a number of policy and future research recommendations based on the research.

Keep wind projects close? A case study of distance, culture, and cost in offshore and onshore wind energy siting

Author(s): Wiser, Ryan H; Bolinger, Mark | Abstract: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Wind Technologies Market Report provides an annual overview of trends in the U.S. wind power market. Highlights of this year’s report include: -Wind power capacity additions continued at a rapid pace in 2017: $11 billion was invested in new wind power plants in 2017. In 2017, wind energy contributed 6.3% of the nation’s electricity supply, more than 10% of total electricity generation in fourteen states, and more than 30% in four of those states—Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. -Bigger turbines are enhancing wind project performance: Increased blade lengths have dramatically increased wind project capacity factors, one measure of project performance, and taller towers appear to be on the horizon. The average 2017 capacity factor among projects built from 2014 through 2016 was 42%, compared to an average of 31.5% among projects built from 2004 to 2011 and 23.5% among projects built from 1998 to 2001. -Low wind turbine pricing continues to push down installed project costs: Wind turbine prices have fallen from their highs in 2008 to $750–$950/kW. Overall, the average installed cost of wind projects in 2017 was $1,610/kW, down $795/kW from the peak in 2009 and 2010. -Wind energy prices remain low: After topping out at 7¢/kWh for power purchase agreements (PPAs) executed in 2009, the national average price of wind PPAs has dropped to around 2¢/kWh—though this nationwide average is dominated by projects that hail from the lowest-priced Interior region of the country (such as Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas). These prices, which are possible in part due to federal tax support, compare favorably to the projected future fuel costs of gas-fired generation. -The domestic supply chain for wind equipment is diverse: Wind sector employment reached a new high of more than 105,000 full-time workers at the end of 2017. For wind projects recently installed in the U.S., domestically manufactured content is highest for nacelle assembly (g90%), towers (70-90%), and blades and hubs (50-70%), but is much lower (l20%) for most components internal to the turbine. -Continued strong growth in wind capacity is anticipated in the near term: With federal tax incentives still available, various forecasts for the domestic market show expected wind power capacity additions of 8,000 to 11,000 MW/year from 2018 to 2020, with market contraction anticipated beginning in 2021 as those tax incentives are phased out.