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European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 28 January | 94 comments (94 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Living off the Planet (4.00 / 3)
Wind energy making new inroads, building on success | AWEA
The U.S. wind industry installed just over 6,810 megawatts (MW) in 2011, 31 percent higher than 2010, and has more than 8,300 MW under construction, setting the stage for a strong 2012.

While California topped the list for megawatts installed in 2011 with 921, Illinois also had a very strong 2011, coming in with the second most megawatts installed for the year and rising to #4 on the overall list. Other traditional stalwarts like Iowa, Minnesota and Oklahoma rounded out the top five. Ohio came in as the fastest growing wind power state in 2011 with 101 megawatts installed leading to a more than 900% growth rate. Meanwhile, South Dakota joined Iowa as the states receiving the highest percentage of their electricity from wind with 20%. Overall, 30 states brought wind projects online in 2011 and construction is ongoing for 2012 projects in 31 states including the first wind projects in Nevada, Connecticut and Puerto Rico.



*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Fri Jan 27th, 2012 at 01:16:04 PM EST
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Re: Living off the Planet (4.00 / 4)
Jahresbilanz Windenergie 2011: Deutscher Markt wächst wieder | Bundesverband WindEnergie e.V.Annual results for wind power 2011: German market is growing again | German Federal Wind Energy Association
Nach aktuellen Erhebungen des Deutschen Windenergie-Instituts (DEWI) wurden 2011 in Deutschland 895 (2010: 754) Windenergieanlagen mit einer Leistung von 2.007 (2010: 1.551) Megawatt neu installiert. Das sind 456 MW mehr als 2010 und entspricht einem Zuwachs von 30 Prozent gegenüber dem Vorjahr. Da die Datenerhebung der europäischen Windstatistik angepasst werden soll, werden zukünftig nur noch an das Netz angeschlossene Anlagen berücksichtigt. Betrachtet man die an das Netz angeschlossene Leistung von 2.086 Megawatt in 2011 gegenüber 1.493 Megawatt in 2010 liegt der Zuwachs bei fast 40 Prozent.According to recent surveys by the German Wind Energy Institute (DEWI), in 2011, 895 (2010: 754) new turbines have been installed in Germany with a combined power capacity of 2,007 megawatts (2010: 1551 megawatts). This is 456 MW more than in 2010, or an increase of 30 percent over the previous year. Since data collection is to be adjusted to European wind statistics, in the future, only grid-connected installations will be considered. Looking at the grid-connected power of 2086 megawatts in 2011 against 1493 megawatts in 2010, the growth is almost 40 percent.
...Der Deutsche Windenergiezubau liegt voraussichtlich im Trend des Weltmarktes. In 2011 könnten die prognostizierten 40.000 Megawatt um rund 2.000 Megawatt überschritten werden. Fast die Hälfte davon wurde - wie auch schon 2010 - in China installiert....German wind installations probably follow the world market trend. In 2011, the predicted 40,000 megawatts will likely be exceeded by about 3,000 megawatts. Almost half of that - as in 2010 already - were installed in China.


*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Fri Jan 27th, 2012 at 01:16:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Living off the Planet (4.00 / 7)
Some perspective on the two posts, but first some news.

Today divers at one of Germany's offshore projects found the body of a missing worker at the base of foundation pile. The 31 year old worker was one of two who plunged into the sea during a construction accident, the other quickly rescued. This is to underscore that offshore wind involves very heavy machinery and vessels, in a complex operation, which in terms of scale during construction is like offshore oil and gas. Condolences to a brave worker.

The AWEA release underscores the negative effect of fracking on the wind industry. While the figures of 6.8 gigawatts installed are an increase over the 5.1 gigs installed in 2010, this should be compared to the 10+ gigs installed in 2009. The 2011 figures also reflect the last year of the DoE's Cash Grants Program, or it would have been even lower. Underneath the news is the poor financial state of the industry, due to the severe drop in turbine prices undercutting margins, for companies across the board.

In Germany, because of a change of European statistics, some 10% of 20010 installations were moved to 2011 when they were grid-connected. For the first times, there began to be significant growth in the south, in Bavaria and Rheinland-Pfalz with 165 and 258 MWs respectively. But onshore is not pushed hard enough here yet, though repowering is beginning to take hold.

More importantly, several of the northern states reached into the high 40's % of electrical demand met. Sachsen-Anhalt, Brandenberg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were all between 48% and 46% of annual net demand. The very populous state of Lower Saxony hit 25% of demand.

The city-state of Bremen even has a cumulative capacity of 141 MWs, within the city limits, equating to 4.7%  of electrical demand. For A City!

Germany in total now has some 29 gigs, compared to 40 gigs for amurka. There are 200 MWs offshore in Germany. The average turbine installed this year was 2.24 MWs, and a quarter of all turbines had rotor diameters greater than 90 meters. Enercon had nearly 60% market share.



"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Fri Jan 27th, 2012 at 04:51:58 PM EST
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Re: Living off the Planet (none / 1)
What caught my eye most was that Siemens's share is practically nil.

Regarding off-shore wind, what level of installations do you expect this year and the next? When can annual installations get into the GW territory?

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Fri Jan 27th, 2012 at 07:24:59 PM EST
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Re: Living off the Planet (none / 1)
And the company they bought to enter manufacturing, Bonus, was once significant in Germany. It's not because of Siemens' technology, but that Enercon's long term management guarantees have won the market for now. Siemens is focused eslewhere, though i'll bet that changes.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Fri Jan 27th, 2012 at 07:31:41 PM EST
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Re: Living off the Planet (none / 0)
bbbbut... what about those poor birds?

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sat Jan 28th, 2012 at 10:34:17 AM EST
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European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 28 January | 94 comments (94 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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