Wind Farm Towers Take Local Turn (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Tower Tech Systems of Manitowoc will build 90 steel towers for Wisconsin's largest wind farm, as We Energies adds a "buy-local" flavor to its renewable energy project near Madison.

The Manitowoc maker of wind turbine towers will build the 262-foot tall towers for turbine maker Vestas. The turbines will be erected next year in Columbia County at the $367 million Glacier Hills Wind Park.

For its part, Vestas is ramping up production of turbines, blades and towers at factories in Colorado. But for this project, Vestas opted to work with Tower Tech Systems, a Manitowoc company that's part of the wind component firm Broadwind Energy Inc. Including factories in Texas and South Dakota, Tower Tech is the third largest producer of wind towers in North America.

Click here to read the full article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel online.

6/24 Wind Power Happy Hour Recap

Photo: Dana Enz (Renewegy), Kellee Venden (Alliant Energy) and Ann Duginske (The New North) at the 6/24 Wind Power Happy Hour.

Special thanks to everyone who made it out to Royal St. Patrick's Golf Club in Wrightstown last night. We ended up with 30 attendees who came out to hear Kellee Venden from Alliant Energy and Jeff Ehlers from Renewegy.

Kellee outlined how Alliant Energy continues to be a leader in their current renewable portfolio for Wisconsin as well as other states where they provide services, as well as seeking out new opportunities for the future. Our thanks to Alliant for their financial sponsorships of our events, and for their continued participation in our efforts.

Jeff's presentation focused on how Renewegy is positioning itself in the small to medium sized turbine market for corporate offices, public buildings and eventually the agricultural market. Renewegy's product offers unique benefits including online performance monitoring and self-erecting towers. Renewegy is a great Wisconsin company that has found a niche in the wind market, and has tremendous growth potential. (Read more about their project with SCA Tissue in a previous story in this blog.)

Photo: Steve Sletten from PBS&J and Jerry Murphy from the New North demonstrate a proven networking technique at the June Wind Power Happy Hour.

Upcoming events:

- Next Wind Power Happy Hour will be in Milwaukee tentatively set for July 28th. Speakers and location to be announced.

- Wisconsin Wind Works Alliance Supply Chain Conference is scheduled for Oct. 13th at the Frontier Airlines Center (formerly Midwest Airlines Center) in Downtown Milwaukee. Additional information on this event will be made available in the coming months.

MSTC to offer green classes (Stevens Point Journal)

Mid-State Technical College will begin offering this fall certificate courses in renewable energy aimed at giving displaced workers additional skills to make them more marketable. The programs are in five emerging renewable industries that not all journey workers have training in. Mid-State hasn't begun officially accepting applications for the program, and only last week hired the case worker who will screen applicants and fill the classes. Though classes start in late August, likely at the Wisconsin Rapids campus, there should be plenty of demand for the 15 slots in each program.

Click here to read the full article from the Stevens Point Journal.

SCA Tissue bets on wind to power its Town of Menasha office needs (Appleton Post-Crescent)

TOWN OF MENASHA — SCA Tissue is at the forefront of renewable energy applications and looking for more opportunities.

On Monday, the papermaker installed the first of four 100-foot-tall, 20-kilowatt wind turbines outside the SCA Tissue Service Excellence Center offices at 1451 McMahon Drive as part of a $300,000 project. The turbines [manufactured and installed by Renewegy out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin) with the 15-foot blades tower over the building, which has rooftop solar panels that were installed a few years ago.

Photo by Joe Sienkiewicz

Once in place, the four turbines will produce 100 to 125 megawatt-hours annually, enough to power 10 to 12 homes each year, but the electricity is being used exclusively in the office building.

Click here to read the full article in the Appleton Post-Crescent.

Click here to view a series of photos from the installation of the Renewegy Turbines from the Appleton Post-Crescent.

Click here for more information on Renewegy.

Wisconsin selects company for plant conversion (Bloomberg Business Week)

MADISON, Wis. - The Boldt Co. of Appleton has been selected by the state to convert a power plant on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus from coal-burning to biomass.

Read the full article at Bloomberg Business Week.

[Blogger's Note: Boldt continues to be a leader in renewable energy projects. Congratulations to them for being selected for this project.]

UW Madison Wind Energy Speaker Series Continues on 6/25

On Friday, June 25th, at 1:00 in room 5120 of Grainger Hall, we will be joined by Paul Schechter from Horizon Wind, out of Houston, TX. Paul will talk about the growth of Horizon Wind, future expansion plans, relationships with suppliers, trends in the industry and what needs to be done to see wind grow even faster in the US and WI.

Paul is the second speaker in the Wind Energy Speaker Series, which is a product of the CleanTech Thought Leaders Series. Our focus this summer is on the manufacturing side of the large wind industry. WI has attracted a number of major manufacturers in the wind sector and we want to hear from those companies, understand what attracted them to WI and look at additional opportunities for the state in the future. The speaker series is sponsored by the Business, Environment & Social Responsibility Program at the WI School of Business, the City of Sun Prairie Office of Economic Development and the Energy Institute at UW.

We will meet in our regular room at 5120 Grainger Hall. The event is free and designed as much for community members as it is for students.

Please register at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFFsakllb3FieEhqRmZGRWgycTYzZ1E6MQ for Paul's talk beginning at 1:00 pm on June 25th. Each of the Friday sessions will conclude no later than 2:15.

Additional information is available from Tom Eggert at 608 267-2761 or teggert@bus.wisc.edu.

Thank you all for your interest in CleanTech and these community forums!

Upcoming Wind Energy Sector Events - Week of June 21st

1) Wind Power Happy Hour This Thursday June 24th (Green Bay/Appleton Area)

What: Wind Power Happy Hour (Hosted in partnership with the Wisconsin Wind Works Alliance)

When: June 24th, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. (Presentations at 5:00 p.m.)

Where:
Royal St. Patrick Golf Course
201 Royal Saint Pat's Drive
Wrightstown, WI 54180-1261
(920) 532-4300
www.royalstpatricks.com/

Speakers/Topics:

Industry Topic - Alliant Energy's Renewable Energy Portfolio (Speaker to be announced)

Company Spotlight - Renewegy LLC, Jeff Ehlers President (http://www.renewegy.com/)

Cost: None to attend (Cash bar)

RSVP to Neil Stechschulte at nstechschulte@cityofsunprairie.com or (608) 825-0894

2) Wind Energy Community Forum Speaking Series Continues Friday June 24th, Featuring Paul Schechter from Horizon Wind (Houston, TX)

On Friday, June 25th, at 1:00 in room 5120 of Grainger Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we will be joined by Paul Schechter from Horizon Wind, out of Houston, TX. Paul will talk about the growth of Horizon Wind, future expansion plans, relationships with suppliers, trends in the industry and what needs to be done to see wind grow even faster in the US and WI.

Paul is the second speaker in the Wind Energy Speaker Series, which is a product of the CleanTech Thought Leaders Series. Our focus this summer is on the manufacturing side of the large wind industry. WI has attracted a number of major manufacturers in the wind sector and we want to hear from those companies, understand what attracted them to WI and look at additional opportunities for the state in the future.

The speaker series is sponsored by the Business, Environment & Social Responsibility Program at the WI School of Business, the City of Sun Prairie Office of Economic Development and the Energy Institute at UW.

We will meet in our regular room at 5120 Grainger Hall. The event is free and designed as much for community members as it is for students.

Please register at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFFsakllb3FieEhqRmZGRWgycTYzZ1E6MQ for Paul's talk beginning at 1:00 pm on June 25th. Each of the Friday sessions will conclude no later than 2:15.

Additional information is available from Tom Eggert at 608 267-2761 or teggert@bus.wisc.edu.

2010 Wind Energy Speaker Series - UW School of Business

The University of Wisconsin School of Business and the City of Sun Prairie Office of Economic Development announce the Wind Energy Speaker Series to be held on Fridays during Summer 2010. This speaker series grows out of the "CleanTech Thought Leaders Community Forums" that Tom Eggert has been offering for the last two years.

Because of the growing interest and expertise in the wind industry sector in Wisconsin, this series will focus on the Wind Sector opportunities and obstacles for the summer.

Speakers will present most Fridays from 1:00 - 2:15 pm in room 5120 of Grainger Hall. The companies that will be presenting include Horizon Wind, Energy Composites, Tower Tech, Mortenson Construction and others. A full schedule for the summer will be provided.

The first speaker will be on Friday, June 18th when Tom will provide a broad overview of the wind sector, the growth of jobs in companies that supply the wind sector, and the efforts that Wisconsin is putting into attracting wind companies to Wisconsin. There will also be time to draw on knowledge that participants will bring to the sessions.

Please feel free to forward this to others that may be interested. If you anticipate attending the session on June 18th, please register at:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDFBdmwwalB1TFM2dEpuX25MTDdkQ2c6MQ

There is no cost, but we would like to make sure that the room will accommodate all that sign up.

Questions, please contact:

Thomas L Eggert, Esq.
Co-Director of the Business, Environment and Social Responsibility Program
University of Wisconsin School of Business
5277 Grainger Hall
975 University Ave
Madison, WI 53706
Phone:(608) 267-2761
Fax: (608) 267-9305
e-mail: teggert@bus.wisc.edu
http://www.bus.wisc.edu/sustainability

We look forward to seeing you there!

Vestas Conducting Offshore, Energy-Storage Research Projects (North American Windpower)

Vestas has announced two research and development (R&D) projects. One involves cost-effective deepwater foundations for large offshore wind turbines. Vestas is also working on an intelligent energy management system that will introduce energy storage into a wind power plant.

The goal of the offshore project is to be able to design, construct and build cost-effective deepwater jacket foundations for very large wind turbines located far offshore in water depths of up to 70 meters.

The intelligent energy management system for a virtual power plant will introduce energy storage into a wind power plant as an optional component for enhanced power generation control.

Click here to read the full article from North American Windpower.

Click here to read the press release from Vestas.

AMSC, HHI To Develop 5 MW Offshore Turbine (North American Windpower)

American Superconductor Corp. (AMSC) and South Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (HHI) have expanded their strategic alliance to include the joint development of a 5 MW full-conversion wind turbine primarily for use in the offshore wind industry.

Click here to read the full article in North American Windpower.

Click here for more information on American Superconductor.

Click here for more information on Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.

Next Wind Power Happy Hour Thursday June 24th

What: Wind Power Happy Hour (Hosted in partnership with the Wisconsin Wind Works Alliance)

When: June 24th, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. (Presentations at 5:00 p.m.)

Where:

Royal St. Patrick Golf Course
201 Royal Saint Pat's Drive
Wrightstown, WI 54180-1261
(920) 532-4300
www.royalstpatricks.com/

Speakers/Topics:

Industry Topic - Alliant Energy's Renewable Energy Portfolio (Speaker to be announced)

Company Spotlight - Renewegy LLC, Jeff Ehlers President (http://www.renewegy.com/)

Cost: None to attend (Cash bar)

RSVP: Required RSVP by Tues. June 22nd via email to nstechschulte[at]cityofsunpraririe.com or by calling (608) 825-0894, or online by clicking here.

Job and Economic Development Impacts (JEDI) Analysis in the Great Lakes Region (Great Lakes Wind Collaborative)

WEBINAR: Job and Economic Development Impacts (JEDI) Analysis in the Great Lakes Region Sponsored by the GLWC Economic Development Workgroup

June 22, 2010 - 2:00 p.m. EDT; 1:00 p.m. CDT; Noon MDT

The Jobs and Economic Development Impacts (JEDI) model is a user friendly tool which can produce an analysis of the economic benefits of wind energy in a state, region or community. Join us on June 22 to learn how to use this model and hear how the model's results have been applied in the Great Lakes region.

Click here to register for this webinar.

Getting Prepared: Economic Development in a Transforming Energy Economy (iedconline.org)

Now more than ever, economic development has to adapt to a volatile energy market and policies that are emerging to shape that market, a process that holds both opportunities and challenges. While the specifics of the transition to a low-carbon economy are still being debated both nationally and internationally, it appears likely that some type of cap and trade or carbon pricing will emerge. A price on carbon will hold significant implications for U.S. industries, regions and the nation as a whole. This report is intended to help economic developers and those in related fields think about how they can position their economies to benefit from the transition.

Click here to download the full report and other companion reports at IEDConline.org.

Upcoming Events (Various)

2010 Small Wind Conference
June 15-16th, 2010
Ramada Inn, 1501 North Point Drive Stevens Point, WI
http://www.smallwindconference.com/news.php

21st Annual Energy Fair
June 18-20, 2010
ReNew the Earth Institute, 7558 Deer Rd., Custer, WI
http://www.the-mrea.org/energy_fair.php

Freshwater Wind Conference
July 19-21, 2010
Wyndham Cleveland at Playhouse Square, Cleveland, OH http://www.infocastinc.com/index.php/conference/312

Village of Cashton OK's Cashton Greens Wind Project (RENEW Wisconsin)

Renew Wisconsin reports that the Cashton Greens Wind project was given the green light on June 2nd by the Village of Cashton to proceed. Current plans are to erect two Vestas V100 turbines (1.8 MW) just inside village limits near Organic Valley Cooperative's distribution center. The Cashton Greens wind project is a joint venture involving Organic Valley Cooperative, Gundersen Lutheran, and Western Technical College. W.E.S. Engineering's Wes Slaymaker is the project engineer. Cullen, Weston, Pines & Bach has provided legal services to the project participants.

Click here for the original press release from Organic Valley describing the project. (March 2010).

Europe Launches 10-year Research & Development Plan for Wind Energy (North American Clean

As the Spanish EU Presidency launched the ‘European Wind Initiative (EWI) – a €6 billion ten year research and development roadmap for the wind energy sector – the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said that, if properly funded, it would give European companies a competitive boost.

Click here to read the full article at nacleanenergy.com.

Government Support for Offshore Wind: What can the US learn from Europe? (North American Clean Energy)

Most forms of utility scale renewable power would not be cost effective without government incentives. As the US moves towards the goal of sourcing its needs from an intelligent “energy supply mix,” harnessing the winds of coastal America must be on the agenda. Europe has already set the stage by developing effective policy alternatives to support offshore wind. The US is in a unique position to cherry-pick the most promising approach.

Click here to read the full article from nacleanenergy.com.

Top Obstacles to Wind Growth: Lack of financing & national energy policy (North American Clean Energy)

Business advocates of the US wind market point to the lack of financing and the lack of a national energy policy as the top obstacles to growth, according to the 2010 US. Wind Industry Monitor. The 2010 US Wind Industry Monitor is an opinion poll conducted by Droege & Comp., an international management consultancy offering an energy competency, and Gibbs & Soell, an independent global public relations firm with communications expertise in advanced manufacturing, energy, greentech and sustainable industries. Nearly 60 professionals representing various enterprises serving the wind industry participated in the poll.

• Respondents identified the lack of financing (72%), lack of national energy policy (67%), and lack of transmission (54%) as “important” or “very important” main obstacles to business growth.
• Despite the ongoing challenges, most respondents forecasted growth for their U.S. businesses in 2010 (69.6%), 2011 (83%), and 2012 (84.6%).
• Generating heightened visibility among stakeholders is critically important for sparking growth in the mature wind industry market. Sales and marketing efforts (67%) were identified by participants as an “important” or “very important” strategic activity for 2010.

Click here to read the full article at nacleanenergy.com.

ZBB Battery Technology Featured in Wisconsin Bioproduct Scratch Sheet Newsletter (Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence)

The sun doesn't always shine, the wind doesn't always blow, and the clean energy market is slowly but surely gaining notice. Local company ZBB, based in Menomonee Falls, is firmly in both the public eye and the midst of the growing green energy sector. ZBB manufactures zinc bromide batteries, or flow batteries, which are designed to store and deliver alternative power when wind or solar energy are not directly available. Consumers can use these batteries during peak electric hours, at night or in calm weather, lessening reliance on traditional utility grids. Currently, version 2 of ZBB's flow battery is being manufactured, while version 3, which will have a significantly lower manufacturing cost than previous designs, is being planned.

Click here to view the full article in the June 2010 Vol. 30 edition of OEI's Bioproduct Scratch Sheet.

Click here to visit the ZBB Energy website.

21st Annual MREA Energy Fair - Custer, Wisconsin (the-mrea.org)

Join the Midwest Renewable Energy Association for their 21st Annual Energy Fair June 18-20, 2010 at ReNew the Earth Institute, 7558 Deer Rd., Custer, WI.

Friday, June 18 9 am to 7 pm
Saturday, June 19 9 am to 7 pm
Sunday, June 20 9 am to 5 pm

Advance Energy Fair tickets, Home Tour tickets, Mass transit bus tickets and Reservations for Back 40 Camping are available HERE.

Click HERE for the Workshop Schedule.

Click HERE for a list of all the exhibitors at the Fair!

Click HERE for a map layout of the Fair!

Each year the MREA Energy Fair transforms rural Central Wisconsin into the global hot spot for renewable energy education. The Energy Fair brings over 20,000 people from nearly every state in the U.S. and several countries around the world to learn, connect with others and ready them for action at home. The Energy Fair is the nation's longest running energy education event of its kind.

The Energy Fair features:

•Over 275 exhibitors - sustainable living and energy products
•Over 200 workshops - from introductory level to advanced hands-on education
•Clean Energy Car Show - demonstration vehicles and workshops
•Green Home Pavilion - focused on building and remodeling in a sustainable way
•Green Building Demso - see sustainable building techniques in action
•Sustainable Tables - workshops, chef demos, and a farmers' market bringing sustainability to your dinner table
•Inspirational keynotes, lively entertainment, great food, and local beer.

The Energy Fair is held in Custer, WI just seven miles east of Stevens Point. The 21st Annual Energy Fair is held June 18-20, 2010. For more information about the Fair, contact the Midwest Renewable Energy Association at 715-592-6595.

Lake Erie Wind Farm to be First Freshwater Offshore Project in U.S. (Oilprice.com)

The first step in an ambitious project to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind turbines in Lake Erie was taken this week with an order to General Electric for five massive turbines.

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., a Cleveland-based nonprofit, said the direct-drive turbines will provide 4 MW each of electricity and would be operational by the end of 2012, generating enough electricity to power 6,000 homes.

Click here to read the full article at Oilprice.com.

Northwind 100 Turbines Make Cascade WWTP First "Net Zero" Facility of its Kind (Wisconsin Wind Working Group - Yahoo)

There are two (2) Northwind 100 Turbines being installed at the Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Village of Cascade, Wisconsin. The installation is being performed under the direction of Kettle View Renewables. This is the first "net-zero" WWTP in the State and probably the nation.

For additional information, contact Randy Faller from Kettle View Renewable Energy by clicking here or calling (920) 994-9433.

UPDATE: Click here for the article in the Fond du Lac Reporter.

UPDATE: Click here for the article from the Sheboygan Press.

As wind power booms, so do the challenges (Seattle Times)

[Blogger's note: Wisconsin will have to deal with many of the same issues identified in this article as our generation capabilities increase. The following are key excerpts from an article in the Seattle times.]

Billions of dollars of investment during the past decade have created a wind-power corridor that stretches more than 170 miles along the Columbia in Eastern Washington and Oregon, vaulting the Northwest to the leading edge of national efforts to develop this renewable energy source.

The Northwest wind industry, which currently is able to generate more than 2,700 megawatts of electricity during peak winds, is expected to more than double or triple in size by 2016.

The expansion is driven by federal incentives that offer generous tax credits or stimulus grants to wind-power producers.

Four years ago, Washington voters passed an initiative that requires utilities to harness 15 percent of their power from these renewable sources by 2020.

Cannon [Power Group] expects to tap into $200 million in federal grants to help complete its more than $1 billion investment in Washington.

Turbine owners pay local landowners more than $10 million in annual lease fees, and wind projects currently generate about $3.5 million in property-tax revenue annually.

Several times in recent months, BPA has asked wind-power producers to throttle back production the grid couldn't absorb.

On the Oregon side of the Columbia, the largest wind farm in the world--a $2 billion project with 330 turbines--is scheduled to begin operations in 2012. The farm will sell all that power to Southern Edison, a California utility.

Click here to read the full article from the Seattle Times.

Wis. wind rules group to meet again (Postcrescent.com)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A group drafting Wisconsin's new wind farm rules is set to meet again.

The Wind Siting Council is expected to hear presentations on setbacks and property values at a meeting Wednesday morning at the state Public Service Commission's Madison headquarters.

Click here for the full article at Postcrescent.com.

Click here for a copy of the meeting agenda.

Click here to go to the Public Service Commission website.