Wind Resource Assessment (WRA) Articles & Analysis

Rooftop wind energy innovator Aeromine Technologies announced in May of this year that it closed an approximately $9 million funding round to accelerate the roll out of its breakthrough, motionless, on-site wind energy solution. Veriten, the energy research, investing, and strategy firm, is the lead investor in the Series A funding round. Additional investors in the round include global ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Without rapid investments in clean energy storage, Illinois consumers will pay up to $30 more per month for energy, and the state will face energy shortfalls and a higher risk of blackouts, according to a newly released study.The study, “Cost and Benefit Analysis of Energy Storage Resource Deployment in Illinois,” found that deploying at least 8,500 MW of clean energy storage would provide $3 ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The American Clean Power Association (ACP) this week released the 2024 Offshore Wind Market Report, showing the clean power industry is projected to invest $65 billion in offshore wind projects by 2030, which will support 56,000 jobs in the United States. There are currently 12 gigawatts of projects with active offtake agreements, including 4 GW under active construction at Vineyard Wind, ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The California Energy Commission (CEC) this week took a major step toward achieving the state’s 100 percent clean electricity future by adopting a comprehensive strategic plan that will guide the development of offshore wind energy, one of the largest untapped sources of renewable energy in the state.The plan outlines analysis and strategies to deploy floating turbines off the state’s central and ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The Biden-Harris administration this week announced a series of historic milestones and actions to promote responsible clean energy development on public lands and help achieve President Biden’s goal of creating a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced that the Department has now permitted more than 25 gigawatts of clean energy projects – ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The New York Independent System Operator this week (March 25) reported that New York recently set new records for hourly wind and solar generation.Wind power facilities generated 2,176 megawatts during the 1p.m. hour on Saturday, March 9 and served 12 percent of system load.Behind-the-meter and front-of-the-meter solar resources generated 3,832 megawatts during the 12 p.m. hour on Tuesday, March ...

By Smart Grid Observer

By Connor O'Neil Corporations are starting to pay close attention to their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but current calculations only provide a coarse estimate of their entire GHG emissions. The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Amazon, the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy worldwide since 2020, are working to modernize GHG emissions ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Through its early and aggressive acquisition of clean energy resources, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) will deliver more clean energy than originally forecasted in its Clean Energy Implementation Plan (CEIP), a course of action for clean electricity programs and investments to align with policies established by Washington's Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA).PSE filed its CEIP update to provide a ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The U.S. Department of Energy released a draft roadmap to address interconnection challenges on the transmission grid and seeks feedback from the public before releasing a final version. DOE convened a broad group of clean energy stakeholders through its Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) to develop the roadmap, which is intended to serve as a practical guide for implementing near-and ...

By Smart Grid Observer

This week (Sept 19) the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of the Interior released An Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. Atlantic Region. The plan details how wind resources could efficiently be captured off the Atlantic Coast of the United States and delivered to communities as clean, reliable power. It outlines immediate actions needed to connect ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Vestas has received a 158 MW order to repower three undisclosed projects in the USA. The order consists of 72 V120-2.2 MW turbines for the three projects. The orders include supply, delivery, and commissioning of the turbines, as well as a 10-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) service agreement, designed to ensure optimised performance of the asset. In the USA, Vestas has ...

By Vestas Wind Systems A/S

Form Energy, Inc., an American technology company developing and commercializing a new class of multi-day energy storage systems, announced this week (Jan 26) that it has entered into definitive agreements with Xcel Energy to deploy its iron-air battery systems at two of Xcel Energy's retiring coal plant sites. The storage technology will allow Xcel Energy to integrate more low-cost, renewable ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Duke Energy this week provided an update on its strategy to meet customers' need for affordable, reliable and increasingly clean energy. The company's planned investment of $145 billion over the next 10 years for critical energy infrastructure is essential to meeting these customer needs and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while also creating substantial economic benefits for the ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The California Energy Commission (CEC) recently (Aug 10) adopted a report establishing offshore wind goals and moving the state one step closer to development of the clean energy resource off California's coast. Preliminary findings in the report set planning goals of 2,000-5,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030 and 25,000 MW by 2045, enough electricity to power 3.75 million initially and 25 ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) signed today (22 June, 2022) land usufruct agreement with Green Hydrogen and Chemicals Company (GHC), a joint venture between the UK entity of ACME Company and Norway-based Scatec ASA, to develop phase one of green hydrogen and ammonia project in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD). The agreement was signed by HE Dr. Ali ...

By ACME Cleantech Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

The Biden Administration through the U.S. Department of Energy this week (June 1) launched the Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) -- a new partnership funded by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that brings together grid operators, utilities, state and tribal governments, clean energy developers, energy justice organizations, and other stakeholders to connect more clean ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Data from the California Energy Commission (CEC) shows that 59 percent of the state's electricity came from renewable and zero-carbon sources in 2020. The CEC estimates that in 2020, 34.5 percent of the state's retail electricity sales were served by Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS)-eligible sources such as solar and wind. When sources of zero-carbon energy such as large hydroelectric ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Pattern Energy Group LP has completed construction and begun commercial operation of its suite of Western Spirit Wind power projects. Western Spirit Wind is comprised of four wind power facilities totaling more than 1,050 megawatts located in Guadalupe, Lincoln, and Torrance Counties in central New Mexico. U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich said, “The largest renewable energy project in American ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The California Public Utilities Commission this week (Feb 10) approved plans to ensure long-term sufficient electricity resource investments, including transmission, for the safe and reliable delivery of electricity and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The CPUC, per Senate Bill 350 (De León, 2015), developed an integrated resource planning process to ensure that California's electric ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) this week released an agenda-setting paper on energy storage in Canada, authored by CanREA's Director of Energy Storage, Leonard Olien. Entitled "Laying the Foundation: Six priorities for supporting the decarbonization of Canada's electricity grid with energy storage," this new whitepaper outlines CanREA's perspective on what is required to ...

By Smart Grid Observer