Medium Wind Power Articles & Analysis

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) this week announced its approval of the Construction and Operations Plan for the SouthCoast Wind Project. This is the final approval needed for the project from BOEM following the Department of the Interior’s December 2024 Record of Decision. “We are proud to announce BOEM’s final approval of the SouthCoast Wind project, the nation’s eleventh ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Statistics published this week by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) show that wind outperformed gas in 2024 by generating more electricity for the first year ever. Wind provided a record 30% of Britain’s electricity last year (up from 28% in 2023), while gas produced 26.3%. December was the windiest month, when 38.9% of electricity came from wind, with record high amounts of clean ...

By Smart Grid Observer

US renewable energy developer Apex Clean Energy has announced the signing of a renewable energy certificate (REC) purchase agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for the entire output of RECs from its 126-MW Heritage Wind project. Situated in Orleans County, New York, the Heritage Wind project is slated to commence commercial operations in 2026. ...

By Apex Clean Energy, Inc.

On a power grid partly supported by wind turbines, solar panels and hydropower turbines, weather and climate patterns can significantly affect how much power is produced. And as more wind and solar are added to the grid, utilities will need to understand how seasonal patterns in climate and weather might cause swings in energy generation. In new research, a team from the Department of ...

By Smart Grid Observer

NRG Energy Inc. this week announced it is partnering with Renew Home, a leading virtual power plant (VPP) company to boost its residential VPP capabilities. Together, NRG and Renew Home aim to distribute hundreds of thousands of VPP-enabled smart thermostats by 2035 and create a nearly 1 GW AI-powered VPP - enabled by Google Cloud technology - to improve the Texas grid's resiliency and help ...

By Smart Grid Observer

As solar PV and wind grow at an accelerated pace around the world, governments must act to ensure that they are well integrated into power systems - or risk losing out on significant benefits, according to a new report from the IEA.Integrating Solar and Wind: Global experience and emerging challenges, published this week, explores one of the biggest hurdles for policy makers as clean energy ...

By Smart Grid Observer

As solar PV and wind grow at an accelerated pace around the world, governments must act to ensure that they are well integrated into power systems - or risk losing out on significant benefits, according to a new report from the IEA. Integrating Solar and Wind: Global experience and emerging challenges, published this week, explores one of the biggest hurdles for policy makers as clean energy ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Earlier this week (July 15), the German government and federal state governments confirmed that funding of over 619 million euros has been granted to implement two of RWE's large hydrogen projects.The funds will be provided for the construction of a 300-MW electrolyser to generate green hydrogen in Lingen (Lower Saxony) as part of the GET H2 Nukleus project as well as a hydrogen facility in ...

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

New York Transco submitted Energy Link NY electric transmission proposals to the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) this week for the delivery of clean energy from future offshore wind facilities to New Yorkers' homes and businesses.Energy Link NY proposed solution sets were developed in response to the NYISO's New York City Offshore Wind Public Policy Transmission Need Project ...

By Smart Grid Observer

DTE Energy, Michigan’s largest producer of renewable energy, will also become a leader in battery storage as it converts a portion of its retired Trenton Channel coal power plant site to house a 220-megawatt battery energy storage center. When complete in 2026, the energy storage center is expected to be the largest standalone battery energy storage project in the Great Lakes region. The ...

By Smart Grid Observer

It was a big day for new transmission capacity in California and the West on Wedneday (May 22), with the Independent System Operator's (ISO) Board of Governors taking two important votes to expand the region's transmission network.In one vote, the Board approved the ISO's 2023-2024 transmission plan recommending 26 new projects to support the addition of 85 gigawatts of capacity by 2035. ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Hy2gen subsidiary Hy2gen USA and Ocean Connect Energy (OCE) have executed an MOU to jointly investigate powering renewable hydrogen production from offshore wind. The MOU directs the companies to identify, evaluate and develop locations to power Hy2gen’s renewable hydrogen and e-fuel production from the utility-scale offshore wind generation developed by OCE. The partnership formed a ...

By North American Windpower

NERC's 2024 Summer Reliability Assessment (SRA) finds that a large part of North America remains at risk of supply shortfalls, while other areas show reduced risk due to resource additions. Expected wide-area heat events that affect generation, wind output or transmission systems coupled with demand growth in some areas are contributing to adequacy risks for resources and transmission. All areas ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Revolution Wind, jointly owned by Ørsted and Eversource, has achieved its “steel in the water” milestone with the installation of the project’s first turbine foundation. Once operational, the project is set to generate 400 MW of wind power for Rhode Island and another 304 MW for Connecticut. “America’s offshore wind industry is scaling up, and the first ...

By North American Windpower

Federal, state, and industry leaders on Day One of the 2024 Pacific Offshore Wind Summit joined in encouraging California to advance its plans to deploy 25 gigawatts from offshore wind by 2045, as the state sets a course to be a global leader on floating offshore wind power. Speakers at the Summit, hosted by Offshore Wind California (OWC), urged the state to move expeditiously on essential next ...

By Smart Grid Observer

In a continued effort to expedite the build out of a resilient and reliable electric grid, this week (May 8) the U.S. Department of Energy released a preliminary list of 10 potential National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) to accelerate the development of transmission projects in areas that present an urgent need for expanded transmission. DOE also announced minimum eligibility ...

By Smart Grid Observer

The Biden-Harris administration this week announced the Department of the Interior’s approval of the Sunrise Wind offshore wind project – the nation’s seventh approval of a commercial-scale offshore wind project under President Biden’s leadership. These seven projects have the potential to provide more than 8 gigawatts of clean, renewable energy to power roughly 3 million homes, and support the ...

By Smart Grid Observer

Technology group Wärtsilä will supply a 300-megawatt (MW) / 600-megawatt hour (MWh) energy storage system under an Engineered Equipment Delivery (EEQ) contract to Zenobe, an electric vehicle fleet and battery storage specialist, in Kilmarnock, Scotland. This is the second energy storage system Wärtsilä is delivering to Zenobe, and it will be one of the largest in Scotland to ...

By Wartsila Corporation

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects, for the first year on record, combined electricity generation from wind and solar to surpass generation from coal in 2024. EIA expects solar generation in 2024 to increase 39% (228 kilowatthours) from 2023, driven by continued increases in solar capacity. "Renewables, particularly solar photovoltaics, are growing rapidly and making large ...

By Smart Grid Observer