More

Twin Groves Windfarm

Pictures

One of World’s Largest Wind Farms, Bloomington, Il.

Giant Windmills of McLean County

Horizon Wind Energy LLC

Located on the wind-swept Bloomington Moraine in eastern McLean County, Twin Groves Wind Farm offers 396 megawatts of affordable, pollution-free wind energy, enough to meet the annual energy needs of about 118,000 homes. The project supports the local economy through royalties to 140 landowners whose land spans over 22,000 acres -providing a cash flow that supplements earnings from farming. During construction, 350 jobs were created and presently, 37 full-time employees support current operations. Twin Groves also brings new jobs and substantial tax revenues to the county and local schools.

Project Fact and Figures

Location: McLean County

Acreage: 22,000 acres

Construction Completion Date:

Phase I: June, 2007

Phase II: February, 2008

Project Size: 396 megawatts.

Annual Power Generation: 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours.

Number of Turbines: 240 wind turbine generators, with a rated capacity of 1.65 megawatts each.

Why McLean County?

The wind resource in Illinois had long been considered mediocre, until a study conducted by the US Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy laboratory identified several areas in the state that could be commercially viable wind sites, some located in central Illinois. The Twin Groves site is located in one of those identified areas, which makes it a perfect fit for development with its strong wind resource, excellent access to electricity transmission lines, good proximity to power markets, and its wide-open crop land.

Most people tend to think of Illinois as very flat, but in reality there are many gentle swells and broad valleys—perfect for wind energy development. These subtle ridges, hills, and long uphill slopes are easily overlooked when traveling through the state. The Bloomington Moraine, on which the Twin Groves project is developed, is one of the four largest moraines in Illinois and was formed during the Wisconsin glacial episode some 14,000 to 25,000 years ago.

Project elevations range from approximately 650 to over 900 feet above sea level. The project was constructed on farmland in the Arrowsmith, Cheney’s Grove, and Dawson Townships.

RPS News

Initiatives in Illinois in 2001 and 2005 called for more of the state’s electricity to come from wind turbines and other renewable sources. In August 2007, Illinois enacted legislation to create the Illinois Power Agency charged with competitively procuring energy supply and meeting a renewable portfolio standard of 25% by 2025. According to the act, a minimum of 75% of the renewable energy must come from wind power.

Zoning Requirements

The McLean County Zoning Board adopted several zoning changes to formalize the requirements for wind turbines. The changes included set back and height limitations. Horizon maintains a minimum distance of 1,500 feet from any residence.

Environmental

Based on average EPA-reported 2004 emissions rates, a 390-megawatt wind farm would displace annually:

• 1,880,000 pounds of NOx.

• 4,800,000 pounds of SO2.

• 700,000 tons of CO2.

• 50,000 pounds of mercury.

Yesterday I wrote about the new FPL PV solar plant in Arcadia, FL, so a few new ideas and comments popped up in my head. Here are choice quotes from the St. Pete Times and what the Herald printed.

Standing in rural Florida amid 180 acres of solar panels, President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced $3.4 billion in federal stimulus grants to modernize America’s power grid and create jobs.

Among the 100 projects receiving stimulus grants: $200 million for an FPL initiative to modernize its power grid, including transmission line improvements and more than 2 million “smart meters” that enable consumers to monitor and adjust their own power use and costs.

“Here in this region of Florida, this project will reduce demand for electricity by up to 20 percent during the hottest summer days that stress the grid and power plants,” Obama said. “It will provide smart meters to 2.6 million more customers. And most importantly, it will create thousands of jobs – good jobs, by the way, that can’t be outsourced; jobs that will last and jobs that pay a decent wage.”

The current grid system relies on century-old technology that the president said “wastes too much energy, it costs us too much money, and it’s too susceptible to outages and blackouts.”

The vast fields of panels are tucked out of sight outside Arcadia, and utility officials said the $152 million facility generates enough power for about 3,000 homes. In reduced greenhouse gas emissions, the solar facility is estimated to be the equivalent of removing 4,500 cars from the roads every year.

Miami Herald

Image via Wikipedia

$3,400,000,000 to revamp a centuries old power grid system is way overdue. But what part of the system is going to be redone? There are several parts and I am assuming all parts are going to get an upgrade but the article only mentions distribution, the part of power transmission that involves your home or office building and the meters. There is also no mention of which smart meter will be used. Is it Google’s PowerMeter, Microsoft’s hohm, Cisco’s Network Building Mediator, or someone else entirely? While Cisco’s is more for a enterprise, they are suppose to have a more consumer friendly solution. From the Energy Smart Miami, here is a video explaining the problems we have and how Cisco want’s to solve it.

I haven’t seen or read anything for distribution but long haul transmission has a few options, so lets explain where we are. Right now we have long distance power transmitted on overhead power lines at high voltages (110 kV or above) because we lose power after a certain amount of distance. Overhead lines are inefficient, require lots of space, can be blown down and generate electro-magnetic fields (EMF). We can make them better but it costs more and most companies just do not see the economic benefit of making long transmission lines more efficient.

Transmission efficiency is improved by increasing the voltage using a step-up transformer, which reduces the current in the conductors, while keeping the power transmitted nearly equal to the power input. The reduced current flowing through the conductor reduces the losses in the conductor and since, according to Joule’s Law, the losses are proportional to the square of the current. Halving the current makes the transmission loss one quarter the original value.

Transmission and distribution losses in the USA were estimated at 7.2% in 1995 ^[14]

So what can we do to make things better? American Superconductor has come up with what looks like a good solution. While it does cost more, this type of cabling reduces loss, consolidates existing cables, is hidden underground so no more unsightly towers, and pretty much eliminates EMF.

Just one of these is capable of carrying 574 megawatts of power, enough to power 300,000 homes.

That’s all great and all but you’re probably wondering if this is going to affect you. If you’re in Florida you more than likely will be. This is just FPL alone, but several other municipalities and power companies in Florida also got funding from the DoE.

The DoE application has this listed. Note that the project’s total cost is $578,347,232.

Energy Smart Florida is a comprehensive project to advance implementation of the Smart Grid, including installing over 2.6 million smart meters, 9,000 intelligent distribution devices, 45 phasors, and advanced monitoring equipment in over 270 substations. By incorporating intelligence into the transmission, distribution and customer systems, the utility will be able to anticipate and respond to grid disturbances, empower customers through alternative rate programs, and enable the integration of renewable and on-site energy sources.

There are a lot of possibilities to improve the future. These are just some steps we can take and are currently doing with transmission, distribution and smart energy meters.

Sources: Miami Herald, Ars Technica, Gizmodo

by Chuck Ring (GadaboutBlogalot ©2009).

Quote Freely From The Article – Leave The Pseudonym Alone

You remember the movie, now get ready for the Super Station. What is it, you may ask? It is something which could get New Mexico off the dime as regards renewable energy production and distribution.

Simply put, it will be a rather huge electrical transmission capability which should allow New Mexico to export some of its renewable energy to neighboring states or even to points within the State of New Mexico. The facility (if that is a correct name) is to be located in the Clovis, New Mexico area.

The article is from the Daily Report of New Mexico Business Weekly and can be read for more details, right here, TRES AMIGAS .

Here’s the press release from Governor Richardson’s office  Roundhouse Release

There’s even more from an article in today’s Wall Street Journal. Click on first link below:

Related articles by Zemanta

• Power Hub: Tres Amigas and the Future of Clean Energy (blogs.wsj.com)
• New Mexico Faces Double Trouble (blogs.wsj.com)

Clean energy sources like solar and wind use hardly no water—”except during the manufacturing process.”  As a result, if carbon dioxide will not “become the make-or-break issue for new forms of power generation,” then water might, since power plants need access to large amounts of water.

For example, the Achilles heel of nuclear energy isn’t merely the buildup of radioactive waste but drought. Recent drought conditions in the southeast seriously threatened nuclear reactors to “throttle back or temporarily shut down . . . since drought [was] drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water they need to operate,” and “during Europe’s brutal 2006 heat wave, French, Spanish and German utilities were forced to shut down some of their nuclear plants and reduce power at others because of low water levels – some for as much as a week.” Because of the drought, utilities in the southeast were considering to purchase replacement energy on the wholesale market. However, replacement energy on the wholesale market during the summer would have cost these utilities “10 times” what nuclear energy normally costs. From the Wall Street Journal blog “Environmental Capital”:

The water issue affects all kinds of power generation—coal, natural gas, and nuclear power; the nuclear industry’s water appetite in particular has become a flashpoint for criticism. The U.S. Geological Survey figures power plants are the second-biggest users of water in the U.S., behind agriculture.

The irony is that efforts to fight climate change could make the situation even worse: TheNational Energy Technology Laboratory estimates that “clean coal” plants that capture and store carbon emissions would make the power sector an even bigger consumer of water if the still-to-be-developed plants are widely deployed in coming decades. That’s because it takes more energy and water to capture and store the emissions than it does at a regular coal plant.

As the article notes–with the exception of solar thermal power which uses the sun to heat up water in huge pipes–clean energy’s low water needs provide another selling point. Neither technology uses much water at all, except during the manufacturing process.

That could explain why Vestas, the world’s biggest maker of wind turbines, subtly changed its sales pitch in recent months. Now, the company touts wind power’s miserly use of water first, and its low-carbon electricity generation second.

—
Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Obama’s energy plan is common sense, since part of his energy plan tackles the federal government. As a former federal government contractor, I noticed a lot of waste—especially how government vehicles are used. Certainly, a large portion of government travel can use either smaller, hybrid, or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Furthermore, he is calling for conservation, and there is nothing wrong with conservation if it promotes reasonable consumption.

An energy plan using electric, hybrid, and PHEVs is far superior to T. Boone Pickens’s plan to put a lot of energy and money to develop the infrastructure for natural gas-powered vehicles. Natural gas is another fossil fuel, but it produces less energy. Personally, I don’t believe we need new coal power plants, and clean coal doesn’t exist. Other highlights of Obama’s energy plan include: (1) developing America’s renewable energy infrastructure thus (2) create green jobs, (3) using cap-and-trade programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and (4) eliminate or reduce our energy imports. Obama also wants to promote energy conservation and efficiency by updating our current electrical grid to smart grid technology. From MarketWatch:

According to President-elect Obama’s website (www.barackobama.com), the Obama-Biden plan aims to “make the U.S. a leader on climate change” and to “put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015.” Other goals of the Obama-Biden plan include:

– Invest $150 billion over 10 years to accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), commercial scale renewable energy, low emissions coal plants, the next generation of fuel infrastructure and the transition to a new digital electricity grid

– Convert the entire White House fleet to plug-ins within Obama’s first year of office

– Ensure that half of all cars purchased by the federal government be PHEVs or EVs by 2012

– Provide a $7,000 tax credit for the purchase of advanced technology vehicles as well as conversion tax credits

– Require 10% of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2012

Hat tip to Kevin.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::