Using software tools developed by Near Zero, a research group hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology, a team of researchers has completed the largest expert survey yet on any energy technology, in this case wind energy.

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In 2007, Uruguay had a massive problem with no obvious fix. The economy of this country of 3.5 million people was growing, but there wasn't enough energy to power all that growth.

Ramón Méndez Galain was, at the time, a particle physicist, but he wanted to apply his scientific mind to this issue. He started researching different energy sources and eventually wrote up a plan for how Uruguay's power grid could transition to renewable energy. It would be better for the climate, and, he thought, in the long run it would be the most economical choice Uruguay could make.

Méndez Galain shared his plan online and in a series of informal lectures. Then, one day he received a phone call from the office of the president of Uruguay, inviting him to put his plan into action.

Countries all over the world have announced lofty goals to reduce the emissions that cause climate change. But Uruguay actually did it. In a typical year, 98% of Uruguay's grid is powered by green energy. How did it get there? It involved a scientist, an innovative approach to infrastructure funding, and a whole lot of wind.

Today's show was hosted by Erika Beras and Amanda Aroncyzk. It was produced by Willa Rubin with help from Emma Peaslee. It was engineered by Maggie Luthar, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Keith Romer. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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New research has investigated the many ways in which technological transfer occurs for wind power projects in developing countries. These range from trading with developed countries, to local innovation. In India and China, successful transfer was found to depend more on existing capabilities in these countries than international projects, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

As wind power becomes more important in the energy mix, so too does the need to manage its variability. A new study has reviewed the options and indicates that, although state-of-the art technologies exist to maximise gains from wind power, they need proper and insightful management.

New research has investigated the many ways in which technological transfer occurs for wind power projects in developing countries. These range from trading with developed countries, to local innovation. In India and China, successful transfer was found to depend more on existing capabilities in these countries than international projects, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

A new tool for minimising offshore wind energy's impacts on other activities in the North Sea has been developed. The tool identifies space for wind farms based on their priority compared to other marine activities, such as sand extraction or fishing.

Controlling energy demand instead of supply could help solve the problems of variability associated with wind power, according to new research. In the case of Portugal, it was estimated that measures to reduce electricity demand could reduce the peak consumption by 17.4 per cent in 2020.

New research has investigated the many ways in which technological transfer occurs for wind power projects in developing countries. These range from trading with developed countries, to local innovation. In India and China, successful transfer was found to depend more on existing capabilities in these countries than international projects, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Desalination plants, powered by wind energy, offer the potential to produce freshwater using a renewable source of energy. A recent study has explored some of the challenges of integrating wind energy with desalination units, and suggests combining wind with other forms of renewable energy, or constructing a system that operates with variable energy input would help overcome problems with wind powered desalination.

There's one piece of good news from Japan: All the wind turbines survived the earthquake and are helping to power some regions of the country.

Video: Community college program trains future wind power technicians.

Outdated technologies blamed for wind power's interference with radar systems.

Poll numbers show that if wind would run for office in Wisconsin, it would beat almost all major candidates already elected to office.

A surprising aerodynamic innovation in wind turbine design called the 'wind lens' triples the output of a typical wind turbine, making it less costly than nucle

Scotland is hoping to leverage its extensive experience in North Sea oil and gas drilling to become the leader in the offshore wind industry.

A new report hints at the growing economic clout of renewable energy.

Turbine sites in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia identified as prime parcels for projects.

The country aims to source 100% of its power from renewable sources by 2030.

By Energy.Gov Annual reports analyzing the wind energy industry released today by the Energy Department show continued rapid growth in wind power installations in 2015, demonstrating market resilience and underscoring the vitality of the U.S. wind energy market on a … Continue reading →

There is provided a transport vehicle for transporting wind power installation rotor blades and/or pylon segments. The transport vehicle has a transport support structure having a main frame, a receiving frame fixedly connected to the main frame at a first angle, and a rotary displacement unit which is fixed with one end to the receiving frame and which at its second end has a blade adaptor for receiving a rotor blade or a pylon segment. The main frame spans a main plane. The rotary displacement unit has at least one first rotary mounting, wherein there is provided a second angle between the second rotary plane of the second rotary mounting.

A wind power generator generates power through a rotation of a rotor and is interconnected, and operated with its power generation output previously limited in order to be able to further supply the power to a power system in response to a decrease in system frequency. Thus, a concentrated control system derives a required restricted amount corresponding to a power generation output required to respond to the decrease in system frequency, derives a value by subtracting an amount corresponding to a latent power generation output with which the power generation output can be increased, from the required restricted amount, and sets a restricted amount of the power generation output in each wind power generator to perform the operation with the power generation output previously limited to respond to the decrease in system frequency, based on the above value.

Mathematics contributes in many ways to the process of converting wind power into usable energy. Large-scale weather models are used to find suitable locations for wind farms, while more narrowly focused models incorporating interactions arising from factors such as wake effects and turbulence specify how to situate individual turbines within a farm. In addition, computational fluid dynamics describes air flow and drag around turbines. This helps determine the optimal shapes for the blades, both structurally and aerodynamically, to extract as much energy as possible, and keep noise levels and costs down. Mathematics also helps answer two fundamental questions about wind turbines. First, why three blades? Turbines with fewer blades extract less energy and are noisier (because the blades must turn faster). Those with more than three blades would capture more energy but only about three percent more, which doesn.t justify the increased cost. Second, what percentage of wind energy can a turbine extract? Calculus and laws of conservation provide the justification for Betz Law, which states that no wind turbine can capture more than 60% of the energy in the wind. Modern turbines generally gather 40-50%. So the answer to someone who touts a turbine that can capture 65% of wind energy is "All Betz" are off. For More Information: Wind Energy Explained: Theory, Design and Application, Manwell, McGowan, and Rogers, 2010.

An Abu Dhabi-based company that builds drilling platforms for oil giant Saudi Aramco plans to diversify into renewable energy by supplying gear for offshore wind farms.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (the NDRC) issued a Circular on Policies of Improving the Electricity Price for On-Grid Wind Power (the Circular) at the end of May 2019. According to the Circular, the price of electricity from offshore wind power projects is cut to 0.8 yuan per kWh [US $0.12 per kWh] in 2019 and will further drop to 0.75 yuan [US $0.11] per kWh in 2020.

This week, DNV GL said that it acted as a technical advisor to the energy company AES Colombia during its planned purchase of the Jemeiwaa Kai portfolio of wind power projects. DNV GL carried out an independent analysis of the La Guajira wind farms wind and power generation regime.

New Mexico’s newest wind power facility is now up and running. Pattern Energy Group 2 LP (Pattern Development) announced it has completed construction and begun operations at its 220-MW Grady Wind facility located in Curry County, New Mexico. This is the third and final phase of a 544-MW suite of wind projects, which now represent the largest investment in clean power in the history of New Mexico, according to Pattern.

Unusually still weather in the upper Midwest and Great Plains in late 2018 has already taken a bite out of earnings at NextEra Energy Inc. and Avangrid Inc., which both operate large wind farms. Other wind generators have yet to report fourth-quarter results, including Pattern Energy Group Inc., TerraForm Power Inc. and Clearway Energy Inc.

While it’s well known that corporations were some of the earliest trailblazers of large-scale renewable energy purchasing — they’ve closed over 14 gigawatts of deals in the past six years, according to tracking by Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewables Center — higher education has also made impressive strides. In fact, a report released last fall showed that the top 30 renewable energy-buying universities are using around 3 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually. That’s enough to power 276,000 homes.

While it’s well known that corporations were some of the earliest trailblazers of large-scale renewable energy purchasing — they’ve closed over 14 gigawatts of deals in the past six years, according to tracking by Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewables Center — higher education has also made impressive strides. In fact, a report released last fall showed that the top 30 renewable energy-buying universities are using around 3 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually. That’s enough to power 276,000 homes.

Digitalization has become a worldwide focus and the race to become the global leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly competitive, with many countries, including Canada, China, and the UK releasing strategies in the last twenty months to promote the use and development of AI.

Global commissioning of onshore wind turbines declined 3 percent in 2018, partly due to a slowdown in India and Germany. Growth is expected to bounce back in 2019, with a 32 percent jump to 60 GW.

Unusually still weather in the upper Midwest and Great Plains in late 2018 has already taken a bite out of earnings at NextEra Energy Inc. and Avangrid Inc., which both operate large wind farms. Other wind generators have yet to report fourth-quarter results, including Pattern Energy Group Inc., TerraForm Power Inc. and Clearway Energy Inc.

Yesterday, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) unveiled the 14th edition of its Global Wind Report, which it says has been completely revamped.

The wind farm will produce renewable energy credits that, combined with the company’s previous agreement, should equal 100 percent of electricity used annually at General Mill’s domestic facilities.

Enel Green Power North America announced on Thursday that it has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) between its subsidiary White Cloud Wind Project, LLC and Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI), a power utility based in Springfield, Missouri. In line with the agreement, AECI will purchase the entire output generated by the 236.5 MW White Cloud wind project, currently in development in Nodaway County, Missouri.

An Abu Dhabi-based company that builds drilling platforms for oil giant Saudi Aramco plans to diversify into renewable energy by supplying gear for offshore wind farms.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (the NDRC) issued a Circular on Policies of Improving the Electricity Price for On-Grid Wind Power (the Circular) at the end of May 2019. According to the Circular, the price of electricity from offshore wind power projects is cut to 0.8 yuan per kWh [US $0.12 per kWh] in 2019 and will further drop to 0.75 yuan [US $0.11] per kWh in 2020.

Approved project 53174-001 in Thailand.

Morocco is making good on it's stated goals of increasing renewable energy development, leading towards 40% of electricity from renewables over the next decade.

Norway's Oil and Energy Minister, Aaslaug Haga, seems to think that wind turbines is a good bet. The scandinavian country is the 5th biggest

A new, 50MW floating offshore wind farm just got approved. Why does this matter?

A 1.5-degrees-Celsius warmer world would bring bigger gusts of wind more regularly.

We mentioned Ecotricity’s new 'Merchant Wind Power' project at Avonmouth Docks near Bristol, UK earlier this year, but we couldn’t help posting a picture of the now completed initiative. Located in the ultra-industrialized port, surrounded by storage

The tech giant just agreed to purchase all of the energy from GE's Tullahennel wind farm.

Scientists find that wind power farms don't harm this at-risk species, a bit of surprise because other studies have shown that oil and gas development does affect prairie chickens.

When wind speeds are higher than a turbine can effectively use, the extra energy is stored for when the wind slows.

Offshore Wind Power

Wind Power Development

wind power project