MORE NEWS, 4-14 (IOWA BEATS CALIF FOR #2 IN WIND; BANK, SOLAR CO, BUILDING; FERC OKS GREEN POWER EXPRESS MONEY PLAN)

IOWA BEATS CALIF FOR #2 IN WIND
Texas is king, but Iowa breezes past California
Dirk Lammers, April 12, 2009 (AP)

"Texas continues to blow away the competition, but Iowa can now generate more wind power than California, according to a new [American Wind Energy Association, AWEA] report…The Lone Star state's 7,118 megawatts dwarfs Iowa's 2,791 megawatts and California's 2,517 megawatts, but wind power has grown into a key part of the energy infrastructure in Minnesota and Iowa, where each state generates more than 7 percent of their electricity from turbines…

"States are trying to lure wind energy companies and the jobs that come with them, especially with new federal requirements that will require more power from alternative sources…[J]obs in the wind industry jumped by 70 percent to 85,000 last year…[but] more must be done to prevent the industry from stalling…[A] national Renewable Electricity Standard that would require utilities to generate a quarter of their electricity from renewable energy by 2025 is vital to long-term growth…"

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"Global investment in alternative energy was cut in half during the first quarter of 2009…Billions in investments have vanished with the recession…Shares in wind, solar and geothermal companies took a pummeling from investors this year. Investments in companies devoted solely to clean energy fell to about $100 million from $2.1 billion…

"Still, 2008 was a big year for the industry…U.S. wind farms, with a combined capacity of 25,300 megawatts at the end of last year, should be able to generate some 73 billion kilowatt hours of power in 2009, enough to serve nearly 7 million homes…"

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"…[An estimated] 10 new manufacturing facilities started up in 2008, while 17 were expanded and 30 new plants were announced…Indiana added its first utility-scale wind project. Michigan, Utah, New Hampshire and Wisconsin grew at the fastest clip…[And] big wind power states added the most capacity… led by Texas with 2671.3 new megawatts and Iowa with 1599.8 megawatts. Minnesota, Kansas and New York added between 400 and 455 megawatts each.

"FPL Group Inc. subsidiary NextEra Energy Resources continues to dominate the landscape with ownership of about 25 percent of the total installed U.S. wind projects, totaling 6,290 megawatts. Iberdrola Renewables, MidAmerican Energy and Horizon-Energia de Portugal combine for the next 25 percent…GE Energy installed the most turbines in 2008, accounting for 43 percent of new capacity. Vestas, 13 percent; Siemens and Suzlon, 9 percent each; and Gamesa, 7 percent, rounded out the Top 5."




BANK, SOLAR CO, BUILDING
SunEdison Activates a Record 86 PV Energy Systems in 2008; Wells Fargo Provided Majority of Financing
April 13, 2009 (Business Wire)

"SunEdison, North America’s largest solar energy services provider, …activated a record 86 photovoltaic (PV) solar energy systems in the U.S. during 2008 with a total capacity of 25.5 MW (DC). In the fourth quarter of 2008 alone, the company activated 37 PV systems in the United States for a combined capacity of 9.7 MW (DC).

"Key to these activations was financing from Wells Fargo & Company, which announced in March that it had provided $250 million in equity capital to solar energy projects since fall of 2007. More than half of this amount was for PV solar energy systems developed by SunEdison."

The Staples/SunEdison/Wells Fargo investment will pay off big in the long run. (click to enlarge)

"A recent… Wells Fargo investment …[was] developed by SunEdison and Q-Cells and hosted by Staples at its distribution center in Rialto, California. The 441 kW system is operated by SunEdison and includes 1,960 Solar Semiconductor modules using Q-Cells solar cell technology…

"In 2008, the SunEdison distributed solar portfolio performed at over 100% of expected generation capacity. SunEdison finances, builds, and operates PV solar energy systems for leading utilities, commercial/REIT and governmental organizations… "


FERC OKS GREEN POWER EXPRESS MONEY PLAN
FERC OKs Green Power Request For Favorable Transmission Incentives
Christine Buurma, April 13, 2009 (Dow Jones Newswire via Wall Street Journal)

"…[R]egulators have approved [Green Power Express LP 's] request for investment incentives for a proposed multi-state electric transmission project that would delivery wind energy to the U.S. Midwest and East.

"The decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is a win for transmission developers, who have argued that although more lines are needed to deliver electricity from remote wind farms to population centers across the U.S., developing such lines is costly and fraught with regulatory obstacles. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has proposed legislation that would give the U.S. government broad new powers to determine where to build transmission lines that link renewable energy to the electric system."

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"Green Power Express, a limited partnership formed by… ITC Holdings Corp. (ITC), is a $10 billion-$12 billion project that would transport 12,000 megawatts of power from Upper Midwest wind farms to more populated areas of the Midwest and East. FERC's decision allows Green Power Express to earn a return on equity of 12.38% for the project and recover certain costs by charging ratepayers…

"ITC must now seek a cost allocation mechanism from the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, a regional entity that oversees the reliability of the electric grid."