QUICK NEWS, Sept. 10: A WAY TO INVEST IN WIND ENERGY; SOLAR POWER TOWERS GET SAFER; TEST COMING FOR GIANT TURBINE BLADE

A WAY TO INVEST IN WIND ENERGY NextEra, Dominion are wind-energy plays

Motley Fool, Sept. 7, 2014 Columbus Dispatch

“…Wind power has been growing, partly because the cost of wind turbines and the price of wind-powered electricity are falling. The U.S. wind-energy industry employs about 50,000, and the Department of Energy would like to see wind generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity demand by 2030…General Electric is far from a pure play in wind, but it’s the largest wind-turbine supplier in the United States and is expanding internationally, too…The U.S. leader in wind energy, though, is NextEra Energy, with more than 10 gigawatts of wind capacity in 19 states. Dominion Resources is buying many big offshore wind leases from the U.S. government…[Analysts recommend investing in Dominion Resources and General Electric]…” click here for more

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SOLAR POWER TOWERS GET SAFER How Ivanpah is reducing glint and glare from heliostats; Palen Solar Holdings (PSH), the partnership between BrightSource Energy and Abengoa Solar, is attempting to get the 500MW Palen power tower project permitted in California’s notoriously rigorous permitting process.

Susan Kraemer and Angela Castillo, Sept. 4, 2014 (CSP Today)

“…[Owners of the 390MW Ivanpah project, the first utility-scale power tower CSP project to come online in America, have] solved the problem of glare from the mirrors reflecting sunlight with a new algorithm for mirrors in standby…[During] the permitting process for its follow up, the 500MW Palen Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) power tower, [it] has been a challenge…In the first six months of operation, 321 birds or bats were killed at the 3,500 square acre Ivanpah site. Of this number, 133 had their flying impaired by singed feathers from flying too close to the tower receivers. The majority were small birds, predominantly various species of hummingbirds and sparrows…Using humane bird deterrents to keep birds away, Ivanpah is now reducing those numbers…In CSP power tower technology, sunlight is reflected off mirrors focused on a receiver atop a tower to heat a fluid which can then be used to generate electricity directly via turbines, or first stored for later use. Because mirrors reflect sunlight, glare could become an issue…[The] solution? Aim the standby heliostats in a variety of directions, rather than at a focal point above the tower as before…The result? A noticeable difference in glare…to the required “less than significant” levels.” click here for more

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TEST COMING FOR GIANT TURBINE BLADE UMaine tests turbine blade

September 2, 2014 (renews)

“An unnamed wind turbine manufacturer has delivered a 56-meter blade to the University of Maine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center for testing…The facility offers structural tests to evaluate blades, towers and foundation components up to 70 meters in length. The UMaine Composites Center is one of two labs in the US that can test blades of these sizes in static and fatigue and are certified to conduct these tests…A UMaine-led consortium is developing the 12MW New England Aqua Ventus offshore wind demonstration project…[Earlier this year, the US Energy Department awarded the project a $3 million] grant to complete front-end engineering and design, including detailed systems, cost estimating, materials selection and identifying subcontractors and vendors.” click here for more

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