Wind Energy Developments

There are many exciting developments in wind energy.  Not only are a large number of wind turbines being installed, but the electricity grid is being expanded to take the power from relatively unpopulated areas where the wind is strong to more populated areas where the power is needed. Since wind can be unpredictable, the more distributed the turbines are, the higher the probability that a strong enough wind is blowing at enough locations to provide adequate power.

The demand for wind turbines currently exceeds the supply and it is projected that this situation will continue until well into 2009 when additional capacity will enable demand to be met.

Storage

To make use of all the wind power available, it is important to be able to store any excess energy. There is a lot of research and development to determine the best methods to apply for each location. In some areas, water is pumped up to reservoirs to be used for hydro generation, an example is the Tennessee Valley Authority site at Raccoon Mountain located in southeast Tennessee on a site that overlooks the Tennessee River near Chattanooga.

The plant works like a large storage battery. During periods of low demand, water is pumped from Nickajack Reservoir at the base of the mountain to the reservoir built at the top. It takes 28 hours to fill the upper reservoir. When demand is high, water is released via a tunnel drilled through the center of the mountain to drive generators in the mountain’s underground power plant.

In other locations compressed air is stored underground, to be used during low wind periods

For up an to date look at new developments in wind power check out the American Wind Energy Association site http://www.awea.org/
 
U.S. Wind Maps

The U.S. Department of Energy http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/index.asp also has a very interesting site. You can view a map of the U.S. that shows the growth of wind power from 1999 to 2007. From a level of 1,000MW in 1985 the level grew to 10,000MW by 2007.

California Wind Energy Association (CalWEA) has an excellent site where you will find a vast amount of information from water saving aspects of wind power to the impact of turbines on wildlife. http://www.calwea.org/bigPicture.html

 
Northwest Wind Maps

If you’d like to see detailed maps of wind power in the Northwest, checkout Wind Power Maps.org http://www.windpowermaps.org/windmaps/windmaps.asp

A site that will help to start an education is the Windustry site  http://www.windustry.com/
This will take you through the basics and discusses wind projects from home and farm size, through community to commercial sizes.

Renewable Energy Commitment

To learn about an electric corporation dedicated to providing 25% of its power from renewable energy by 2025 check out Sunflower Electric Power Corporation http://www.sunflower.net/