India-based Suzlon Energy Ltd - the largest wind turbine manufacturer in Asia, announced on Friday that one of their wind turbine blades in the US, suffered an extremely rare and unusual incident, accidental breakage.

Suzlon windmill farm at Chitradurga

We’re talking about a “single V2 blade on a Suzlon S.88 turbine”, while the rest are still operating without interruptions, running safely as planned. They are now trying to figure out what might have caused the breakage and what might have been the circumstances.

Meanwhile, based on speculations that the Indian company may lose their contracts in the US due to these incidents, Suzlon shares have plunged 29 percent to 55.20 rupees in a Mumbai market that was down nearly 10 percent.

Suzlon Energy has 13,000 employees and in 2008 they had $2.8 billion in revenue. - via IndiaInfoline

Image courtesy of dinesh-valke

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The north-east of England is soon to become the centre of an enormous wind farm industry that is being proposed to be set up because of its close proximity to the sea. Today with 3GW (a supply enough for 2m homes) of the 75GW of electricity consumed, Britain has come up to the fifth position, leaving behind Denmark in the European green league.

By the next decade 40GW of electric power will come from off-shore wind farms with a clear 50% of it coming from the British shores. Apart from this, the booming wind farm industry would attract over £50 billion in investments, provide 50,000 jobs and by the year 2010 earn UK 50% of the shares in the European market.

The British Wind Energy Authority (BWEA) is quite confident that it will be able to reach its target by 2020 but the only obstacle in their path to success is the delay on the part of the Government in sanctioning their plans. Isn’t that what Governments are for? - via Telegraph.co.uk

Image courtesy of CovLtwt

The Ethiopian Electricity Corporation realized that they were falling short on energy resources and needed to add some extra sources to meet the demand. But instead of following the conventional method of installing huge power plants, they decided to build a wind farm instead.

Built in north Ethiopia this 120 megawatt Ashegoba wind farm would generate 15% of the nation’s power sources, and the largest of them all, in Africa.

Until recently Ethiopia had depended on its hydroelectric power generated by dams, but severe droughts have totally halted the country’s power resources to a standstill. However with this new project which shows to be a promising one this dire crisis will be resolved.

The project will cost 220 million euros and will take two and a half years to complete. Africa’s resolution to enter the green revolution will secure a brighter future for generations to come.

Press release

Broadstar Wind Systems has designed what is supposed to the be next generation wind turbine. Based on principles first established by the French aeronautical engineer Georges Jean Marie Darrieus who invented a wind turbine capable of operating from any direction and under adverse weather conditions, the AeroCam is capable of generating power virtually anywhere.

Though it looks a lot like a water wheel because of the horizontal axis with multiple blades, rest assured that it’s really capable of delivering energy.

Probably the most interesting feature of the AeroCam wind turbine is the fact that it has the ability to automatically and interactively adjust the pitch or angle of attack of the blades that will rotate it. Much like a bird which is changing the shape of its wing when it flies.

“It all adds up to a solution that delivers more power and more choice of location, with a lower total cost of acquisition and ownership and a faster payback period. The AeroCam has the potential to equip almost every local community, business and government building with its own renewable energy power station and it can supplement existing turbines,” said Stephen Else, president of the company.

The price is $250,000 for a 250kW AeroCam wind turbine which is $1 per watt if we do the math. It’s the lowest in the industry.

Now you understand why oil business men are switching to wind?

via Energy Daily

T. Boone Pickens Jr. is one of Texas’s richest oil men who’s making a small fortune every minute thanks to the high oil prices. He’s also now seemingly setting his safety net by building the largest wind farm in the world (he says). The farm will have a 4,000 megawatts generating capability, enough to be able to power 1.3 million houses with green energy.

To become a Texas wind tycoon, Pickens is going to invest $12 billion in the project with an expected 15% - 25% return on the money.

“For a number of years I’ve watched the wind turbines develop—and I feel like it’s time for it. I think that oil has peaked at 85 million barrels in the world. We’ve got to other forms of energy - wind, I think solar will be next, and I hope I’m still around to be in the solar deal” Pickens said.

Though he’s not a fan of the current President, Pickens is confident that the federal wind energy production tax credit will pass Congress, because the United States needs to develop more alternate energy sources, including wind.

“We’re now importing 72 percent of the oil we use every day. I think everybody can see that we’re gonna break the country if we pay 700 billion dollars a year for, uh, imported oil.”

When a Texas oil man worth $3 billion (according to Forbes), bets against oil on renewable energy like wind or solar power you may want to think again which boat you’ll be in for the next few years.

Here’s the whole interview on the Living on Earth Show.

Image by fieldsbh