1. Wind Energy

2. Why Renewable Energy? o Clean, zero emissions o NOx, SO2, CO, CO2 o Air quality, water quality o Climate Change o Reduce fossil fuel dependence o Energy independence o Domestic energy – national security o Renewable o No fuel-price volatility o Domestic, local power

4. Renewable Energy: Sources for Electricity o Solar: PV and Thermal o Wind o Biomass/Landfill Gas o Hydropower (Rivers) o Geothermal o Hydro/Ocean: o Waves o Ocean Currents o Tides

5. New U.S. Capacity by Energy Source

6. Total Installed Wind Power Capacity: Top 15 States

7. Source: GWEC

8. Utility-Scale Wind Turbine Manufacturing: Investment in New Plants

9. Annual Installed U.S. Wind Power Capacity Source: AWEA

10. Megawatts of Installed Utility-Scale Wind Power as of December 31, 2007

11. 1979: 40 cents/kWh Increased Turbine Size R&D Advances Manufacturing Improvements NSP 107 MW Lake Benton wind farm 4 cents/kWh (unsubsidized) 2004: 3 – 4.5 cents/kWh 2000: 4 - 6 cents/kWh Why such growth?…Costs are low!

12. Need to Change Perceptions…

13. Modern Wind Turbines Orientation Turbines can be categorized into two classes based on the orientation of the rotor Vertical AxisHorizontal Axis

14. Vertical Axis Turbines Advantages Omnidirectional –Accepts wind from any angle Components can be mounted at ground level –Ease of service –Lighter weight towers Can theoretically use less materials to capture the same amount of wind Disadvantages Rotors generally near ground where wind poorer Centrifugal force stresses blades Poor self-starting capabilities Requires support at top of turbine rotor Requires entire rotor to be removed to replace bearings Overall poor performance and reliability Have never been commercially successful

15. Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines Types of Electricity Generating Wind Turbines Small (  10 kW) Homes Farms Remote Applications (e.g. water pumping, telecom sites, icemaking) Intermediate (10-250 kW) Village Power Hybrid Systems Distributed Power Large (250 kW - 2+MW) Central Station Wind Farms Distributed Power

16. Net Metering

17. Large Wind Turbines 328’ base to blade Each blade 112’ Span greater than 747 163.3 tons total Foundation 20’ deep Rated at 1.5 megawatt Supply at least 350 homes

21. Off-Shore Windfarms Middelgrunden

23. N acelle 56 tons Tower 3 sections Workers Blade 112’ long Wind Turbine Perspective

24. Relative height of tall human structures

26. B kWh/Yr 1. North Dakota1,21011. Colorado481 2. Texas1,19012.New Mexico435 3.Kansas1,07013.Idaho73 4.South Dakota1,03014.Michigan65 5.Montana1,02015.New York62 6.Nebraska86816.Illinois61 7.Wyoming74717.California59 8.Oklahoma72518.Wisconsin58 9.Minnesota65719.Maine56 10.Iowa55120.Missouri52 Top Twenty States for Wind Energy Potential

27. Tax Credits  No Federal Incentives for Small Wind Since 1985  Large Wind Supported with Production Tax Credit – Recently Passed – 3 Yr. Renewal in the 2005 Energy Policy Act  State have varying levels of support  NY 50%-75% Support  ME 0%  MA 20%-50%

28. Incentives for Wind Energy

29. 6.5 million customers 330+ generating units Over 8,000 miles of transmission lines 11 Interconnections 28,100 MW of capacity Peak demand: 22,544MW Transmission Problems

30. Impacts & Issues Property Values Land Use Visual Noise Birds and other wildlife Property Values In-depth study –“The Effect of Wind Development on Local Property Values” –25,000 property transactions In view shed of wind projects Compared to similar sites –No evidence of reduced value full report: www.repp.org

32. Modern turbines are relatively quiet Rule of thumb – stay about 3x hub-height away from houses Impacts of Wind Power: Noise

33. Net Impacts Land Use Land conservation –Planning: which areas are off-limits to roads/logging/wind turbines Primary impact is visual –Well-sited wind power All other impacts dwarfed by benefits Balancing local impacts, global/regional benefits

35. Resources for this presentation: American Wind Energy Association www.need.orgwww.need.org KidWind – www.kidwind.orgwww.kidwind.org National Renewable Energy Laboratory – www.nrel.govwww.nrel.gov Energy Information Administration – www.eia.doe.gov