Department of Energy Conditional Loan Guarantee … New Hampshire's Largest Wind Farm

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://energy.gov/news/10388.htm

June 21, 2011

Department of Energy Conditional Loan Guarantee Commitment to Support the Development of New Hampshire's Largest Wind Farm

Project Expected to Create 200 Jobs and Generate Enough Electricity to Power 20,000 Homes

Washington, D.C. -Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the offer of a to Granite Reliable Power, LLC to provide up to $135.76 million in loan guarantees for a new wind generation project. The 99 megawatt (MW) project will be located in the central portion of Coos County in northern New Hampshire, approximately 110 miles north of Concord. According to project sponsors, the project will create nearly 200 construction jobs.

"This Administration is creating clean energy jobs, in New Hampshire and in countless states across the country, which will help the US to recapture the lead when it comes to the deployment of renewable energy," said Secretary Chu. "Our support for clean energy projects is increasing our global competitiveness and positioning us to win the future."

The wind generation project will consist of 33 Vestas V90 3.0-MW wind turbines. While in commercial use internationally, this will be only the second U.S. wind project to deploy these turbines. The project will generate enough electricity to power nearly 20,000 homes and avoid over 124,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. The majority of the power from the project will be sold to Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power. WestLB AG is the lender-applicant for the project, which was submitted under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP).

The Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office administers three separate programs: the Title XVII Section 1703 and Section 1705 loan guarantee programs, and the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program. The loan guarantee programs support the deployment of renewable energy systems using commercial technologies, along with innovative technologies that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions, while ATVM supports the development of advanced vehicle technologies. Under all three programs, DOE has issued loans, loan guarantees or offered conditional commitments for loan guarantees totaling over $33 billion to support 36 clean energy projects across the U.S. The program's 19 generation projects produce over 28 million megawatt-hours annually, enough to power over two million homes. DOE has also committed financing to support numerous other projects, such as including four of the world's largest solar generation facilities, the world's largest wind farm and the nation's first new nuclear power plant in three decades. For more information, please visit the http://www.lpo.energy.gov/">Loan Programs Office website.

[Maine_Nurse]

1. Until we have high-capacity, reliable, long-lasting, and inexpensive...

ways to store electricity, terrestrial wind power is an environmental loser.

[kristopher]

2. That is an uninformed opinion.

It is false.

[Maine_Nurse]

3. Don't think so...

we have plenty of recent wind farms that have destroyed habitat and gorgeous views, only to drastically under-deliver on output and have resulted in the major gas-fired facility spending more time in "warm standby" mode than ever before. Our offshore initiative at UMaine will likely make our wind power feasible and less environmentally damaging, but our terrestrial farms have turned out to be total bunk.

[kristopher]

4. "Don't think" is more like it

First you made the false statement about wind and storage. Now you are flying off to the claim that it "spoils the view".

Maybe it does for you; but your opinion is a minority one since most people actually like the way they look. We know that because surveys have shown that homes with a view of wind farms bring more money than comparable homes without the view.

What is your solution to fossil fuel use and global warming?

[Maine_Nurse]

6. Well your surveys suck then...

or are more of the bullshit spewed by FirstWind and others like them. The bullshit that has proven to be wildly inacurate.

Why don't you ask the real people up the road from me or up in the wilderness area how they like it (not to mention the 13 mile long road that was cut into an old-growth forest)? You know, the ones that can't sell their homes at all, even though our real estate market is doing better than it has in quite a while? The ones that want to sell in the first place because the reason they bought the homes in the Maine wilderness is now destroyed? And yeah, fucking up the views and environment in a large area that has no cities or industries except for outdoor and eco tourism is a pretty big friggin deal.

And my statement about terrestrial wind and storage stands. Why don't you catch a clue, you sound like a FirstWind shill.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. The Impact of Wind Power Projects on Residential Property Values in the United States

http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/lbnl-2829e.pdf

…

9. Conclusions

Though surveys generally show that public acceptance towards wind energy is high, a variety of concerns with wind development are often expressed at the local level. One such concern that is often raised in local siting and permitting processes is related to the potential impact of wind projects on the property values of nearby residences.

This report has investigated the potential impacts of wind power facilities on the sales prices of residential properties that are in proximity to and/or that have a view of those wind facilities. It builds and improve on the previous literature that has investigated these potential effects by collecting a large quantity of residential transaction data from communities surrounding a wide variety of wind power facilities, spread across multiple parts of the U.S. Each of the homes included in this analysis was visited to clearly determine the degree to which the wind facility was visible at the time of home sale and to collect other essential data. To frame the analysis, three potentially distinct impacts of wind facilities on property values are considered: Area, Scenic Vista, and Nuisance Stigma. To assess these potential impacts, the authors applied a base hedonic model, explored seven alternative hedonic models, conducted a repeat sales analysis, and evaluated possible impacts on sales volumes. The result is the most comprehensive and data-rich analysis to date on the potential impacts of wind projects on nearby property values.

Although each of the analysis techniques used in this report has strengths and weaknesses, the results are strongly consistent in that each model fails to uncover conclusive evidence of the presence of any of the three property value stigmas. Based on the data and analysis presented in this report, no evidence is found that home prices surrounding wind facilities are consistently, measurably, and significantly affected by either the view of wind facilities or the distance of the home to those facilities. Although the analysis cannot dismiss the possibility that individual or small numbers of homes have been or could be negatively impacted, if these impacts do exist, they are either too small and/or too infrequent to result in any widespread and consistent statistically observable impact. Moreover, to the degree that homes in the present sample are similar to homes in other areas where wind development is occurring, the results herein are expected to be transferable.

Finally, although this work builds on the existing literature in a number of respects, there remain a number of areas for further research. The primary goal of subsequent research should be to concentrate on those homes located closest to wind facilities, where the least amount of data are available. Additional research of the nature reported in this paper could be pursued, but with a greater number of transactions, especially for homes particularly close to wind facilities. Further, it is conceivable that cumulative impacts might exist whereby communities that have seen repetitive development are affected uniquely, and these cumulative effects may be worth investigating. A more detailed analysis of sales volume impacts may also be fruitful, as would an assessment of the potential impact of wind facilities on the length of time homes are on the market in advance of an eventual sale. Finally, it would be useful to conduct a survey of those homeowners living close to existing wind facilities, and especially those residents who have bought and sold homes in proximity to wind facilities after facility construction, to assess their opinions on the impacts of wind project development on their home purchase and sales decisions.

…

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. FWIW

Recently, a friend and I went for a 3-hour road trip. We took her usual course, because it took us through what she and her daughter lovingly call, “The Valley of Windmills.” I said, “In My Back Yard,” she immediately understood and agreed.

I’d rather look at a dozen wind turbines than half as many cellular telephone towers (even if they are masquerading as pine trees.)
(No, this isn't the wind farm we drove through, although I’ve driven through this one too.)

[jpak]

14. The Maine towns of Oakfield, Roxbury, Vinalhaven, and Freedom voted to OK their wind farms

And ALL Maine wind farms have to be approved by the Maine DEP.

Also - the only true old growth forest left in Maine is the Big Reed Forest tract. It is protected from development and there is no 13 mile road through it.

And no wind farm in Northern Maine is "destroying wilderness" - the North Maine Woods is industrial forest with large areas of clear cuts and harvesting. It is not wilderness.

And I am quite certain that more people are upset over Roxanne Quimby's plans for a National Park in northern Maine than they are about any proposed wind farm up there.

yup

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. Wind Energy Myth #4

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/37657.pdf

Wind Energy Myths

…

4 Wind energy is unpredictable and must be “backed up” by conventional generation.

No power plant is 100% reliable. During a power plant outage—whether a conventional plant or a wind plant—backup is provided by the entire interconnected utility system.

The system operating strategy strives to make best use of all elements of the overall system, taking into account the operating characteristics of each generating unit and planning for contingencies such as plant or transmission line outages. The utility system is also designed to accommodate load fluctuations, which occur continuously. This feature also facilitates accommodation of wind plant output fluctuations. In Denmark, Northern Germany, and parts of Spain, wind supplies 20% to 40% of electric loads without sacrificing reliability. When wind is added to a utility system, no new backup is required to maintain system reliability.

…

[txlibdem]

9. backup is provided by the entire interconnected utility system

The countries of Europe know that a lack of renewable energy storage is the preferred outcome for the fossil fuels lobbyists.
Quoting the poster: "backup is provided by the entire interconnected utility system" -- that's great. What is the entire utility system powered by? Fossil fuels.

Why are the nations you mention working on energy storage, and the UK is expanding its current 2.3 GW of pumped hydro energy storage.

Promising results from renewable energy storage project

The first phase of a renewable energy storage project shows that a full scale plant will have very high energy efficiency

Two engineers from southern Jutland, Asger Gramkow and Jan Olsen, have successfully carried out the first phase of a project concerning storage of renewable energy, reports regional newspaper Jyske Vestkysten and Energy-supply.dk. The test of the technology was carried out in a hall, and the first results were very uplifting, says Jan Olsen:

"The first tests showed that it is practically possible to carry this out. It was said that we would lose 30-40 percent of the energy, but the tests showed that in a full scale plant, we will only lose around 0.5 percent."

The technology behind this project uses compressed water pumped into bags buried under tons of dirt. This is the first time I've heard of a below ground pumped hydro energy storage.

Denmark is also working on Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) energy balancing technology. That doesn't sound like they're willing to stick with the fossil grid to me...

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. Well, you’re replying to the US Department of Energy on that one (note the URL)

Energy storage is a fine thing, if you want to have a much higher percentage of wind & solar than we currently have. However, it is not strictly necessary.

[txlibdem]

11. Our national energy plan should darn well *be* 100% renewables by (date)

The anti-nukesters want all the nuclear power plants shut down. Guess what? They produce 19% of our electricity now so when they're gone we'll be 20% in the hole, 20% MORE coal power plants or natural gas plants. Or maybe they'll reopen the old oil burning generator plants that have been idle since President Carter ordered them shut down.

Now the same anti-nuke-nutsters trot out post after post claiming no energy storage is needed until wind power reaches 20% of the market. Well, if they had their way that grand vision would put us... exactly where we are today, dominated by coal, oil and natural gas and their toxic pollution and political corruption. Bravo!

Even keeping the nuclear plants we have today, due to rising energy demand, by 2050 they will only be providing about 10% of our electricity. And 20% of that pie still leaves fossil fuels in the dominant position, economically and politically. Untenable.

No sane person would limit renewables to 20%. That does nothing to solve the serious, deadly consequences of continued fossil fuel use -- like global climate change, sea level rise, species extinction on a massive scale that is already in evidence, ocean acidification (killing the corals, likely to destroy the marine ecosystem).

So, heck yes, I say we shoot for 100% renewable energy by 2040, end coal use by 2030, end oil use by 2035, end natural gas use by 2040. Let the sun shine!

[kristopher]

12. .

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/kristopher/576

[jpak]

Nonsense - 194.4 GW of installed global wind power capacity sez you're wrong

and uninformed

Commercial wind turbines typically produce power 70% of the time.

Here in Maine - solar, tidal and wind power output compliment each other over short and seasonal time scales, and over weather cycles and reduce the need for storage systems.

We need to ignore LePage (R-moran) and the anti-wind fossil fuel lobby and deploy all three in Maine.

Existing Maine hydro power and biomass plants can be utilized to manage fluctuations in Maine wind power output - today.

One company recently proposed to deploy 800 MW of PV in Maine to reduce NE ISO summer peak loads. This would be more than enough to reduce the need for wind power storage during the summer. As sea breezes are strongest during hot summer days and often persist well into the evening - terrestrial wind power could help meet summer peak loads well into hot summer nights.

A Canadian company recently proposed a 1000 MW pumped storage system in Wiscasset - this would more than enough to manage planned terrestrial (and offshore) wind capacity in Maine.

Ceramic electric furnaces (as well as hot water heaters and smart meters) can be used to store excess winter wind power output in Maine homes. Ceramic furnaces cost $2000. One Maine wind farm developer offered to buy and install them for local homeowners and supply electricity to them at a cost equivalent to $2.50 a gallon heating oil.

All Maine wind developers should mandated to provide these to Maine homeowners.

MW-scale flywheel and NaS battery systems are being deployed by US utilities - today - and eliminate the need for more expensive grid infrastructure improvements to accommodate renewable energy systems.

Finally, electric cars are now a reality and can be used as storage systems for wind (or solar & tidal) generated electricity - as the price of gasoline increases (and it will) the number of electric cars available for grid management will also increase.

Again - all we have to do is ignore the ignorance (and the GOP anti-renewable morans) and deploy these technologies.

yup

[jpak]

13. Nonsense - 194.4 GW of installed global wind power capacity sez you're wrong

and uninformed

Commercial wind turbines typically produce power 70% of the time.

Here in Maine - solar, tidal and wind power output compliment each other over short and seasonal time scales, and over weather cycles and reduce the need for storage systems.

We need to ignore LePage (R-moran) and the anti-wind fossil fuel lobby and deploy all three in Maine.

Existing Maine hydro power and biomass plants can be utilized to manage fluctuations in Maine wind power output - today.

One company recently proposed to deploy 800 MW of PV in Maine to reduce NE ISO summer peak loads. This would be more than enough to reduce the need for wind power storage during the summer. As sea breezes are strongest during hot summer days and often persist well into the evening - terrestrial wind power could help meet summer peak loads well into hot summer nights.

A Canadian company recently proposed a 1000 MW pumped storage system in Wiscasset - this would more than enough to manage planned terrestrial (and offshore) wind capacity in Maine.

Ceramic electric furnaces (as well as hot water heaters and smart meters) can be used to store excess winter wind power output in Maine homes. Ceramic furnaces cost $2000. One Maine wind farm developer offered to buy and install them for local homeowners and supply electricity to them at a cost equivalent to $2.50 a gallon heating oil.

All Maine wind developers should mandated to provide these to Maine homeowners.

MW-scale flywheel and NaS battery systems are being deployed by US utilities - today - and eliminate the need for more expensive grid infrastructure improvements to accommodate renewable energy systems.

Finally, electric cars are now a reality and can be used as storage systems for wind (or solar & tidal) generated electricity - as the price of gasoline increases (and it will) the number of electric cars available for grid management will also increase.

Again - all we have to do is ignore the ignorance (and the GOP anti-renewable morans) and deploy these technologies.

yup