wind power

Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), an operating company of American Electric Power Company (NYSE: AEP) (market cap $18.46 billion), said Friday it is adding 100 megawatts (MW) of wind power to its generation portfolio as part of a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) reached with E.ON Climate and Renewables.

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today granted conditional approval to the 250-mile Atlantic Wind Connection project that plans to interconnect up to 6,000 MW of offshore wind power. Subject to the project being included in regional grid manager PJM Interconnection’s regional transmission expansion plan, FERC granted an overall return on equity (ROE) of 12.59%, which includes 250 basis points in incentive ROE adders. Atlantic Wind had requested 300 basis points.

The largest power authorities in the United States rate the dependability of wind projects to deliver electricity during periods of peak demand at between 8% and 18.5% of their rated power capacity, according to a survey released Friday by the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA). 

Denmark-based wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems A/S (OTC: VWDRY.PK) said Saturday it has won a contract to supply 34 V90 3-megawatt (MW) turbines to a 102 MW wind energy project in Tehachapi, California, owned by Brookfield Renewable Power and Coram Energy Group.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), one of the largest power generators in the U.S. and the leading producer of power from wind and solar projects, released its Q1 2011 financial results Friday and said it had signed long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for an additional 400 megawatts (MW) of wind power since the beginning of 2011. At the end of 2010, NextEra had nearly 43,000 MW of generating capacity (approximately 53% natural gas, 19% wind, 13% nuclear, 13% oil and coal, and 2% hydro and solar), according to the company’s regulatory filings.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) said today it has begun construction of the 150 megawatt (MW)Sherbino 2 Wind Farm in Pecos County, Texas. Sherbino 1, which came on line with 150 MW in 2008, was developed with NRG Energy, Inc. Future phases of Sherbino could push capacity to a total of 750 MW, according to BP’s website.

San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) said Tuesday it has signed a 20-year contract for up to 156 megawatts (MW) from the first phase of Sempra Generation’s Energía Sierra Juárez wind project in Baja California, Mexico. Both SDG&E and Sempra Generation are subsidiaries of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE). 

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) said Monday that Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) and two Japanese partners -- Sumitomo Corporation and Itochu Corporation -- will pay about $500 million for a majority equity stake in the world's largest wind farm, under construction near Arlington, Oregon. Google’s share will be about $100 million. 

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK) said today it has chosen a 36 megawatt (MW) battery system developed by Xtreme Power Inc. to store and manage power generated at Duke’s 153 MW Notrees Windpower Project in west Texas. The company said the storage system will be one of the largest of its kind in the world and will be operating by late 2012.

Enmax Energy Corporation, wholly owned by the City of Calgary, Alberta, said Monday construction will begin this month on its 800-megawatt Shepard natural gas-fired generation plant. The plant, expected to cost more than CDN$1.3 billion, will provide enough power for about half of the city’s population of one million residents.