Tagged: wind energy

A University of Wyoming wind study shows that combining the wind resources of Wyoming and Colorado would benefit the Colorado energy grid. 

U-W Wind Energy Research Center Director Jonathan Naughton said that’s because wind in Colorado and Wyoming blows differently.  He said that if the resources are combined, it would make wind power more consistent.            

“It easier to integrate into the grid, saves in money that you don’t have to use for purchasing backup power that would likely come from gas turbine engines fired by natural gas.” 

A proposed wind power transmission line wants feedback on its proposed route.  The Zephyr Power Transmission Project is an approximately 850-mile transmission line that would deliver wind energy generated in eastern Wyoming to population centers in the southwestern U.S. As proposed, the project will begin at the Pathfinder Wind Energy Development near Chugwater, cross portions of Colorado and Utah, and end up near the Eldorado Valley, just south of Las Vegas.  

A group of University of Wyoming researchers received $508,000 from NASA to study aerodynamics and wind resistance at Wyoming’s Supercomputing Center.

The U.S. Department of Energy reports that Wyoming has one of the highest capacities for wind power production in the country. But University of Wyoming Mathematics Professor Stefan Heinz says most wind farms aren’t arranged as efficiently as they could be. He says the wake of one turbine often disrupts the turbines around it, reducing efficiency.

Next on the show is the a Wind Energy expert and the author of the book Harvest the Wind:  America’s Journey to jobs, energy independence and climate stability.  Phil Warburg tells Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck that while it appears that enthusiasm for Wind Energy has slowed down in Wyoming, that is not the case in the rest of the country.

    An Aide to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, warned Wyoming government and industry officials yesterday (Tuesday) about the impact of expiring incentives for renewable energy projects.

Steve Black spoke at a meeting of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority in Jackson. He said both a grant program and a loan guarantee program for renewables have already expired.  He adds that a tax credit that encourages wind projects is due to expire this year. Black says now is not the time to tax an industry that's just getting off the ground.