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WIND ENERGY: Billionaire Tom Golisano says his new company will keep more money in host towns

By Michael Regan/reganm@gnnewspaper.com
Amid references to his hockey team and jokes that fired up the nearly 200 in attendance, billionaire Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Sabres and founder of the successful Paychex company out of Rochester, promoted his newest entrepreneurial endeavor, Empire State Wind Energy, on Monday night at the Albion Senior High School.

It wasn’t the first occasion politicians and residents of Orleans County had gathered to hear heads of companies pass on details related to the often controversial topic of wind turbines. But, according to Golisano and his business partner Keith Pitman, their plan is different.

“I don’t want to make the same mistakes as Niagara Falls,” Golisano said in reference to what he views as unfair distribution of funds yielded from the Niagara Power Project. “If it’s your energy and wind, why give it up? We started this company because we think we have a better idea.”

According to Golisano and Pitman, that idea includes giving local municipalities more of the profits from wind energy, while leaving an option for ownership. In their view, outside companies work their way into the region, leaving taxpayers with a pittance of what they deserve.

“Why are these folks coming from all over the earth to investigate wind power in upstate New York?” Pitman said. “Developers offer $8,000 per year per Megawatt of generation capacity. So we think that instead of a company in Europe capturing the money we keep it right here.”

Under his company’s blueprint, Pitman pointed to the potential for upwards of $125,000 a year profit for each turbine during the first 10 years and said after loans are paid off, that figure could more than triple.

But, their presentation wasn’t without questions as dozens in the crowd inquired about a wide-range of topics. Wendi Pencille of Shelby wanted to know how the turbines could affect birds passing through on a major migratory route. Tom Fuller, a county planning board member, asked how much of the profit would be shared with Empire Wind Energy. Others were concerned about noise, aesthetics and a turbine’s proximity to residential areas.

Golisano and Pitman said since the company was started last summer they have had similar conversations with a dozen municipalities across New York state. So far four of them have requested additional information and dialogue. Pitman alone made a similar pitch to the Town of Somerset in Niagara County a few weeks ago.

“It’s certainly been a mixed bag,” Pitman said. “It’s a town by town judgment. The last thing we want to tell you is here’s your project. The first thing we want to ask you is do you want wind energy, yes or no?”

Contact editor Michael Regan at (585) 798-1400, ext. 2226.

MADRID, Spain: Taking advantage of a particularly gusty period, Spain’s wind energy generators this week reached an all-time high in electricity production, exceeding power generated by all other means, the nation’s electricity network authority said Tuesday in a statement.

At 17.40 (1640 GMT) on Monday wind power generation rose to contribute 27 percent of the country’s total power requirement, Red Electrica said.

At that moment wind power contributed 8,375 mega watts to the nation’s power consumption of 31,033. Nuclear power, the second largest contributor, added 6,797 mega watts, while coal-fired electric generation came third with 5,081, the statement said.

National broadcaster TVE said it believed this may have been the first time wind power exceeded nuclear power’s contribution to the power grid.

Over the course of last year wind power contributed nine percent of the nation’s requirement while coal-fired power stations put in 24 percent and nuclear power 22 percent.

Spain has in recent years turned to harnessing wind power through the use of tall, slender electricity generating turbines on remote hillsides.

AMSC Signs Multi-Million-Dollar Contract to Develop Higher Power Wind Energy Systems for Chinese Market

WESTBOROUGH, Mass.-(Business Wire)-March 13, 2007 - American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, announced today its wholly owned subsidiary, Windtec(TM), has signed a multi-million-dollar wind energy system joint development contract with Sinovel Wind Corporation Limited. AMSC also has a prior delivery right to sell future electrical components under the same conditions as other suppliers to Sinovel for the wind energy systems covered under the contract, creating a substantial follow-on business opportunity for AMSC. The order significantly expands Windtec’s business with Sinovel. Since 2005, Sinovel has ordered electrical components from Windtec for 785 wind energy systems rated at 1.5 megawatts (MW).

Under the terms of the new contract, Windtec and Sinovel will design and jointly develop 3 and 5 MW wind energy systems that Sinovel plans to market and sell worldwide. Sinovel will have the exclusive ownership and complete industrial and intellectual property rights for large-scale onshore and offshore wind turbines developed under this contract, enabling the company to compete effectively with established leaders in the market. Based in Beijing, Sinovel plans to begin series production of 3 MW systems during 2009 and 5 MW systems the following year.

“AMSC’s Windtec business enabled Sinovel to quickly establish itself in the wind power market,” said Han Junliang, Chairman and President of Sinovel. “We believe the 3 and 5 MW systems we will jointly develop with Windtec will allow Sinovel to grow its market share and position us as a technology leader in the industry. We look forward to benefiting from our expanded relationship with Windtec as we continue to implement our plan to manufacture 500 wind energy systems in 2007, 800 in 2008 and reach an annual capacity of 1,000 wind energy systems in 2010.”

By December 2006, Sinovel had already signed more than US$1 billion in contracts to supply domestically made wind energy systems to help meet China’s rising demand for clean energy. According to one of its customers and one of China’s biggest power generation companies, China Huaneng, up to US$36 billion may be spent in China by 2020 to increase wind energy capacity to cut pollution. The Chinese government has mandated that at least 70 percent of equipment used in Chinese wind farms must be made in China.

“AMSC’s business in the Asia-Pacific region continues to grow rapidly,” said Greg Yurek, founder and chief executive officer of AMSC. “Sinovel has done a tremendous job of scaling its production capabilities and has emerged as a major wind system manufacturer. We are honored that it has chosen Windtec to aid in expanding its product offerings to 3 and 5 MW systems - a step that will help considerably to meet the renewable energy needs of China.”

According to a recent report from the Global Wind Energy Council, China’s installed base of wind generated electricity grew by 107% in 2006 alone to 2,600 MW. Li Junfeng of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association (CREIA) stated: “Thanks to the Renewable Energy law, the Chinese market has grown substantially in 2006, and this growth is expected to continue and speed up. According to the list of approved projects and those under construction, more than 1,500 MW will be installed in 2007. The goal for wind power in China by the end of 2010 is 5,000 MW, which according to our estimations will already be reached well ahead of time.”

About Sinovel

Sinovel Wind Co., Ltd is an industrial company that is engaged in developing, engineering and marketing high tech wind energy systems. The company is headquartered in Beijing and its manufacturing base is located in Dahlia, China. The company is in the process of opening new manufacturing plants in Inner Mongolia and Jiangsu.

About AMSC

AMSC (American Superconductor Corporation - NASDAQ: AMSC) is a leading energy technologies company. The company develops and sells a wide range of products and solutions based on power electronic systems and high temperature superconductor (HTS) wires that dramatically improve the efficiency, reliability and quality of electricity during its generation, transmission, distribution and use. The company is a dominant force in alternative energy, offering grid interconnection solutions as well as licensed wind energy designs and electrical systems. As the world’s principal supplier of HTS wire, AMSC is enabling a new generation of compact, high-power electrical products, including motors, generators, power cables, grid-level surge protectors, and advanced transportation and defense systems. AMSC also provides utility and industrial customers worldwide with voltage regulation systems that dramatically enhance power grid capacity, reliability and security, as well as industrial productivity. The company’s technologies are protected by a broad and deep intellectual property portfolio consisting of hundreds of patents and licenses worldwide. More information is available at www.amsuper.com. # # # #

American Superconductor and design, Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity, AMSC, Powered by AMSC, SuperVAR, D-VAR, DVC, PQ-IVR, PowerModule and Windtec are trademarks or registered trademarks of AMSC.

Wind lab won’t be placed in OhioFinalists are Massachusetts and Texas

East Toledo won’t get America’s first laboratory for testing offshore wind turbine blades. It’s a decision that likely has cost northwest Ohio a shot at numerous jobs in the renewable energy sector and likely will keep the Great Lakes region from assuming a leadership role in the development of offshore wind power.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman today is expected to announce sites in Texas and Massachusetts as the two finalists for the $11.5 million project… “A lot of work went into it. It was very exciting. It was a good effort,” Mr. Calzonetti said last night. “We don’t know exactly the reasons why the DOE selected Texas and Massachusetts. We’ll go forward from here.” …But Robert Kozar, a former NASA official who was hired in early 2006 as a special projects official in UT’s research office, also said he had heard Texas and Massachusetts will be named as the two finalists.

Texas and Massachusetts are well ahead of the Great Lakes region in terms of possible construction of offshore turbines. Texas on Monday announced it had the nation’s first platform for collecting offshore wind ready to go out into the Gulf of Mexico from the Galveston shoreline.
Massachusetts is even further along with its Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound, awaiting word on permits to build 130 turbines for what would become America’s first offshore wind farm… Read the rest of this Toledo Blade story here.____________________________

Texas says Ted Kennedy may stop Mass. getting facility

Cape Cod TODAY has obtained the document below from the Texas General Land Office bragging about how Ted Kennedy may have prevented Massachusetts from being given a major, new Federal testing lab due to his efforts to stop Cape Wind.
The dicument reads in part, “Ted Kennedy has fought wind energy in Massachusetts, but Ted Kennedy is not from around here,” Patterson said.

“In Texas, we welcome wind power and the money that comes with it. I’m confident the Department of Energy will appreciate what we have to offer.”Wind is the fastest growing source of energy in the world today. And Texas is the top generator of wind power in the nation. Last year alone, Texas built nearly a third of the new wind power installed nationwide…

Here’s the rest;

Texas is finalist for wind turbine research facility$80 billion international market for turbines at stake

AUSTIN — Texas will square off against Massachusetts in a showdown for a new, national large-scale wind turbine research and development facility, announced Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office. The facility would replace the Department of Energy’s existing test center in Colorado.

“Ted Kennedy has fought wind energy in Massachusetts, but Ted Kennedy is not from around here,” Patterson said.

“In Texas, we welcome wind power and the money that comes with it. I’m confident the Department of Energy will appreciate what we have to offer.”
Wind is the fastest growing source of energy in the world today. And Texas is the top generator of wind power in the nation. Last year alone, Texas built nearly a third of the new wind power installed nationwide.

Under Patterson, Texas signed the nation’s first and second leases for the development of offshore wind power. And no coastal state has greater wind energy potential than Texas. Texas could generate as much as 10 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, according to resource assessments conducted by the University of Houston. The nation’s cumulative wind power capacity is currently 9,971 megawatts. The booming growth of the wind industry in Texas makes the state a natural fit for the testing of the huge turbine components required for future wind farms.

Patterson has likened the potential impact of the Alliance’s proposed National Large Wind Turbine Research & Testing Facility to that of NASA in Houston during the space race in the 1960s. A Texas-sized test facility will give the U.S. an advantage in getting a bigger share of the projected $80 billion annual international business in designing and building turbines.
“Anyone building wind turbines will want to be near this facility,” Patterson said. “A Texas facility will be a magnet for research and manufacturing. It will establish Texas as a worldwide leader in wind power for many years to come.” deep-water ports, strong gulf winds and political will to make our coast the perfect site for the new blade-testing facility,” Patterson said. “The only hard part here will be deciding where along our 367 mile coast to place it.”
Patterson made the announcement on behalf of the Land Office and the Lone Star Wind Alliance, a Texas-led coalition of universities, government agencies and corporate partners created to prepare the proposal for submission to the federal government.

Patterson has likened the potential impact of the Alliance’s proposed National Large Wind Turbine Research & Testing Facility to that of NASA in Houston during the space race in the 1960s. A Texas-sized test facility will give the U.S. an advantage in getting a bigger share of the projected $80 billion annual international business in designing and building turbines.
“Anyone building wind turbines will want to be near this facility,” Patterson said. “A Texas facility will be a magnet for research and manufacturing. It will establish Texas as a worldwide leader in wind power for many years to come.”

The Consortium’s proposal to DOE enjoys the full support of the Texas Congressional delegation, as well as leadership at the state level including Governor Perry, Speaker Tom Craddick and several Texas State House and Senate members.
“We are thrilled that DOE has included Texas in the final round of competition for the new facility,” said Ray Flumerfelt, Dean of the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston. “Our proposal, as well as the Lone Star Wind Alliance, will only get stronger as we move forward. I am confident that the new wind facility will be housed along the Texas coast and we look forward to working with DOE to that end.”

In May, the Department of Energy announced it is seeking partners to build a new facility capable of testing blades up to 70 meters long. In addition to Texas, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio and Virginia submitted applications for the test facility.
Texas brought together a coalition of its best academic minds, industry leaders and public servants to focus on this bid, which was submitted to the Department of Energy by the University of Houston. Austin-based Good Company Associates is coordinating the coalition’s efforts.

The Lone Star Wind Alliance includes the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, West Texas A&M University, the Houston Advanced Research Center, Stanford University, Montana State University, New Mexico State University, Old Dominion University, the Texas General Land Office, the State Energy Conservation Office, the Texas Workforce Commission, Governor Rick Perry and Good Company Associates.