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dam-l SA wind assoc. news/LS
From: J. Nowicki: sawea
To: DANCED> Peter Lukey ; Prof. Roseanne Diab ; MEPC> Frank Hochmuth ;
Martin Greyling ; Lizelle Kok ; Hermann Oelsner ; CSIR> Steve Szewczuk
Sent: 11 October 1999 1330 PM
Subject: monthly update Sept 1999
The South African Wind Energy Association
Monthly Bulletin: September 1999
Monthly Bulletin is a news service from the South African Wind Energy
Association. Please feel free to send comments or contributions. Please
state whether contributions may be distributed in our press releases.
Please note our updated contact details at the end of this update.
sawea.www.icon.co.za
Dear Readers
This week we bring you some details of new SAWEA members. We also have our
usual bits and pieces on global developments in the industry, as well bits
and pieces on climate change. A growing number of countries worldwide are
becoming aware of the benefits of using all variety of incentive mechanisms
to initiate an industry following which it can become price competitive. In
this issue we hear of a report which predicts the cost of wind-generated
electricity will decline from an average of 4.7 cents/kWh today to less
than 3 cents/kWh in 2013 and to 2.5 cents/kWh by 2020. A recent report has
also emphasised the scale of the potential market for 'green' electricity
in future based on the demand in countries which have emerging markets (UK
is on board with the availability of 'ecotricity'). On the local scene
SAWEA is excited that the DME is taking the issue of IPP's seriously and we
look forward to an implementation plan which can create the conditions in
which IPP's can flourish in SA.
SA News:
The SAWEA held its 3rd governing board meeting on the 6 October in Darling.
The meeting was hosted by the Darling IPP (thanks to the hospitality of
Hermann Oelsner). The meeting consisted of a 'closed' session in the
morning, wherein core business issues were discussed, following which there
was an open session wherein project possibilities as well as ideas to
expand the membership base were discussed. We are particularly grateful for
the input of the guests from the Danish South African Trade Consultancy.
The meeting discussions were very positive, and there was a feeling of
optimism and excitement for the prospects of wind energy in the region.
Following the meeting everyone visited the proposed Darlipp 5 MW wind farm
site, which was truly impressive. All agreed it was an ideal site visually
with ample wind!
Contact SAWEA for more details of any of the above people.
World Update
Spain - Castilla: The fourth 'Higueruela' windfarm (37.6 MW) will soon be
completed bringing the total capacity of the farms up to111.6 MW, supplying
15% of the power consumed by the province. The region has a plan to install
a further 400 MW by 2001.
USA: The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently welcomed an
announcement from the U.S. Army that the Army is looking for industrial
partners to develop wind energy as a source of electric power for Fort
Bliss, Tex. AWEA executive director Randall Swisher said his group is
"delighted that the Department of Defense, the largest consumer of electric
power among the federal agencies, is staking out a leadership role in
implementing President Clinton's Executive Order on clean energy and energy
efficiency. We believe there is significant potential for the use of wind
power at armed services installations both here in the U.S. and abroad."
USA: Dan Reicher -- the top renewable energy official at the U.S.
Department of Energy -- told members of the tax-writing House Ways & Means
Committee, September 30, that an immediate 5-year extension of the wind
energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) is essential to the continued growth of
the domestic wind industry. While we are making tremendous progress in
these technologies, we still have much work to do, said Reicher. Wind
energy will be able to compete alone in the next decade, but an extension
of the PTC is critical to make up the gap in cost until then.
World: Wind energy can provide 10% of the world's electricity requirements
by 2020, create 1.7 million jobs, and reduce global carbon dioxide
emissions by more than 10 billion metric tons, according to the findings of
a new international report commissioned by the European Wind Energy
Association (EWEA), the Danish Forum for Energy and Development, and the
environmental group Greenpeace. The report, entitled "Wind Force 10: A
Blueprint To Achieve 10% of the World's Electricity from Wind Power by
2020," was released October 5 at the Financial Times World Renewable Energy
Conference in Brussels. The cost of wind-generated electricity, the groups
said, will decline from an average of 4.7 cents/kWh today to less than 3
cents/kWh in 2013 and to 2.5 cents/kWh by 2020. If wind reaches the 10%
goal by 2020, 1.7 million jobs would be created worldwide, and emissions of
carbon dioxide would be reduced by 1.78 billion metric tons annually. For
further information, contact Jon Walger of Greenpeace International, phone
011-31-20-523-6222, or Klaus Rave of EWEA, phone 011-49-431-900-3213.
USA: A bill has been introduced to encourage net metering for small wind
turbines and other residential renewable energy systems nationwide. The
bill ensures that small businesses, homes, schools and other electricity
customers who generate electricity from renewable sources and fuel cells
can set up net metering systems with ease and earn credit for excess power
fed back to their local utility.
Green Marketing in the USA: Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) has
sold all of the wind energy it has available from a 20-MW green power wind
plant in northern Colorado and is starting a new waiting list for
additional customers who want wind-generated electricity, according to the
Denver Rocky Mountain News. More than 14,500 customers, including 250
businesses, have signed up to receive at least a portion of their
electricity supply from the wind plant, the article said. PSCo sells wind
power at a 2.5 cents/kWh premium over power from its standard generating
mix, which is largely coal-fired.
India: Exports of wind generating equipment from India are expected to jump
by about two-thirds during the coming year, according to the Asia Pulse
news service. The service cites sources in India's Ministry of
Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) as saying that the total value of
equipment sold in the year 1999-2000 could reach Rs. 500 million (U.S.
$11.5 million), compared with Rs. 300 million (U.S. $7.6 million) a year
earlier. Exports are being shipped to Sri Lanka, Germany, Portugal,
Australia, and the Netherlands, it said.
Climate Change Bits and Pieces (from Chad Carpenters Climate weekly):
"American President, Bill Clinton In a major speech on the environment to
4000 people at the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch acknowledged that the
US was the world's largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, he
undertook to work to reduce pollution both in his own country and in the
developing world. President Clinton urged a change in course from
ever-increasing use of fossil fuels, saying it was no longer the key to
prosperity. He advocated the use of alternative forms of energy that were
kinder to the environment but still allowed for economic growth.
On the subject of 'pollution credit trading': Effective Concept? "People
often recoil when they first hear the term right to pollute, but
environmental groups and energy companies alike agree the concept is
effective. The national pollution caps, already lower than 1980 emissions
levels, will drop again next year. And companies that choose to sell
allowances often use the proceeds to buy less-polluting state-of-the-art
equipment. So the allowance program is leading to a steady reduction in
emissions. Electric utilities will emit 25% fewer tons of sulfur dioxide
this year than they did in 1980, while producing 41% more electricity,
according to the EPA and the Department of Energy. Moreover, the General
Accounting Office, an arm of Congress, figures the trading program saves
utilities $3 billion a year over previous pollution-enforcement approaches,
and most of that saving is passed on to customers.
The World Bank, which will open its "Prototype Carbon Fund" to investors in
November, estimates that trading could reach $150 billion per year by 2020.
The Sydney Futures Exchange plans to begin trading emissions next year and
expects five billion dollars in business during the first year.
WASHINGTON - U.S. chemical giant DuPont Co. said it would seek to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent from 1990 levels by 2010, taking
"early action" even before a global climate change treaty is enacted. "Our
bias should be for prompt and meaningful action where there is reasonable
cause for concern. And there is no question in our minds about whether
there is reasonable cause for concern," The company operates in 65
countries and employs 92,000". Reilley said wind power seemed to be an area
of "ample opportunity" to meet the clean fuel initiative.
Six gases are known to be significant greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and
non-methane volatile organic compounds. The use of alternative energy
generating units, such as solar and wind, and factories operating on
natural gas could reduce these emissions.
Yours sincerely,
James Nowicki
South African Wind Energy Association
http://sawea.www.icon.co.za
ph-fax: +27 21 788 9758
PO Box 22, St. James 7946, South Africa
21 Atlantic rd. Muizenberg. Cape Town 7945
Working for job creation in a cleaner South Africa
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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