From the blog...

Debbie Jacklitch-Kuiken Receives New Face of Engineering Nomination

National Wind Assessments’ own, Debbie Jacklitch-Kuiken, continues to gain kudos from the engineering industry for her great work in the field of wind energy. The National Engineers Week Foundation, a formal coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies, nominated Jacklitch-Kuiken as one of its “New Faces of Engineering” as part of National Engineers Week celebrated from February 14th-February 20th, 2010.

The New Faces program highlights the unique and interesting work of young engineers, recognizing their accomplishments in their field and the resulting impact on society.  The Foundation’s sponsoring societies nominated young working engineers from among their membership. The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) submitted Jacklitch-Kuiken’s nomination to the foundation.

Jackltich-Kuiken is an asset to  National Wind Assessments’ team with her dual qualifications as a meteorologist and mechanical engineer.  She brings an insightful and comprehensive approach to the assessment, design, installation and operation of wind energy systems for National Wind Assessments.

Jacklitch-Kuiken is not only an advocate for the engineering profession, but also for women’s advancement in the sciences.

Jacklitch-Kuiken actively participates in the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day”, sponsored by the foundation, by visiting local schools, teaching girls about what it is like to be an engineer. Currently only 20 percent of engineering undergraduates are women. Only ten percent of the engineering workforce are women.

The National Engineers Week Foundation’s overall goal is to ensure that more people are educated and working in the engineering profession. They promote pre-college literacy in math and science to help increase young people’s understanding and interest in engineering and technology careers.

Lots of engineering jobs exist in the growing field of wind energy. A study released by the RES Alliance for Jobs, found that if passed, a 25% by 2025 National Renewable Electricity Standard would support an additional 274,000 renewable energy jobs. Currently, the wind industry supports just over 85,000 jobs. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is helping advocate for Congress to pass a 25% by 2025 National RES this session. This standard  would require all  U.S. states to have 25% of their energy come from renewable sources by year 2025. Learn how you can help support this effort!

Department of Interior Pushing Progress on Cape Wind

Cape Wind, a developing, offshore wind farm in the Nantucket Sound, is a promising wind energy project. If completed, it will become the first offshore wind project to be installed in the United States. If completed, it’s 130 turbines will provide electricity for over 400,000 houses — nearly all of the electricity for the Cape Cod area. If completed, it will be a major victory for renewable energy advocates who have been fighting against project opposition for almost a decade. That victory appears more likely as the federal government is getting involved for a final push that could end the battle over Cape Wind once and for all.

The Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, announced last month that a “common sense” solution must be reached on the dispute over Cape Wind before March 1, 2010. Toward that end, Salazar invited the principal parties involved in the project to a meeting to find agreeable terms on which to finish the permitting process.

Salazar’s remarks took a determined stance on a successful mediation:

“After several years of review, it is now time to move the Cape Wind proposal to a final decision point. If an agreement among the parties can’t be reached, I will be prepared to take the steps necessary to bring the permit process to conclusion. The public, the parties, and the permit applicants deserve certainty and resolution.”

Secertary of the Interior, Ken Salazar (right), meets with Chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Cedric Cromwell.

Salazar’s strong words confront what could be a final hurdle in approving Cape Wind for construction. Two Wampanoag tribes have claimed that the Nantucket Sound is the site of their religious ceremonies which require an unobstructed view of the sunrise. They also claim the site of the wind project would disturb ancient burial grounds that are now underwater. The National Park Service muddled the matter further by saying that Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Settling this matter could decide the fate of the project and Salazar is prepared to do so.

A recent meeting with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe at a sunrise ceremony shows Salazar personally listening to concerns and arguments on both sides of the issue. He holds onto his March 1st deadline for the Wampanoag tribes and the developer, Energy Management, to reach an agreement over Cape Wind. However, he commented that he is “not holding [his] breath on consensus” being reached and has suggested that he will have to single-handedly settle the matter himself.

The coming weeks will be critical for the future of Cape Wind. The escalating drama of the project has provided a unique opportunity for a high-ranking official of Salazar’s stature to comment on wind. Salazar said he holds a “bullish” stance on wind energy which remains a priority for the Obama administration.

Wind Energy Has Another Record Year

In early 2009, a look back at 2008 saw wind energy posting record numbers of growth in the United States. In terms of new installed capacity, new project announcements, project expansions, and manufacturing capability, 2008 was the banner year for the leading form of alternative energy options. 8,350 megawatts of  new wind energy connected to the grid — a 50% increase on 2007 — and employment by the wind sector grew by 35,000. At the time, with the recession deepening, most analysts expected 2009 to fall well short of the previous year’s figures with equally dismal job losses to match. Surprisingly, things didn’t quite turn out that way.

The New York Times' Growth Chart

Aided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the wind energy sector grew by 39% in 2009. With an additional 9,992 megawatts, wind generated enough electricity to power over 2.4 million homes and cut back on millions of cubic tons of carbon emissions. Wind was also one of the biggest contributors of new energy last year, closely matching growth in natural gas. The two energy options combined for 80% of all new electricity generation in the country.

Stimulus money from the ARRA came in the form of cash grants that helped dislodge wind projects that had become stuck in development, unable to raise capital in the soured investment climate. Without these new investment options, wind may have seen a dramatic blowback in production. The American Wind Energy Association had predicted up to a 50% slowdown in growth but cited government action as a critical preventative measure in their quarterly release:

“The clear commitment by the President to create clean energy jobs and the swift implementation of ARRA incentives by the Administration in mid-summer reversed the [worsening economic] situation. Recovery Act incentives spurred the growth of construction, operations and maintenance, and management jobs, helping the industry to save and create jobs in those sectors and shine as a bright spot in the economy.”

Despite the impressive figures and strengthening performance through the fourth quarter of 2009, AWEA went on to temper its good news with a cautionary warning. Investment in wind manufacturing has decreased which resulted in net job losses for the manufacturing sector. It may be, as the New York Times observed, that growth in 2009 came as a carryover from 2008’s momentum and that continued growth will lag without additional incentives from legislature in the form of a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES). 29 states have already enacted their own RES policies but a cue from the federal government could open up more investments in domestic manufacturing. Lack of transmission capacity is also seen as a long-term growth inhibitor.

Growth in 2009 lifted output from wind energy over 35,000 megawatts and has brought the U.S. close to generating 2 percent of its electricity from wind turbines. That may sound marginal, but output has increased sevenfold from 2002 levels and is becoming an ever larger presence in the country’s energy portfolio. It could be difficult for wind to top 2009’s figures in 2010, but the same was said after 2008. Here’s hoping 2010 will again surpass expectations.

NECO Wind Receives Stimulus Support

NECO Wind Logo

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently reported that the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 provided a “lifeline” for many wind projects, helping stabilize the industry. Last year  alone the ARRA  distributed over one billion dollars in grants to help projects across the country.

Now its community wind’s turn. The Department of Energy, through the ARRA wanted to help fund community-based projects.  NECO Wind, a 650 megawatt project in Northeast Colorado, is one of only five to receive this support.

Last week NECO Wind was awarded $2.5 million to help fund its first 30 megawatt phase in Phillips County, Colorado.  The entire 650 megawatts plans to be developed across the three counties of Phillips,  Sedgwick and Logan.

Senator Mark Udall has worked closely with NECO’s  managing partner, National Wind, in support of the project.

Senator Udall congratulates NECO for its ‘creative proposal to generate jobs, strengthen the community and provide clean energy to northeast Colorado.’

Currently, NECO Wind has 125 local participating landowners. With 81,000 acres signed, the project has made swift progress and is almost complete with site control. Revenues from the project will be shared with local landowners, a unique characteristic of National Wind’s community model.

National Wind Assessments Employee Honored

Here’s something cool. Debbie Jacklich-Kuiken, National Wind Assessment’s resident meteorologist/mechanical engineer extraordinaire was recently featured on the cover of PE magazine. The cover was promoting a feature highlighting the accomplishments of 20 young engineers, one of whom was, obviously, Debbie.

National Wind and National Wind Assessments congratulate Debbie on the honor, and thank her for all of her hard work doing wind assessment.

Also, I want one of those sweet National Wind jackets. Can anybody help me out with that?

Here’s the inside blurb on her extraordinary work:

Wind: The Easiest Crop to Harvest

[note: this OpEd was sent out to and picked up by news organizations last week]

Today’s farmers are interested in wind energy because they’re good managers; farming is all about maximizing profits and reducing risk. Wind energy does both. It’s an additional, steady source of income that doesn’t require extra work, a second crop that can be harvested without effort or significant use of land.

Some people might believe because wind turbines are such large structures that they take substantial acres of property out of production. This is a common misconception. In reality, wind turbines occupy a small area, leaving 99% of farmland in production.

A rule of thumb regarding wind farm land use is that, while each turbine generally needs a plot of about 100 acres separating it from other turbines, the actual footprint of each turbine is less than one acre. This footprint includes the area surrounding the turbine and all access roads. Therefore, each turbine occupies less than 1% of the open land required by a wind farm, leaving the other 99% of the property available as farmland or pasture.

To examine the impact wind energy can make on a small amount of land, let’s envision a hypothetical farmer, John, who grows corn on 500 acres of land. According to the 2008 Riverland Community College Farm Business Management Annual Report for Southeast Minnesota, the average return per acre of corn from 1999-2008 was $60.13 per acre. A total of 500 acres of corn at $60.13 profit equals $30,065 per year. This is the farmer’s return on labor and management after investing capital, labor, management and taking commodity and weather risks.

Now, imagine that John has five turbines on his farm, occupying five of his cropping acres, leaving him with 495 acres of corn. His farming conditions are the same, so from those acres he’ll make $29,764 in profit, based on the 10 year average profit of $60.13 per acre. But add in the revenue from the turbines—$35,000 total assuming $7,000 per turbine (on the low end of what National Wind pays)—and his total profits increase to $64,764 per year. This would be almost double his profits from growing only corn without turbines. Under National Wind’s community model, the profit structure may be even better if landowners take an ownership stake in a project company and share in the actual profits generated.

What if there is heavy flooding or drought next summer, and John is only able to harvest a fraction of expected yield? His revenue could drop to a level below his expenses. Maybe he would break even with the help of crop insurance, but he won’t see a cent of profit. If he had turbines on his property, he would still earn $35,000 in profits. Turbine revenues help to buffer against these acts of God and resulting price volatilities. This allows the farmer to diversify his income and reduce risk.

Wind is another crop that more and more farmers are harvesting. With a small initial outlay of land, a turbine can continue to provide income for years into the future. After construction is complete, the practice of farming continues as it has for generations, with the bonus of added financial security.

Patrick Pelstring is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of National Wind.

Lake Country Selects REPower’s MM92 Turbine

Lake Country Wind Energy announced today that it has selected REPower’s MM92 turbine for its first 40 megawatt phase. The 40 megawatt phase will consist of 20 MM92 turbines each rated at 2.05 megawatts with a 100 meter hub height.

This is REPower's MM92, 2.05 megawatt wind turbine

This will be REPower’s first wind turbine order for Minnesota and it helps advance the construction of the 40 megawatt phase to late 2010.

This will be the start of the largest community-owned wind farm in central Minnesota (Meeker and Kandiyohi Counties). Lake Country Wind Energy along with managing partner, National Wind, plans to develop additional wind projects up to 340 megawatts over the next several years.

View the press release here.

Rethinking Renewable Energy Policy

Much talk has been made of the United State’s need to enact a nationwide Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Proponents claim that it is the only way for government to commit to clean energy technology and spur real growth in what could amount to a “second industrial revolution” that rejoins America’s storied abilities for innovation and manufacturing. However, without structured policies in place that provide well-defined growth mechanisms for new energy options, any RPS is nothing more than a vague, wished-for outcome. On a hypothetical roadmap for the country’s renewable energy future, an RPS can only mark the destination at the end of a long journey. It does not create the roadways to reach that destination.

A feed-in tariff (FIT) may help to pave those roadways. Already active in more than 40 countries around the world, FIT policies have been cited as primary drivers of growth in the renewable energy markets of Spain, Germany, and Denmark — countries now supplying between 15 and 34% of their energy needs through renewable sources. Despite remarks and pledges from President Obama, the U.S. currently supplies only 5% of its electricity needs through wind, solar, and hydro plants. What accounts for this disparity? The European countries have strong FIT’s while the U.S. does not.

The most successful FIT’s work by setting the price of renewable energy types at guaranteed rates, usually slightly above their market values, for a fixed period of time. This property of a FIT immediately stabilizes the investment environment and helps to secure project financing. Energy developers can lower project costs since the volatility of renewable energy markets is eradicated. The greater availability of financing options simultaneously helps to shorten the development timeline and allow smaller companies to better compete. Over time, the fixed rates can be adjusted based on the effectiveness of the policy.

FIT’s, while already successful in European countries, are now starting to arrive in North America. The Canadian Province of Ontario, which has pledged to stop burning coal before 2014, became the first jurisdiction in North America to enact a FIT three years ago. It recently raised the guaranteed rates for wind and solar projects to 13.5 cents/kWh and 80.2 cents/kWh, respectively, to great success. In only months since, the Ontario Power Authority has attracted roughly 1,200 applications representing more than 8,000 megawatts of renewable generation. Many of these applications came from smaller developers and even residential homeowners, underlining the FIT’s ability to attract a variety of investors.

Interest in FIT’s has been slow to catch on in the United States. Some states have passed legislation containing FIT’s, most notably California, and even local municipalities like Gainesville, FL have adopted similar policies to drive significant growth in renewable energy. Other states have tried and failed to enact FIT’s in their state legislature. Minnesota, whose wind potential is significant, seems particularly determined and hard-pressed to implement a FIT. State representatives David Bly and Bill Hilty have introduced legislature that would establish fixed rates for renewable energy on two separate occasions (February 2008 and February 2009) but failed to get a hearing on their bills in both instances. A lack of guaranteed access to the electric grid, a common provision of European FIT’s, may be keeping state FIT’s from gaining traction.

In a speech to a joint session of Congress on February 24th of this year, Obama declared that America will double its supply of renewable energy over the next three years. It is a lofty goal considering that Congress has yet to pass the current energy bill. Even if that bill’s provisions that call for a federal transmission authority and a national RPS are retained, we may find ourselves without the renewable energy surge that the bill intends to ignite. It may behoove our state and federal legislators to seriously contemplate the FIT policies that have already produced this intended effect elsewhere around the globe.

Wind Turbines Found to Cause No Impact on Health

A new study conducted by a panel of seven experts from a variety of technical backgrounds has concluded that there are no indications that wind turbines have an adverse impact on the health of those living nearby. The study, a joint project between the Canadian Wind Energy Association and the American Wind Energy Association, attempts to delegitimize medical complaints by those living near wind farms.

In the study’s conclusion, it stated:

1. Sound from wind turbines does not pose a risk of hearing loss or any other adverse health effect in humans.
2. Subaudible, low frequency sound and infrasound from wind turbines do not present a risk to human health.
3. Some people may be annoyed at the presence of sound from wind turbines. Annoyance is not a pathological entity.
4. A major cause of concern about wind turbine sound is its fluctuating nature. Some may find this sound annoying, a reaction that depends primarily on personal characteristics as opposed to the intensity of the sound level.

This issue of annoyance was the one concession the panel was willing to grant, allowing that the swishing sound made by turbine blades could be perceived as an irritant by some. However, they tempered that concession by stating that this swishing sound was no louder than the ambient noise in an urban environment.

The authors also address Wind Turbine Syndrome in particular:

In particular, the panel considered “wind turbine syndrome” and vibroacoustic disease, which have been claimed as causes of adverse health effects. The evidence indicates that “wind turbine syndrome” is based on misinterpretation of physiologic data and that the features of the so-called syndrome are merely a subset of annoyance reactions. The evidence for vibroacoustic disease (tissue inflammation and fibrosis associated with sound exposure) is extremely dubious at levels of sound associated with wind turbines.

Because the study was funded by the wind industry—though, as one of the authors of the study, Dr. Robert McCunney, stated, “We had almost total independence doing this paper”—it is unlikely to sway the minds of those committed to the idea of wind turbine syndrome. To everybody else, however, it should be viewed as conclusive.

Read the entire study here.

Offshore Wind at Home and Abroad

We’ve got a couple exciting bits of news for you today about offshore wind power.

First up: the nation’s first offshore wind farm is slowly moving closer to reality. Cape Wind, a proposed 400+ MW wind farm off the coast of the Nantucket Sound, has entered into power purchase talks with National Grid, a major utility in New England. This is an important step for the troubled project and signals that progress is being made, however slowly.

The project is hoping to qualify for the Depart of Energy cash grants offered in President Obama’s stimulus bill. In order to receive the grant—equal to 30% of a project’s costs—the wind farm will need to begin operating in 2012. Ian Bowles, Massachusetts’ energy and environment secretary, describes Cape Wind as “the only offshore wind project that has any possibility of being built in President Obama’s first term.”

Switching focus to a different part of the world where offshore wind is more than just a vision of the future, nine European nations have banded together to create a “supergrid” in the North Sea to aid transmission from offshore wind farms and supply electricity to the mainland. According to the European Wind Energy Association, 100 GW (yes, gigawatts) of offshore wind in the North Sea are in the planning stages. That would be enough electricity to power roughly 10% of the entire European Union.

The agreement to build the supergrid took place at the Copenhagen climate summit yesterday in Denmark. Coincidentally, Denmark already gets 4.5% of its electricity from offshore wind farms. The Danes know how to get it done.

New DOE Study Busts Old Myth

Another one bites the dust.

A string of myths have besot wind energy for as many years as the industry is old. Yet the growing market for the most promising form of renewable energy has invited a great deal of scrutiny that has consistently erased fears and converted detractors.  As the wind industry continues to grow opposition continues to shrink. The myths, once an unfortunate byproduct of a young technology, are evaporating.

A long-standing misconception of wind’s impact on property values, a topic once considered an unstudied gray zone, now joins the ranks of retired myths. A new study funded by the US Department of Energy and conducted by the Berkeley National Laboratory has conclusively shown that proximity to a wind farm, from 800 feet to 10 miles away, has no “consistent, measurable, [or] statistically significant effect on home sales prices.” Impact on property values has been a difficult issue for many people who support wind energy but were hesitant to introduce the technology to their own community. The conclusions of the DOE study should alleviate much, if not all, of that hesitancy.

Previous studies have alluded to the results of the DOE study but have fallen short of its expansive scope that has provided definitive answers. The research team collected data from nearly 7,500 sales of single-family homes situated within 10 miles of 24 existing wind facilities in nine different U.S. states and used eight different hedonic pricing models, as well as both repeat sales and sales volume models. In the case of each model, no statistical evidence pointing toward a negative impact on property values was uncovered.

You can read the entire 164-page study here. In the meantime, we are left to ponder which myth will fall next.

Countdown to COP15

5 days and counting.

Next Monday, delegates from nations around the world will descend upon Copenhagen to discuss our warming world and the measures we can take today to clamp down on carbon emissions and exorbitant energy consumption. President Obama will make a stop in Copenhagen on Wednesday, December 9th, on his way to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. He will make a pledge to the gathered assembly that the U.S. will cut its carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 30% before 2025 and by 42% before 2030. An official treaty, however, is not expected to be a result of this year’s conference.

Increasing the output of wind energy, one of the cleanest and most production form of renewable energy, is obviously one sure-fire way to help meet these goals. We will watch with great interest as an international strategy to preserve our environment develops next week. It is an effort sure to rely on wind and other renewables.

Going 100% renewable by 2030

In an article in the November issue of Scientific American, Stanford professor Mark Jacobson (who we’ve written about before on the blog) released a plan where 100% of the world’s energy consumption comes from renewable sources by the year 2030. This is obviously an ambitious plan, but Jacobson (and his coauthor, Mark Delucchi), say it is achievable with worldwide governmental support.

In the plan, 51% of energy generation across the globe would come from wind energy. That amount of generation would require building 3.8 million 5 MW wind turbines. While that seems like an outrageous number, Jacobson mentions that 73 million cars and light trucks are manufactured every year. The remaining 49% of generation would come from solar and hydro .

In Jacobson’s vision, renewable sources will provide electric power for heating and transportation. While this will require large changes in infrastructure–and the mass adoption of electric vehicles–it will actually save on energy use over time, as electric power runs more efficiently than traditional fossil fuels. (For example, in a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, 80% of the energy in gasoline is wasted as heat. In an electric vehicle, only about 20% of energy is wasted.)

A major limiting factor in the plan is cost–the paper estimates that the massive undertaking could cost $100 trillion. Aside from cost, shortages of necessary materials and lack of political will are seen as the primary stumbling blocks.

The writers acknowledge at the end of the paper that their vision is something of a pipe dream–more of a concept of what is possible than what is feasible.

With sensible policies, nations could set a goal of generating 25 percent of their new energy supply with WWS [wind, water, solar] sources in 10 to 15 years and almost 100 percent of new supply in 20 to 30 years. With extremely aggressive policies, all existing fossil-fuel capacity could theoretically be retired and replaced in the same period, but with more modest and likely policies full replacement may take 40 to 50 years. Either way, clear leadership is needed, or else nations will keep trying technologies promoted by industries rather than vetted by scientists.

Let’s hope legislators the world over are listening.

Transmission Vital for All Forms of Renewable Energy

With wind, solar, and geothermal projects popping up with increasing frequency in the U.S., a recurring theme of obstruction is materializing. When it comes to development obstacles, all forms of renewable energy have one thing in common: a lack of transmission.

Inside Renewable Energy’s weekly podcast recently covered the issue that has been inhibiting renewable energy growth ever since its inception. Erik Swenson, a partner with the international law firm Fullbright and Jaworski dealing with energy and climate issues, provides commentary on the topic. Swenson describes the transmission problem as one of “federalism.” He believes that the government is good at seeing the big picture, “macro” necessity of creating a so-called green power super highway but fails to understand the smaller, “micro” complexities that must be overcome to accomplish the task. He cites the stimulus bill as a misfire for transmission projects:

“ARRA legislation is focused on shovel ready projects but it takes 7 to 10 years, roughly, to site a new transmission line. So, if you can’t start construction on your new transmission line within about the next year and complete it within about the 2016 timeframe then the money is not available to you… so it’s just not going to solve the problem of how to connect new geothermal, new solar, new offshore wave energy projects to the grid.”

The podcast, which also covers other renewable energy topics, can be heard in its entirety here.

Transmission has been a popular focus for the National Wind blog these days (see here and here) but it is an issue that encompasses more than just wind energy. We’re still hoping that Congress will recognize that and figure out how to handle the “micro” complexities in time to make a difference with the new energy bill.

Wind Energy Helps Local Economies

AWEA’s Into the Wind blog recently linked a South Dakota Public Radio story about the town of Howard, SD. After 90 years of declining population, the town has grown in recent years thanks in part to a turbine blade manufacturing plant. This is a great example of the positive effect that green energy infrastructure can have on a local community.

Howard is banking on green jobs and green energy, and it’s working. More than 230 new jobs have come to Howard this decade. The climate legislation in congress could create even more green jobs in places like Howard. It’s good news for Randy Parry.

[...] Parry calls South Dakota the Saudi Arabia of wind. He says the state is ripe for a boom in wind energy, but he says it all hinges on the creation of new transmission lines needed to get the power to market. Parry hopes congress will help fund this new electric grid in this upcoming climate bill.

National Wind has written extensively in the past about the need for both an upgraded electric transmission grid and a comprehensive bill to combat global climate change.

Listen to the story here:

To read the story in its entirety, visit South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s website.

Brazil’s Imminent Wind Boom

The New York Times’s Green Inc. Blog recently reported that Brazil is preparing to host a government sponsored wind auction on December 14 in an effort to diversify their country’s energy portfolio. Brazil’s current energy supply is backed almost entirely by hydro power which creates immense difficulties when production from this sector slows due to droughts or infrastructure frailties. Having all your eggs in one basket, at least in terms of energy generation, is unwise and sooner or later, there are bound to be problems. Sao Paulo recently learned this lesson the hard way.

Attempting to proactively avoid such problems in the future, the Brazilian government is making a big investment in wind energy with plans to devote $6 billion to the burgeoning industry over the next two years.  Their first ever wind auction, which has attracted international players from the renewable energy field, has already received 441 proposals that tally up to 13.3 gigawatts of new wind energy. Of this collective figure, 2 gigawatts worth of projects are likely to be greenlit for development, most of which will be placed along Brazil’s 4,600 miles of coastline.

Brazil is already Latin America’s leader in wind energy with only 605 megawatts of installed capacity. The government has set a goal to increase that amount to 10 gigawatts by 2020. With energy consulting firms calculating Brazil’s technical potential for wind at a staggering 143 gigawatts there will definitely be room to grow for decades to come.