Wind farms differ in size depending upon various conditions like the amount of land available for the project and wind conditions. While there are tiny wind farms which work with just a single turbine, there are also huge wind farms which work with clusters of turbines in the US itself, like the Stateline Wind Energy Center in between Oregon and Washington DC. Such a wind energy plant with more than four hundred turbines can generate as much electricity as three hundred MW or even more. Wind energy had been in use since the ancient Babylonian times, but it was mechanical power that they harnessed from the wind because the use of wind as a potential electricity generator was not discovered at that time of course. Europe is of course at the top on the list of places which produce the highest amount of wind generated electricity now as they produce more than seventy percent of the total wind generated power.

Wind energy can contribute greatly towards solving the increasing need for power and also the pressure which that need puts on the fossil fuels which are running out fast. The price for installation and maintenance have also come down drastically when compared to what it was just a few years ago, but the technology on the other hand have only improved with time. All of this has undoubtedly made wind energy a much more reliable and efficient source of power today, but there are still a few disadvantages nonetheless. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of a wind mill is the inconsistency of wind itself. Wind mills also cause noise pollution which makes living nearby a constant problem. Deforestation is also believed to be a side effect of wind mills. Wind energy production has not yet reached perfection, but it still remains a powerful source of alternative energy and perhaps in the near future, even more of the flaws can be shed from the technology.

Wind energy is harvested with the help of a wind turbine and converted into electricity that can be used for running various electricity based appliances and processes. Using wind energy is definitely a step towards the “Go Green” campaign that has become popular as well as necessary today, but there are also other advantages of harvesting the power of wind as well. Below you will find a little discussion on the topic.

1. The first and the foremost advantage of utilizing wind energy is of course that it is not harmful for the environment as nothing is burned to attain the electricity from moving air. Even solid biofuels like sawdust, wood, charcoal, manure and all the others give out polluting gases and particulates that are unhealthy for the environment, but wind energy solves that problem quite effectively.

2. As mentioned before, the main function of wind energy or any other form of renewable source of energy is to reduce the pressure of global demand on fossil fuels that is shortening their already limited life. If the areas that are suitable for harvesting wind energy start to rely on it instead of relying on traditional sources of electricity, then this goal can be achieved effectively.

3. A very significant advantage that windmills have over the traditional power stations is the fact that they require much lesser area to set up. Not only does this advantage make it cheaper to set the mill up as one would require less land, but one must also not forget that the area around the windmill can then be used for setting up adjacent farms also, which in fact is often the case at places like this.

4. Just as with harvesting solar energy, earlier it used to be quite costly to effectively utilize the power of wind. Even then, the total energy that was successfully converted to electricity was hardly enough. In other words, the wind energy conversion rates were poor, but as technology have improved over the years, it has now become possible to utilize and convert wind energy at a much lower cost and a significantly higher conversion ratio.

5. To set up a power station to supply electricity in remote and secluded places at higher altitudes is not an easy job. It would require a lot of money as well as effort and even then it may take quite some time before it can even be successfully operated. This is where the utility of wind turbines are fully realized. Mountainous localities usually have an atmosphere where the wind is very strong as well being reliably consistent. Setting up a wind turbine big enough to serve the electrical needs of the entire locality would not only be cheaper in this case, but it will be much faster and perhaps even more useful as well.

6. The similarity between solar energy and wind energy is that both of them are renewable and free sources of energy; what is more interesting is that it is possible to install a system that will make both the alternative sources of energy work together to offer an even more reliable and powerful energy source. The use of such a hybrid system is not only limited to underdeveloped areas, because even in the developed areas where traditional power stations are already well set up, it could save a lot of money and non-renewable energy.

7. It is hard to believe and may even come as a surprise to someone who does not have the knowledge, but the cost of producing wind energy has become almost 80% cheaper than what it used to be twenty or thirty years ago. As the technology is still developing to make the wind mills more productive and less costly, we can almost assume that the prices will come down further and someday it might even be the cheapest alternative for electricity production in the market.

8. It is no secret that petroleum is chiefly saturated in certain geographical areas which come within the national borders of the countries that are located in that particular geographic area. This has created a certain kind of monopoly and has also raised the price of fuel quite significantly in all the countries that are dependent on it. Wind energy is something that cannot be monopolized in this way as it is free and cannot be confined within the geographical boundaries of a country either. Therefore, if in the near future, wind energy can be made more usable and more efficient, we can also hope to reduce the hiked up oil prices as well.

Of course, even after citing so many advantages, it cannot be denied that utilization of wind power has certain disadvantages like the noise pollution a turbine creates makes it impossible for the local people to live peacefully or the fluctuating wind speed which makes a wind mill unreliable. Another very unfortunate side effect of installing a wind mill is that it often costs the natural forests and wildlife near the project dearly as they lose their habitat. At the end of the day, it is hard to decide for or against setting up a wind mill power plant once the cons and pros are judged. It could however be necessary to install wind mills in certain areas and hopefully we will soon be able to find ways to harvest wind energy with even less disadvantages.

John Bryant, a farm owner approached by Michigan Energy Generation said this project has a lot of support with good gobs of money and GDF Suez has about 220,000 employees across the world. Few landowners of 10,000 acres of interest at the wind farm developer have already been emailed a sample contract and the formula for payment will be mainly based on farm’s total revenue which will be by the divided number of wind turbines which are on property.

Andy Paterson said he is expecting to sign the contract on April-12 and developing wind farm is a complicated process which begins with signing landowners as well as collection of the wind data on a site. Starting from here the process will be taking about 2-5 years which depends on numerous other studies as well as circumstances. Michigan Energy Generation really has good power on the project as it is partnered with International Power PLC, an independent power-generating company which is located in London and recently joined the energy behemoth GDF Suez.

Andy Paterson also said that his company has been looking at the south of Kankakee River and they have also discussed with few landowners near the river expecting to expand the project. Dorisanne McNeill, a resident of Eagle Creek said wind turbines are very majestic as well as look peaceful and in case the wind energy supports them with energy, he is ready to go for the plan.

Dominion Virginia Power also conducted another study during the last year which had indicated that its present transmission lines which are located in the east of Virginia may handle power from the large scale wind generation facilities to a total installed capability of around 4,500 mw. The study also showed that providing about 1,500 mw of power in the Virginia Beach substation is expected to create the transmission deficiencies. If the same thing continues Dominion Virginia Power expects that it may work with PJM Interconnection along with its Regional Transmission Expansion Planning process.

Dominion Virginia Power also added that the study will be only the first step in achieving its ultimate target to set up the transmission line which is expected to develop the offshore wind energy for its customers based at Virginia. The study may come to an end by sometime during this year and it is expected to give the complete details about what options can be the best to support the multiple offshore wind projects.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission must also provide approval for any power line project that is set to take place in here. Dominion has also not said anything on how they would work in contrast to the Atlantic Wind Connection project or the United States Department of Interior’s plans and it may slightly end up involved in with such initiatives.

David H Fenton Jr, the Village Administrator said document was discovered in a file box and was sent to the members of village Board of Trustees through mail immediately. The executive sessions have closed for public and the reporters, but the discussions are going under closed doors at Potsdam Civic Center Monday night which had become too loud and was heard from an outside hallway. Trustee Steven W Yurgartis said the taxpayers must be known that someone in village government was aware in July 2007 which is one month after Canadian Turbines was hired.

The village trustees have been arguing in executive session on recent discovery of meeting minutes from Bancroft Town Board suggested in a village file. The minutes were sent to the village and referenced the problems faced by Canadian township with the Canadian Turbines. David H Fenton Jr also said the Village Planning and Development Office from Vermont received the minutes through mail in July 2007 which was discovered recently.

Steven W Yurgartis also named the board members who were present in the office during 2007 and former Administrator Michael D Weil who did not check into the background of Canadian Turbines before they hired the company and paying Mr Kuiper his contract money early. The documentation included that there was no investigation about this matter though there is a possible conflict between the CTI and Bancroft.

Hatcher has been one of such Democrats who have been trying to overthrow Mayor Rudy Clay during the primary election next month. She also said they have got several non-taxable properties that need to be added to the tax rolls. The city must prepare itself to its ordinance which helps the city workers to live in Gary. In case Hatcher gets elected she is expected to provide the civilian employees 6 months to enter the city limits.

Hatcher said the basic cost of developing about 15 wind turbines may be received by the federal tax credit and the wind turbines can be set up in 6 months at the city-owned lakefront property in US Steel footprint. The city may sell the energy which has been generated to the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. This is also expected to help to start a new green industry in this Steel City.

Hatcher also said the city is also in need of a facelift and it needs to be reinvented as well as they need a new industry in their community. From now onwards, the big industry for them has been steel and they have been in steel from 1906 which needs to be changed it now. Hatcher added she is also planning to demolish the former Sheraton hotel by one year and the cost for this has not been revealed by her.

P P Gupta, the Managing Director of Techno Electric & Engineering Company Ltd said they are very much excited to announce that the 15 MW of wind energy generation has been commenced as per their scheduled time. The non-conventional energy sector has been developing much stronger with implementation of the REC mechanism as well as the trading on power exchanges which is expected to bring in more investments in the non- conventional energy  generation said P P Gupta.

The total cost that has been involved for the phase I of the project is expected to be about Rs.7bn along with a debt-equity ratio of 1.8:1. The debt financing is taken car by the IFC Washington, Standard Chartered & DBS. The Present capacity of the company has been registered with the UNFCC for about 130,000 CER’s and about 7.5 MW has been registered with the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency for the Generation Based Incentive.

P P Gupta said they have been looking to enter into the green energy space and the Power Purchase Agreement for 15 MW is implemented with Tamil Nadu Generation & Distribution Company under REC scheme. The REC scheme has been easily executed according to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission & it has been trading at power exchanges from the inaugural trading session planned on 30th March 2011.

The island has received its first 82MW project in the field of wind energy development which is based at the west coast, about 30 km from Paphos. It also represents about 8 percent of installed capacity in the country and other 3 wind farm plants have been under progress taking the total to 93 MW. Demetris Christofias, the President of the Republic of Cyprus inaugurated the first wind farm in the country. The wind farm was developed by a Cypriot-British merger and has an investment of around 170 million euros and about 50 percent of the amount was offered by European Investment Bank.

Cyprus recently submitted the national action plan for developing the renewable energy to the European Commission which includes about 300 MW of wind energy that will be installed by the year 2020. This step has been taken to support the achievement of the government which had introduced the policy of subventions that is expected to encourage the Orites plant for around 20 years.

Cypriot-British, the joint venture which was behind the development of the Orites plant has already made an announcement that it has been also planning to boost the capacity of the facility and other 3 wind farms which are already on the way in Cyprus. The most particularly in the places like Klavida Village  with a capacity of about 42 MW, Alexigros  with a capacity of about 31.5 MW and Aghia Anna with a capacity of about 20 MW.

Dartmouth Town Meeting also approved a floating of about $9.5 million in bonds during January 2010 to fund the wind turbine project. However, the town still has few opposition for 1.6 mw industrial turbines and the residents living close to the property owned by the town have also filed a litigation. Sullivan’s office has made an announcement that Dartmouth is expected to get about $31,000 from Coastal Pollution Remediation Grant Program which will also support in reducing the stormwater contamination.

Richard Sullivan, the energy and environmental affairs secretary said having 2 dozen wind turbines in the place all over the state, Massachusetts communities and businesses is able to recognize the import ants of wind power has in the clean energy future the Governor Patrick envisions for the commonwealth. The Wind Incentive Program has been made to support the target to have about 2,000 mw of wind power capacity running by the year 2020.

At present, Outfalls on Rogers Street allows the untreated stormwater to flow directly in the Clarks Cove which leads to elevated levels of bacteria. The grant needs a matchup of about $8,340 from the town and the funding will cover a feasibility study along with New Bedford for developing the remediation system. At the same time, New Bedford city is expected to receive about $21,325 with a match amount $9,167 to design and allow the commercial pump-out facility to service 500 vessels in the New Bedford Harbor.

The company also made an investment in a high voltage Direct Current (DC) transmission line in December 2009 which connects the Square Butte Substation in Center, N.D and the company’s Arrowhead Substation has been placed close to the Duluth. At present the DC line has been used by the company to supply the renewable energy generation from the North Dakota to service places of the company.

The service line has already been connected to the first phase of Bison 1 wind energy project that has been owned by the company and has been based in North Dakota. Minnesota Power will also use this line to deliver wind energy produced from Oliver I and II projects located nearby to the Center, ND. The Bison 2 project which features the new 3 MW direct drive wind turbines from the Siemens is expected to be completed by this year.

The company also revealed its expansion plans recently which included building a second wind project at the Oliver and Morton counties which are based in North Dakota to Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC). The wind project has been planned to have an investment of about $157 million which will incorporate about 35 wind turbines. The project is expected to produce a significant power to take the company to achieve about 25 percent renewable energy standard planned for the year 2025.