Cleantechnica: Top 10 Wind Power Stories of 2012

Cleantechnica recently posted its list of the top wind power stories of 2012. These stories include turbine technology, the Obama administration, leading wind power countries, costs and the US PTC, . Here is the unedited list of Cleantechnica’s top 10 wind power stories of 2012.

10. Floating wind turbines take several steps forward.

In
various ways, it’s clear that a lot of work is still being put into research and
development of wind turbines. Floating wind turbine news was particularly
noteworthy this year. Here are several notable floating wind turbine stories
from 2012:

9. Wind turbines made of fabric; wind turbines made
of wood; bigger & bigger turbine — wind turbine technology moves forward.

Some other top wind technology stories this year that were good
examples of wind turbine innovation include:

8. Obama administration shows strong support for wind power.

Obama’s crew at the Department of Energy, Department of Interior, and Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management helped wind power along in several ways this year.
Here’s some of the top news on this front:

7. Cape Wind gets closer to actually being built, likely to be 1st
offshore wind farm in US.

Here are some top Cape Wind stories from the
year:

6. Australia implements carbon pricing, driving more wind energy
growth in the country.

Technically, Australia passed its carbon tax legislation in
2011, but it was implemented in mid-2012. As a result of that and
wind power’s low and falling costs, installed wind power has surged this
year.

5. Japan implements attractive wind energy feed-in tariff.

Perhaps even more significant than the Australian pricing legislation, Japan’s
feed-in tariff for wind (not to mention for solar or geothermal) is geared at
stimulating some serious wind power growth.

4. Wind power costs keep dropping — cheapest option for new
electricity in many places.

Wind power is now the cheapest option for
new electricity in many regions of the world, thanks to years of technological
improvements and market maturation. Meanwhile, the continual improvement of wind
power technology is projected to keep reducing the price of electricity from
wind for years to come. Quite frankly, wind is a winner, and it is going to keep
on winning. Here’s some 2012 news along this front:

It’s also worth remembering that, due to merit-order pricing, wind power
drives down the price of electricity on the wholesale electricity market. Here
are some stories along those lines from 2012:

3. Largest wind farm after largest wind farm — wind farm records set
throughout the year.

From Europe to… well, mostly in Europe, there’s
been quite a bit of news this year regarding record-breaking wind farms.

The largest onshore wind farm in the
Europe started producing electricity in Romania this December. It has
a power capacity of 600 MW.
The Walney wind farm, which turned on in
June, is now the largest offshore wind farm in the world.
The London Array, which is expected to be the
largest offshore wind farm in the world (once completed), had its first two turbines installed in
February and then started producing electricity in October. The first phase of the
wind farm is to total 630 MW, while the completed wind farm is supposed to
eventually reach a power capacity of 870 MW (an application for the second phase of the London
Array was submitted in October).
Meanwhile, also in October, ‘development’ of
the East Anglia offshore wind farm began, and in December plans for the first 1,200 MW were
submitted. That beast of a wind farm is projected to eventually be
7,200 MW, dwarfing the London Array.
Before the East Anglia offshore wind farm is built, however, the Moray Firth
wind farm off the Scottish coast, projected to be 1,500 MW in size, could become
the largest offshore (or onshore?) wind farm in the world. There was strong
indication this year that construction could begin soon.
Development of a 996-MW offshore wind farm in
Germany also began this year. If completed quickly enough, this wind
farm could potentially become the largest offshore wind farm in the world… we’ll
see.
While not as large as these European giants, Central America’s largest wind farm also went
on-line this year, the 102-MW Cerro de Hula wind farm in
Honduras.

2. Wind power growing by leaps & bounds around the
world.

Beyond those record-breaking wind farms above, there has been a
ton of other wind power development across this world this year. Here’s a
sampling of stories that highlight wind power’s tremendous growth:

1. US wind power PTC is… going to be extended?

The extension has been delayed for many months due to GOP
extremists in Congress, sacrificing thousands or even tens of thousands of US
jobs. Some key stories on these and related topics from throughout the year: