Commercial wind energy development of Pennsylvania's state-owned lands is now under review by PA Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources. This doesn't bode well for Maryland either, where considerable wind energy development potential exists on State Forests, Parks and Wildlife Management Areas. Read more...
An article about DCNR's consideration of commercial windpower. Read more...
Gamesa, the world's second-largest wind-energy manufacturer, has selected Cambria County for its first U.S. factory. 236 workers will be making windmill turbine blades by the end of the year in a 194,000-square-foot, $25 million plant. Read more...
A huge wind farm is being considered for Cambria County. Read more...
(May 29, 2003) Deputy Acting Secretary of the (PA) Department of Environmental Protection Kathleen A. McGinty recently paid a visit to an engineering facility and reaffirms PA as a leader in wind energy:
She marked the official opening of AdvanTek International LLC, a wind energy engineering facility that recently relocated from Delaware to Pennsylvania. The facility, which employs 13 engineers and technical staff, will play a critical role in improving the efficiency of and doubling the land area for wind development in Pennsylvania.
“Fostering the development of companies like AdvanTek not only helps to cut pollution and improve environmental quality, but it also gives Pennsylvania a commanding edge in the renewable energy market, allowing for more opportunities in technology development and job growth,” said McGinty, who joined clean energy advocates, business leaders, federal officials, local elected officials and more to tour the office in Boothwyn, Delaware County, where the firm designs and develops its rotors.
In order for wind power to continue to grow, technologies must be developed to improve turbine power output in more common, lower-speed winds.
AdvanTek’s Instantaneous Power ControlTM (IPCTM) technology is a new form of rotor blade and control system that reduces the cost of wind energy by capturing more power at lower wind speeds. AdvanTek will employ an advanced wind turbine test center (AWTTC) to demonstrate the IPCTM rotor and control technology that can increase the annual output of utility-scale turbines by as much as 25 percent.
The technology offers the potential to improve the net present value (NPV) of a wind farm by more than 50 percent, and more than double the land area available for wind development in Pennsylvania.
AdvanTek describes IPCTM as "a game-changing technology that will significantly decrease the cost of wind energy production, reduce the need for federal and state subsidies, shorten the distance between supply and demand, and strengthen our energy independence and security."
For more, see: http://www.dep.state.pa.us/newsreleases/default.asp?ID=2359&varQueryType=Detail