From: howard.smith@spacebbs.com (Howard Smith) 
Newsgroups: sci.energy
Subject: Wind Energy Weekly #5 1/2
Date: 12 Jan 93 10:13:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: SPACE BBS - Menlo Park, CA - 10 Lines + 4gB - 415-323-4193
Reply-To: howard.smith@spacebbs.com (Howard Smith) 

[The following is the electronic edition of _Wind Energy Weekly_,
Vol. 11, #528, 12.28.92, published by the American Wind Energy
Association.  For more information on the Association, contact
AWEA, 777 North Capitol Street, Suite 805, Washington, DC 20002,
USA, phone (202) 408-8988, FAX (202) 408-8536, email
3304640@mcimail.com]

U.S. WINDPOWER PLANS MAJOR
WIND PROJECT IN UKRAINE

     U.S. Windpower (USW) is nearing agreement with Ukrainian and
British firms on a 500-MW windfarm in Ukraine, one of the major new
nations created by the breakup of the Soviet Union.

     The San Francisco Chronicle reported December 11 that the new
wind power plant -- which would be one of the largest in the world
when finished -- will help to replace power from the remaining two
operating reactors at Chernobyl.  The Ukrainian legislature has
ordered the reactors closed next year.

     The wind turbines for the project, the article said, will be
built in Ukraine and patterned after U.S. Windpower's highly
successful 56-100 design, a 100-kW, 58-foot unit of which thousands
are already installed and running in California.  The windfarm
would be installed in the hills of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula,
which extends into the Black Sea.

     At a later date, the Ukrainian factory may produce U.S.
Windpower's most advanced turbine, which measures 98 feet in
diameter and is capable of producing 400 kW.  The cost of energy
from the new machine is half the cost of power from the 56-100, the
article said.

     According to the article, many areas of the former Soviet
Union hold promise for wind energy development: Russia's northern
arctic coastline and Pacific coast, the northern and eastern shores
of the Black Sea in Ukraine and the northern Caucasus (Georgia),
northern and central Kazakhstan, Estonia, and the shores of the
Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in Russia near St. Petersburg.

     The Ukraine announcement follows the recent unveiling of an
agreement between U.S. Windpower and two unregulated subsidiaries
of major U.S. utilities, and a fourth firm to market wind energy
facilities internationally.

     Under the agreement, Charter Oak Energy, Inc., a division of
Northeast Utilities, and LG&E Energy Systems, an affiliate of
Louisville Gas & Electric Co., will provide funding and development
expertise for wind projects.  Together with the Wing-Merrill Group,
the firms will have exclusive marketing rights for USW's advanced
turbines in major parts of the world.

     According to the Energy Daily, the Wing-Merrill Group is
pursuing possible projects in a series of countries, including
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Argentina, Egypt, and New Zealand.

     A spokesman for LG&E Energy said the consortium will help USW
extend its international marketing efforts.


AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE WINS
2-MW WINDFARM CONTRACT

     Western Australia's State Energy Commission (SECWA) has
selected Australian Defence Industries, Ltd., to build a 2-MW wind
power plant near Esperance on the state's southern coast.

     The new windfarm will consist of nine Danish-built 225-kW
machines, according to the Australian Financial Review.  SECWA has
operated its own wind facility near Esperance since 1987.

     According to SECWA, the new plant will supply up to 14 percent
of Esperance's electricity needs and save up to 1.6 million liters
(10,000 barrels) of oil annually.

     A report issued in June by Australia's federal government
found that windfarms like the one near Esperance could generate
power at a cost of A $.07 (US $.053) per kWh (see "Wind Cited as
'Most Promising' Renewable Source by Australia," Wind Energy Weekly
#506, July 13, 1992, p. 4).


NEW JOURNAL EXAMINES ISSUES
OF ENVIRONMENT, DEVELOPMENT

     The University of California-San Diego has published the first
issue of the Journal of Environment and Development, which will
apparently focus heavily on sustainable development and related
environmental issues.  The initial offering includes articles from
former Brazilian minister Jose Goldemberg and a number of others on
such topics as global climate change, carbon taxes, and energy
efficiency.  The Journal is published twice a year, and individual
subscriptions are $25.  For further information contact Journal of
Environment and Development, University of California at San Diego,
Mail Code 0519, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0519, USA, e-
mail endev@ucsd.edu.


IOWA'S FIRST WINDFARM
CLOSE TO COMPLETION

     By the first week in December the turbines for Iowa's first
wind power plant, a 325-kW facility near Sibley, were on site ready
for erection.

     According to Minnesota Windpower, five Danish WindMatic 15S
turbines will be installed before year's end.  Power from the
project 15 miles south of  Worthington, Minn., will be sold to Iowa
Electric.

     The turbines represent the second wave of used California
machines to reach the Plains states.  Minnesota Windpower is
converting Century wind  turbines from California into an 11-meter,
35-kW turbine suitable for a market in Minnesota and the Dakotas
(see "Minnesota Windpower Enters Market with 11-Meter Machine,"
Wind Energy Weekly #455, July 1, 1991, p. 3; "Minnesota Windpower
Sees Brisk New Sales," Wind Energy Weekly #515, September 21, 1992,
p. 5).

     Minnesota Windpower has also installed five rebuilt Danish
Wind World turbines in Marshall, Minn. The Iowa project will bring
to 13 the number of older Danish wind turbines operating in
southwestern Minnesota and northern Iowa.  There are also another
dozen similar  machines serving ranchers in the midwestern Canadian
province of Alberta.


BIRD WORKSHOP DRAWS
WIDE ATTENDANCE

     A workshop on wind turbines and birds December 11 in
Livermore, Calif., drew some 65 attendees from as far away as the
Midwest, indicating that interest in the issue is continuing to
increase.

     The mood of the workshop, sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric
Co. and the California Energy Commission, was generally
cooperative, with most participants eager to find ways to decrease
bird kills at windfarms.

     A review of studies performed in the Altamont, Solano, and San
Gorgonio wind resource areas showed that the number of bird deaths
varies dramatically between regions, apparently due to differences
in indigenous bird species and the habitat surrounding turbines.
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