Energy Secretary Steven Chu stated today that the Gulf oil spill emphasized the importance of developing clean energy sources in the U.S. like wind power.

Chu, who has never been shy about touting the importance wind power has for the national energy program, visited the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center where they are working on new designs for floating deep-water wind turbine platforms.

Officials are working on getting an offshore wind farm operational off the coast of Maine within six years.

Chu described the Gulf Spill as “a tragedy” which spoke to the importance of incorporating wind power into the national energy strategy.

“It’s another reminder to step back and say, ‘We do need a comprehensive energy strategy in the United States for the coming decades,’” Chu said.

The Department of Energy has invested more than $25 million in The University of Main’s wind power research while Maine voters approved a bond that will see an addition $11 million assist a university-backed group develop a wind power test site for 2012 off the coast of Maine.

A massive project planned in the UK that would erect an offshore wind farm consisting of over 8,000 wind turbines by 2020 is likely to now be delayed. The government is looking to contract out a major project that would connect the wind farm energy to the grid.

By letting contractors bid on the project, the UK government is hoping to reduce some of the $23 billion expected to cost to connect the 33,000 megawatts of wind energy power to the central grid.

Wind power industry experts are warning that the cost cutting measure could lead to a major bottleneck in the production of the facility since other companies bidding are likely to be lacking in the expertise required to hook up such a wind power operation.

The UK has a target for 2020 to be getting 15 percent of its power from renewable sources.

The Washington Post has stated that source close to the Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, will approve the Cape Wind wind farm project off the coast of Nantucket.

This decision will conclude nine years of planning and debate over the controversial wind farm and will see the first American offshore wind power project built.

Cape Wind will see the installation of 130 wind turbines at a cost of about $1 billion; a move opposed by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and supported by six east coast governors.

Six East Coast Governors have formally backed the Cape Wind wind farm being considered by the Obama Administration.

With a week to go before the big decision is made, the six governors have petitioned the U.S. Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, to permit the massive offshore wind farm and disregard the opposing views of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

The governors stated in the their letter to Salazar that, “If the ACHP’s approach to historic preservation is adopted, it would establish a precedent that will make it difficult, if not impossible, to site offshore wind projects anywhere along the eastern seaboard.”

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation voiced their concern about the Cape Wind project on April 2 saying that the project should be rejected because they will be visible from historic properties on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Cape Cod.

The $1 billion wind power project would see 130 large wind turbines installed across 25 square miles of federal coastal waters. The plan has been in the works for almost a decade now and, if approved, would be the first off shore wind power project in the U.S.

Whole Foods Market, based out of Austin, Texas, has been contributing to the proliferation of wind power projects and wind farms by buying renewable energy credits over the last few years. In an attempt to cut their overall energy consumption by 25% per square foot by 2015, they are now also looking to make their stores more energy efficient.

With improved design, the newest Whole Foods stores are significantly more energy efficient, with a new Colorado store using about 35% less energy than two older stores in its vicinity and a Santa Barbara store in California using 45% less energy than a similar store.

Older stores are also seeing improvements Existing with updated smarter refrigeration systems, low-energy lighting and control systems and advanced heating and air conditioning.

President Obama hasn’t made any indication on what he plans to say on April 30 when he reveals the fate of the Cape Code Wind Power project.

The massive wind power plan was been in the works for nearly a decade and it is now up to Obama and interior Secretary Ken Salazar whether the project will be allowed to continue.

This wind power project’s future could have far reaching ramifications for wind energy around the U.S. since there are several other big wind power projects being contemplated based on the results of whether Cape Wind gets the federal thumbs up or down.

With renewable energy like wind and solar a top priority for the Obama Administration, it seems likely that Cape Wind will get the approval it’s been seeking for so long. But, renewable energy supporters did get reason to be concerned when Obama permitted offshore natural gas drilling exploration last month while the this massive wind power project, and it’s 130 wind turbines, still sits in limbo.

Spain is truly an international leader in the development of renewable energy and already produce the third most wind energy in the world and the second most solar energy. Despite this, Spain’s massive coastline has remained untapped as a wind energy resource, until now.

Last week the Spanish government announced that they intend to divest themselves entirely of nuclear power and in order to do this they would increase investment in wind power through installations along the 5,000 miles of Spanish coastline.

The coastline has officially been approved to be mapped out for all relevant factors for establishing wind farms including wind speed, ecological factors and boat traffic.

Earlier this year Spain brought attention to the value of wind energy when they set a record for wind power generation with 11,180 megawatts from a strong wind. To put it into perspective, that much wind power was enough to meet about 40 percent of all of Spain’s energy demands at the time.

First of all, Dong Energy? Seriously? Hahahahaha. OK, I’m over it. Sorry about that.

Dong Energy has recently signed a deal with Siemens… Bwahahahaha… Siemens? Really? Siemens is supplying Dong! Man, you just can’t make this stuff up. OK, sorry, back to your regularly scheduled wind power news.
Dong Energy is all set to erect (giggle) up to 500 offshore wind turbines in Northern Europe thanks to a recent agreement with Siemens AG. The wind turbines in question will have a total capacity of 1,800 megawatts and each will have an individual capacity of 3.6 megawatts.

CEO of the Renewable Energy Division of Siemens Energy René Umlauft, said this marked one of the biggest orders ever for Siemens (snicker).

Both Dong and Siemens made history together when they constructed the world’s first offshore wind farm at Vindeby in Denmark. Thrusting the mighty structures forth into the wide open sky, glistening with the condensation, the ocean pounding against their mighty girth… damn it!

The primary operator of North Texas’ electrical grid, Oncor Electric Delivery, has secured a contract to install $1.3 billion worth of electrical transmission lines to join the massive wind farms of West Texas to the State’s grid.

As the American state with the most wind power generation (8,000 megawatt capacity), Texas is seeing a steep increase in the percentage of its power coming from wind farms. In 2007 wind power accounted for 2.9 percent of the electricity generated in Texas and last year it grew to 4.9 percent. Not bad for the oil heartland of America.

With the wind industry booming, many owners of wind farms built during California’s wind boom of the 1980s are thinking about upgrading their wind turbines. However, with everyone thinking greener these days, many are finding alternatives to sending their worn-out wind turbines to the junk yard.

An increasing number of new companies are buying up the old turbines on the cheap, overhauling them and reselling them at cheaper prices. Portland-based Nexion DG, for example, offers recycled wind turbines that the company salvaged from California wind farms.

“To go out and build a new turbine of the size we’re working with, it would end up costing twice as much,” said Matt Stein, director of operations for Nexion DG. “And anybody building components for new wind turbines is focusing on the 1 megawatt-plus turbines because that’s where the action is.”

Perks for customers of recycled wind turbines include cheaper prices as well as shorter waiting times, around two months for a rebuilt machine, rather than a year for a new one.