This week EDF Renewable Energy officially unveiled the 140-megawatt Pacific Wind farm in the Tehachapi-Mojave region of Southern California and the nearby 143-megawatt Catalina solar power station.
FORBES: California's New Solar-Wind Hybrid Power Plant Greens The Grid
According to Pacific Hydro, wind is the world's fastest growing energy source, with installed capacity over the five years from 1998-200 growing at an average 32 percent a year.
It clearly took the wind out of the Pacific islanders for the final and it was effectively over as a contest by half-time.
My colleague William Pentland writes about another consequence of excess hydropower: wind farms in the Pacific Northwest are being forced to disconnect from the power grid out of concern their added electrons with overload the system.
Pacific Hydro already runs Australia's largest wind farm, a 35-turbine, 52-megawatt development that is spread over a number of grazing properties at Ararat in western Victoria.
One example he points to is the Bonneville Power Authority in the Pacific Northwest, which he said could increase the wind share of its generation portfolio from 20% to 40% within several years.
About 200 megawatts of Australia's power now comes from wind farms, so the new Alinta and Pacific Hydro projects will massively expand this output.
Grid operators in the Pacific Northwest have repeatedly pulled the plug on several large wind farms in Oregon and Washington State, collectively curtailing roughly 13 gigawatt hours (GWh) of wind power since last Wednesday.
FORBES: Forced Outages for Northwest Wind Farms - 13 Gigs Wasted and Still Counting
The Chinese government is spending millions of dollars on clean energy initiatives ranging from the construction of charging stations for electric vehicles in several major cities to massive wind farms in Inner Mongolia and offshore in the Pacific Ocean.
Officials say the wind power will help fill gaps in the power exchange between the Pacific Northwest and energy-strapped California.
"Thunderstorms can lead to wind-shear events, " said Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, though he added it is still too early to conclude that is what has happened with the Lion Air flight.
WSJ: Weather Scrutinized as Possible Cause of Lion Air Crash
The good news was that the wind was blowing from the northwest and sending the smoke from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant over the Pacific Ocean.
FORBES: As Japan Nuclear Fears Rise, Faith In Government Plumments
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