Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) just picked up a 70 megawatt wind energy project from Gamesa Corp. (MCE:GAM). Located about 95 miles east of Pittsburgh, the wind farm holds 35, 2MW wind turbines. And it already has a 23.5 year power purchase agreement in place.
Duke currently has about 500 megawatts of wind generation, with another 200 expected to go online by the end of the year.
Now while wind energy projects continue to gain ground, the nuclear industry may have more hurdles ahead.
Beyond dealing with the realities of waste disposal issues and high upfront costs, it looks like nuclear advocates will also not see nuclear power added to the proposed 15% national renewable energy standard.
While supporters argued that nuclear can help reduce carbon emissions, they couldn't get enough to ignore the fact that nuclear cannot be considered renewable, as it relies on uranium...which is not a renewable resource. As well, the bill is really intended to promote new power sources and technology that can help us use more of our robust, domestic renewable resources.
Jeff
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- The too-seldom mentioned benefit of distributed generation is distributed OWNERSHIP. Thin film solar panels will soon be cheaper than tin roofs, enabling the world's poor and middle classes to sell electricity as well as use it to power internet access, evening activity and handtools. Closing the energy gap is arguably the best thing we can do to promote peace, democracy, strong exports, and a global network of good trading partners. (Internet, smart grid and markets are all networks that deliver the benefits of Metcalf's Law, i.e., the value of a node increases with the number of nodes.)
Please repeat in your writing and speaking. No attribution necessary.
Thanks.