Wind power

Despite the pandemic, supply chain challenges, and rising costs of materials, 2021 is going to be a record year for clean energy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced today in a new report.

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas suffered a ransomware attack on November 19. But the world’s largest wind turbine maker said today that almost all of its IT systems are back online.

Paris-headquartered global cable company Nexans has officially opened the US’s first high-voltage subsea cable plant. The Charleston, South Carolina factory will supply the fledgling yet soon-to-boom US offshore wind market. The plant is the only facility of its kind in North America.

Norway-headquartered energy giant Equinor has a new floating wind turbine foundation design, and it wants to launch it in a one-gigawatt (GW) Scottish offshore wind farm project.

COP26, also known as the United Nations Climate Change Conference UK 2021, kicks off Sunday October 31, and officially runs until Friday, November 12. It’s being held in Glasgow at the Scottish Event Campus (pictured). Here are five things everyone needs to know about this crucial summit.

Italian renewables company Enel Green Power announced today that it’s partnering with Scottish startup ACT Blade, which uses fabric in its wind turbine blades.

Clean energy employment reached 12 million globally in 2020, up from 11.5 million in 2019, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), the eighth edition of “Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2021.”

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• The US has enough usable rooftop space to deploy solar that would match current generation levels.
• Renewables will make up most global generation increases to 2050, but will coal still hang around?
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland yesterday unveiled the path forward for future offshore wind leases. The Biden-Harris administration’s goal is to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Gray County Wind Farm in Kansas is celebrating its 20th birthday.
• Austin approves a huge electric transit bus purchase – 197, to be precise.
• Clean energy now provides 25.22% of total US available installed generating capacity.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• A big clean energy project will go forward in Minnesota without impacting an ancient site.
• Ørsted completes a 227 MW solar farm in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, for Facebook.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Two huge infrastructure plans will power New York City with wind, solar, and hydropower.
• China pledges to end funding for overseas coal plants.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• At $2.3B, Vineyard Wind is one of the largest clean energy project investments in the US.
• Rochester is New York State’s largest municipality to launch a community choice clean energy program.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Missouri’s largest wind farm has been switching off at night since April 19 to avoid killing endangered and threatened bats. Is this good environmental stewardship, or is it throwing out the baby with the bathwater?

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• A technique used to improve wind farms’ performance makes them quieter, too.
• The leading source of energy in Brazil in 2020 is hydropower, but solar is the rising star.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• German wind turbine maker Nordex unveils its first 6 MW onshore turbine.
• More than 200 health journals globally call for emergency climate change action.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• The US saw a record-breaking solar panel shipment boom in 2020.
• US onshore wind energy saw record growth in 2020 – more than any other energy source.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Wyoming has been the US’s top coal producer since 1986. But while the state stubbornly clings to the fossil fuel, its largest utility is dumping coal in favor of renewables.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Four in five US homeowners with solar and storage feel prepared to weather a power outage.
• Average construction costs for US wind farms dropped by 27% from 2013 to 2019.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

STRÖMMA is a locality in Stockholm County, Sweden. And it’s also the name Swedish furniture and home goods giant IKEA has given to its new clean energy retail service from next month in its home country.

The world’s largest-ever report about climate change was published today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations group of nearly 200 leading climate scientists that looked at more than 14,000 scientific papers. It’s pretty grim – but far from hopeless. There are things we all can and must all do. As US Senator Ed Markey says, “We can’t agonize – we must organize.”