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Largest U.S. Wind Project Online in New Mexico

February 26, 2022

A wind farm comprised of four projects in central New Mexico, serving areas of that state and California, is now online and takes the title of the largest wind power installation in the U.S.

Pattern Energy Group, among the world’s largest privately-owned developers and operators of wind, solar, transmission, and energy storage projects, on Feb. 24 announced the opening of Western Spirit Wind, a project in Guadalupe, Lincoln, and Torrance counties in New Mexico with more than 1,050 MW of generation capacity.

The project features 377 GE wind turbines ranging from 2.3 to 2.8 MW in size. Pattern officials on Thursday said the turbines “utilize various tower heights to optimize the wind capture at each facility.” Blattner Energy, a Minnesota-based contractor that specializes in renewable energy project, was the engineering, procurement, and construction lead for the four wind farms.

“This project is doing it all: creating good-paying jobs, providing clean power to New Mexico and beyond, and cutting emissions from the energy sector,” said New Mexico Gov.…

Siemens’ Renewable Arm Cutting 200 U.S. Jobs

February 14, 2022

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Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) plans to lay off 200 workers at two U.S. wind power equipment manufacturing facilities. The company on Feb. 9 said the job cuts are due to a reduction in orders for commercial wind turbines.

An SGRE spokesperson said more jobs cuts at the plants—one in Hutchinson, Kansas, and the other in Fort Madison, Iowa—could be forthcoming.

SGRE has acknowledged “challenges” in its onshore wind power business, and on Feb. 2 announced that Jochen Eickholt, a member of the executive board at Siemens Energy, will be the new CEO for SGRE, replacing Andreas Nauen as of March 1. Nauen had taken over as CEO in June 2020.

Shannon Sturgil, CEO of Siemens Gamesa Onshore North America, in a statement about this week’s job cuts, said: “Two primary factors contributed to this decision. While the final ruling of the ITC on the recent patent challenge case brought by a competitor [GE] was ultimately in our favor, we were temporarily prevented from pursuing new orders during the determination period.…

EIA: U.S. Coal Stockpiles Lowest Since 1978

December 9, 2021

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently said it expected coal-fired power generation in 2021 to be 22% higher than in 2020, producing the first year-over-year increase in U.S. electricity generation from coal since 2014. That higher generation, though, has reduced inventories of coal at the nation’s power plants, with EIA on Dec. 7 reporting its most recent accounting of coal stockpiles showed inventories at their lowest level in more than 40 years.

The agency on Tuesday said coal-fired generation this year has been buoyed by mostly stable prices for coal, while the price of natural gas moved higher. The EIA reported coal stockpiles at U.S. plants totaled about 80 million tons at the end of September (Figure 1), the lowest level since March 1978. The agency said that while the increased use of coal this year is a factor, it also said stockpiles have fallen over the past several years as more U.S. coal-fired plants have been retired, and remaining coal plants are operated less often, reducing the need for larger inventories.…