THE WEEKLY WIND

The Vancouver Sun

China will fast track approvals for infrastructure investment to combat a slowdown in the economy, a state-backed newspaper reported on Tuesday, showing how Premier Wen Jiabao’s call for policies to support growth is being put into action.

Reuters

Goldman Sachs Group Inc plans to channel investments totaling $40 billion over the next decade into renewable energy projects, an area the investment bank called one of the biggest profit opportunities since its economists got excited about emerging markets in 2001.

China Daily

Irish company Mainstream Renewable Power aims to promote Chinese green technology around the world and on Friday announced plans to create a “China strategy unit” within the firm.

Recharge

The pilot installation of the SWT-6.0s, which will stand in 15 metres of water next to developer Dong Energy’s Gunfleet Sands wind farm, 8.5km off the southeast coast of England, will see construction work start next month on the landfall section of the project, where the turbines’ export cable will be linked to the grid.

The new SWT-6.0-120 wind turbine with a power rating of 6 megawatts (MW) and a rotor diameter of 120metres uses the innovative Siemens direct drive and proven rotor technology. Nacelle and rotor of the SWT-6.0-120 weigh together less than 350 tons, setting a new low-weight standard for large offshore machines.

BusinessWeek

The Commerce Department said Chinese producers had dumped solar cells and panels in the United States at margins ranging from 31 percent to nearly 250 percent. If the preliminary ruling is upheld, tariffs averaging 31 percent could be imposed on Chinese solar-panel imports.

People’s Daily

Construction of an 800 kV ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) power transmission line designed with the world’s largest capacity started on May 14 in China’s far western Xinjiang region.

The 2,210-km-long line goes through the vast region of Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan. It costs 23.39 billion yuan (3.7 billion U.S.dollars), and is designed to have a transmission capacity of 8 million kw upon completion in 2014, setting up a new world record.

North American Windpower

The global wind energy O&M market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.6% from 2005 to 2011 and is expected to increase by a CAGR of 9.6% over the period from 2012 to 2020.

Platts

China Creative Wind will supply the 3.6-MW wind turbines for the wind project, which is now called Cirrus 1, and which will begin commercial operation by year’s end so it can qualify federal production tax credits.

WindPower Monthly

The gearbox, which was developed with Hansen Transmissions, uses an integrated bearing solution.

€40 million has been set aside for the additional maintenance and bearing replacement on its gearboxes.

Seeking Alpha

GE turbines are generating 40 percent — or 18,873 megawatts — of the 48,770 megawatts of installed U.S. wind energy capacity. That is 12,519 turbines averaging about 1.5 megawatts each.