WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A joint venture between Chinese and U.S. companies Thursday announced plans for a $1.5 billion, 600-megawatt wind farm in west Texas. Although much of the funding will come from Chinese financiers, part of the project's capital will also come from the Obama administration's stimulus package in the form of loan guarantees and grants. The wind farm, expected to be one of the largest in the country, may help to highlight a recent administration talking point: the U.S. risks losing the competitive edge in the renewable energy sector if Congress doesn't approve climate and clean energy legislation. The 240 2.5-megawatt wind turbines will be manufactured in China, with shipments starting in March. The farm is expected to be online in 2011. While financing and major parts will come from China, the technology will come from U.S. and European firms. The venture's main firms include the private equity group U.S. Renewable Energy Group, Texas-based Cielo Wind Power LP, China's Shenyang Power Group and A-Power Energy Generation Systems (APWR). It will use technology from General Electric Co. (GE), FUHRLANDER AG, and Norwin. The city of Shenyang's vice mayor, Yang Yazhou, said the project "would demonstrate for the first time Chinese capital, manufacturing and engineering expertise exported to the U.S." Joe Stark, vice president of finance and business development at Cielo, said without the stimulus funding the joint venture wouldn't be possible. "Thanks to the strong policy push and a recovering financing environment, wind projects in the U.S. are attracting developers and investors alike once again," he said. Financing for wind power all but dried up in the credit crunch and subsequent recession. Since many U.S. wind financiers and developers were running losses on their balance sheets, they couldn't take advantage of tax credits for renewable energy production. -By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9285; Ian.talley@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires October 29, 2009 14:16 ET (18:16 GMT)
Oh how nice !! ?? We have millions wandering around looking for a job, and we're gonna pay the Chinese for wind turbines that by all rights should be manufactured in this country. And using tech from the next Enron, i.e. GE ? All with the blessings of the chosen one himself, Osama..... Ahhh yesss.... more of that "change you can believe in".. So sad what this great country is rapidly becoming.
Will these turbines: a) be cheaply made out of plastic and break down repeatedly b) contain high amounts of lead c) really cost dirt cheap to be produced yet will be overcharged for d) all of the above
Clowns! First, Boon just lost 2 Billion down here in Texas on His wind Farm. Now these idiots decide to do it. Humm...research the reason why Boon did not finish his Wind Farm and shut it down. It wasn't because of the wind.
I honestly don't understand what you peeps are so peeved about... Firstly, it's too late to complain that the US is way behind India, China and Germany in developing the necessary tech. Secondly, the Chinese are funding the majority of the project, so it's sensible that they get to pick who supplies the materiel. Thirdly, E.ON, a German co, has built a few wind farms in Texas (incl the huge one that went into operation today), using foreign manufactured turbines (German, Japanese, Danish, etc). Fourthly, clearly this is in the interest of the residents of TX, for a variety of reasons (incl the fact that tax revenue can be used to fund local projects). Fifthly, any EM govt will tell you that spending money to attract foreign direct investment is never a bad idea. Finally, and most importantly, WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD! Capital, know-how and labor have moved elsewhere, for better or for worse. Owners of resources get to call the shots and the US is going to have to compete for these resources like everyone else. Effective competition requires investment.
Well then, AMERICA IS FUCKED! Obama's policies are totally against capital, investment, free market, free market employment.
Wind energy is screwing everyone in TX. I sell power here so I know. They get federal taxpayer $ to run so often prices are negative. They also cause all kinds of congestion between the settlment zones, the cost of which is uplifted (socialized) to everyone who serves load Ercot-wide. You can only count on them delivering 8% of their installed capacity at any time, But whenever the wind comes on all of a sudden thousands of MW come online (or go offline if the wind stops), and the grid operator has to scramble, which costs everyone $. (and by the way, the wind likes to blow at night, when there's no damn load...) Massive amounts of wind generation came online all of a sudden in the northwest of TX (where almost no-one lives), and there just isn't enough transmission to get it out. Hopefully these Chinese turbines arent in ERCOT territory. I wish they would take all the windfarms and send em to Cali or someplace where people love paying shitloads for electricity. Pickens' plan would have only worked with a HUGE transmission line to Dallas, which I guess they couldn't swing with all the regulation, permitting requirements and bunny huggers.