06.28.1996 North Rhine-Westphalias initiative future energies From the study group 3, Wind Energy, which is part of North Rhine-Westphalias initiative future energies, the project groups "technology" and "planning, obstacles, financing" had a conference under the direction of Dr. Allnoch. The project group "technology" concentrated on topics such as "electronic high-performance Ls-restrictor" and the "development and erection of an inland 2 MW turbine". In the afternoon the group "planning, obstacles, financing" dealt with North Rhine-Westphalias MURL guideline draft. A comment on MURL will be send to the minister of environmental affairs Mrs. Höhn(MURL), the minister for economic affairs Mr. Clement(MWMTV) and to Mr. Vesper the building minister. 06.26.1996 Grid connection of wecs The collection of formulas for the calculation of grid connections of wecs is available now.Technology 06.25.1996 Prospects for regenerating energies Dr. Norbert Allnochs article on the prospects of regenerating energies on the occasion of the 50 th anniversary of the Westfälische Nachrichten (one of Münster's dailies)is available as text now. Click here for the German version! 06.24.1996 Two ministers at the stand of the Wind Energy Research Group at the Renergie'96 in Hamm On the Renergie'96 in Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalias minister for economic affairs Clement and building minister Vesper stopped at the stand of the Wind Energy Research Group and informed themselves about the latest development in wind energy. Both ministers were quite impressed with what the Wind Energy Research Group has to offer on the Internet. (cf. press) 06.21.1996 Law on privileging of wecs passed in German parliament (At the moment this article is available in German only!) Here is the German version! 06.20.1996 May 1996 average wind month Compared to March and April, which were comparatively weak wind month, May is within the normal bounds concerning wind power. 06.19.1996 MURL-Guideline draft available North Rhine-Westphalias draft "Grundsätze für die Erstellung von Windkraftbereichen in den Gebietsentwicklungsplänen und übergangsweise Anwendung in Anpassungsverfahren gemäß §20 LPIG" is available as text in German now. For further information click here! 06.17.1996 2500 MW installed in Europe Until the end of 1995 about 2500 MW had been installed. This is roughly half of the amount of the 5000 MW that have been put up so far. The graphic of Europe is available now. 06.14.1996 Testfield for wecs in North Rhine-Westphalia At the Renergie 96 North Rhine-Westphalia's minister of economic affairs Clement announced that a testfield for wecs will be build close to Grevenbroich. Furthermore, the minister explained that at first wecs are to be put up on six overburden slagheaps. North Rhine-Westphalia supports the erection of wecs from the MW-class on North Rhine-Westphalia's overburden slagheaps within the scope of the support of demonstration. The municipal utilities of Moers, Gelsenkirchen, Lünen, Hamm, the KVR and the RWE Energy A.G. displayed their readiness on the realization of the project. 06.13.1996 Renergie 96 has opened in Hamm Today, North Rhine-Westphalia's minister of economic affairs Clement and the building minister Vesper open Renergie 96, which takes place in Hamm from 13th to 16th of June. On the exhibition a widespread demonstration of systems for renewable energies and technical usage is shown. About 7000 visitors came to the exhibition last year. Parallel to the exhibition a congress of specialist conferences of wind energy, hydro-electric power and solar-energy takes place. 06.11.96 Use of wind energy in North Rhine-Westphalia A ranking list of North Rhine-Westphalia's leading municipalities as far as wind energy is concerned is available now. (Top 10) 06.10.96 dpa interview with Dr. Allnoch More than 480 wecs with a capacity of some 108 MW have been installed until 1995. 'This capacity is able to produce 150 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year or provide some 50.000 households with electricity for one year' said Norbert Allnoch, head of the Wind Energy Research Group at Münster University, in an interview with dpa. In a municipality-based ranking list the municipality of Ense, district of Soest, leads with 10 MW followed by Altenbeken, district of Paderborn, with 8 MW of total installed capacity. Number three is the city of Borgentreich, district of Höxter, with 5.9 MW of electricity from wind energy. 'Due to lower specific costs and mass-production of wecs there is a tendency even in inland areas, in which there is less wind than in coastal areas, towards bigger turbines' the scientist said. In the city of Borgentreich North Rhine-Westphalia's biggest single turbine so far can be found. 06.07.96 New: CO2 platform A new CO2 platform has been installed. Companies, energy agencies, engineering offices and others can present products and services for the reduction of CO2 to the public. The platform can be found at Energy data / CO2 platform. Or click here! 06.05.96 Adjust your graphic card We recommend a 1024X768 resolution for best viewing results of our web pages. You can change the resolution in your Windows Setup or by using your manufacturer's graphic driver. 06.04.96 Wecs output data for May 1996 May output data for selected turbines are available now. A Tacke TW 600 turbine located in Canada was added (WKA- Stromerzeugung). 05.30.96 Nature Conservation Union Germany criticizes privileging The Nature Conservation Union Germany (NABU) criticizes the planned decree on building regulation for wind as well as for hydroelectric power plants. The NABU wrote a letter to Mrs. Merkel, the federal minister of environment, and asks for the cancellation of a line in §1 (1) WHG, which was added to the parliamentary bill. According to NABU this demand is supported by the Bund Naturschutz in Bavaria (BN), the Bundesverband Bürgerinitiativen Umweltschutz (BBU), the Deutscher Naturschutzring (DNR) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). 05.29.96 The decision of the distict court Karlsruhe is available now The decision can be found in the column Energy law, Aktuelle Rechtsentscheidungen and can be printed out. In this decision the Badenwerk was sentenced to pay extra refunds to an operator of a hydroelectric power plant. The decision will point the way to the future in so far as the district court was first of all of the same opinion of the energy supplier that the electricity feed-law was a hidden special payment and, therefore, unlawful. After a vain call from the Federal Constitutional Court did the district court Karlsruhe come to the conclusion that the electricity feed-law is constitutional. 05.24.96 US manufacturer Kenetech with heavy losses Kenetech, the US manufacturer of wecs, has made heavy losses last year. The loss of 16.7 million US DOllar (52 cents per share) was well above the 25 cents per share mark the analasysts exspected. Thus, the manufacturer's future is in danger and selling or bankruptcy of the company cannot be ruled out anylonger. 05.20.96 New: Create your own CO2 balance sheet The Federal Government's aim is to reduce the CO2 emission until the year 2005 by 20-25%. We are all requested to make our contribution to the CO2 saving. From now on you can make your own CO2 balance sheet- at this point of time for traffic only. Other areas will be added a.s.a.p. 05.17.96 April weak month concerning wind April 1996, too, was a weak month for wind. As a result, the unfavourable tendency for the operators still continuous in the course of this year. 05.15.96 Südwind files for bankruptcy The Berlin company Südwind GmbH had to file for bankruptcy. According to the company, the suspension of credits by the company's bank has led to this situation. Therefore, the management was forced to file for bankruptcy. The breakdown was a surprise for all person involved, because by the end of march the first major foreign project, a wind park with 10 turbines and 3.2 MW installed capacity, was completed in India. 05.14.96 Electricity-feed law: Badenwerk sentenced to payment The district court Karlsruhe has now sentenced the Badenwerk to pay extra the refunds, which the Badenwerk had unlawfully cut, plus interest to an operator of a hydroelectric power plant. This judgement will nationwide point the way to the future after the Federal Constitutional Court had already dismissed the suite of the district court Karlsruhe in January 1996. Before the new judgement, the district court Karlsruhe had taken the energy supplier's point-of-view in the justification of the suite, that the elctricity-feed law was a hidden special payment. Now, the district court has come to the conclusion, that the electricity-feed law is a permissible minimum price law. The widespread feeling of uncertainty among investors will probably end now because of this judgement. 05.13.96 High access rates for the Wind Energy Research Group High access rates for the Wind Energy Research Group's web pages indicate the ever growing interest in wind energy. Approximately 8.000 hits last week and more than 25.000 during April are the result of the University's official statistics. 05.10.96 VEBA A.G. can increase its profit Compared to last years quarter the VEBA A.G.'s profit before tax increased by 19.1% to 1.01 billion DM. A significant contribution was made by PREUSSEN ELECTRA due to the high electricity output. 05.08.96 New wecs information centre The wecs information centre of the Wind Energy Research Group has been modified and improved. Inquiries and suggestions can be added now. 05.07.96 North-Rhine Westphalia's decree on building regulations makes erection of wecs easier With his new decree, North-Rhine Westphalia's building minister Vesper has made the building regulation aspect for the erection of wecs easier. If a neighbour agrees to a low distance of a turbine, the formerly necessary protection of the distance area is no longer necessary. Deviation from the minimum distance regulation are permissible: - in case the standards for healthy living and working conditions are considered and - the neighbour has either signed the layout and construction plan according to North-Rhine Westphalia's § 74 Abs. 3 BauO or consented to the permission of the deviating plans. 05.06.95 Up-to-date wecs output data The monthly energy output data from selected wecs of different regions are gradually being prepared for further analysing. At the moment the energy output of an Enercon E-40 turbine, located at the Baumberge, Münsterland, is being updated monthly. 05.03.96 New financial data The development of the capital market interest can be a decicive factor in the course an investment decision. A recent yield comparison between the 30-year US Treasury and the German 10-year Government Bond is available now and is will be updated monthly. 04.27.96 Enercon: 6-8 1.5 MW turbines in 1996 The company Enercon plans to erect 6-8 turbines of 1.5 MW each in 1996. Since December 1995 the prototype is grid connected in Aurich. 04.25.96 The company Tacke Windtechnik connected 1,5 MW turbine to the grid On April the 17th 1996 Tacke Windtechnik started its first 1.5 MW turbine. Operator is the city department Emden. Another 1.5 MW inland turbine is planed for September, the operator of which is RWE Energie A.G 04.22.96 Perspectives of the wecs market in Germany The report "Perspektiven des WKA-Marktes in Deutschland" (perspectives of the wecs market in Germany), which was held at the "Deutscher Kongress Erneuerbare Energien" (German Congress Renewable Energies) on the 24th of April in Hannover, is available as text now. [c.f. 'Literature/press/projects: 1996/95 only'] 04.19.96 Start of North Rhine-Westphalias initiative Future Energies On Friday, 04.19.96, the ministers Clement and Vesper started off the initiative Future Energies of the Land North Rhine-Westphalia. The Land North Rhine-Westphalia provides approximately 100 mio. DM per annum for renewable energies and the economical use of energy. All in all 11 research projects were developed and realized. The Wind Energy Research Group of Münster University under the direction of Dr. Allnoch met in the afternoon. 04.19.96 Feeble start for the wind year 1996 The wind year 1996 did not run too satisfactorily for the operators of wecs. For month easterly weather conditions predominate, the result of which are low wind speeds. (c.f. up-to-date wind data) 04.16.96 Balcke Dürr GmbH takes over Nordex Deutschland The Balcke Dürr GmbH which belongs to Balcke Dürr A.G. takes over 51 % of the share of Nordex Energieanlagen GmbH (Rerick/Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) 04.15.96 Leap over the 5000 MW mark in the first quarter of 1996 Due to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) a leap over the 5000 MW mark will be possible in the first quarter of 1996. Until the year 2005 the total potential is predicted to be some 18.500 MW. Approximately 2/3 of the wind power capacity 1995 worldwide were installed in Germany and India. The market in the U.S.A. is stagnant, however, but the situation is considered to improve in the near future due to restructuring of the energy industry. The industries hopes are to install additional 2.700 MW of wind power generation until 2005. 04.02.96 40 jobs at Tacke Windtechnik at risk At Tacke Windtechnik up to 40 jobs are at risk. The reason is according to the company the job endangering policy of the energy supplier and the missing privileging of building regulations for wecs.