By George Pyle – BUFFALO NEWS - May 05, 2010

 Two Western New York companies are among those receiving 25 grants from a state agency to help develop and bring to market products that promise to improve the clean generation and storage of energy.

Graphene Devices of Amherst and Precision Electro Minerals of Niagara Falls have been notified that they are to receive awards from a pool totaling $11.3 million from the state’s Regional Greenhouse Gas cap and trade auction and the Systems Benefit Charge funds.

Graphene Devices is to receive funding for developing a process that will manufacture films consisting of a one-atom-thick layer of carbon that should be able to replace higher-cost materials in the manufacture of solar power cells. It and six other companies will divide up a total of $4.1 million in product development funds.

Precision Electro Minerals is one of 13 firms and colleges that are to split $2.6 million allocated for feasibility studies. The company is studying the practicality of a new process for making solar-grade silicon. The grants are allocated by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and in each case are to be matched by private investment, for a total of $22.6 million in project investment. They were selected from 71 proposals received.

“The products that emerge from these initiatives will help create jobs and develop the tools needed to help us mitigate our impact on the environment for the next generation,” Gov. David A. Paterson said in a statement.

The exact amount to be received by each developer is not made public at this stage of the process, officials said, because contract talks are ongoing. In many cases, authority officials said, contracts will include a requirement that the grants be repaid once the products involved become profitable.

gpyle@buffnews.com

Bismarck-Mandan News - Chris.Bjorke@bismarcktribune.com - Saturday, March 20, 2010

A “buy American” proposal for wind energy funding pending in Washington could slow development and hurt job creation, according to some in the industry.

“At a time when the construction unemployment rate is nearly 25 percent and the manufacturing unemployment rate is 13 percent, this proposal would cost 50,000 American workers their jobs,” according to a statement by the head of the American Wind Energy Association, Denise Bode.

The stipulation put forward by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and supported by three other senators, would cut off funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to wind energy developers that use foreign-made components. According to Schumer’s office, $1 billion in ARRA funding has gone to foreign companies.

The Senate proposal is meant to create jobs in the United States, but according to AWEA, it would “torpedo one of the most successful job creation efforts of the Recovery Act.”

Dennis Randall of Schuff Steel, the company that plans to build a Bismarck facility to make wind towers, said the proposal was a frequent topic of conversation at a recent wind conference he attended. Schuff is an American company that has been awarded ARRA tax incentives to bring wind-related manufacturing to North Dakota. However, Randall said it could hurt the market for towers if it slows the development of wind farms.

“Demand could slow down, pending the outcome,” he said. Schuff is in the process of lining up customers for towers, but the expected growth of demand could be stunted. “That expected ramp-up has been put into question,” he said.

Tim Simons, chief executive of Mandan-based developer Crownbutte, said that the majority of turbine components are foreign-made, and attaching new strings to federal funding would further complicate an already drawn-out process of bringing new energy projects online.

“In the wind industry they’re always creating bottlenecks for us,” Simons said. “You go inside those turbines and it’s all foreign-made stuff.”

The perception that recovery money is being funneled directly overseas has been exaggerated, said Jan Johnson, spokeswoman for Iberdrola Renewables, which has a 149-megawatt wind farm near Rugby.

“That’s simply not the truth,” Johnson said. “Every single dollar given to us has been reinvested in the U.S.”

ARRA funding “saved the day” after financial markets collapsed in 2008, she said, and has been a part of Iberdrola’s plans to invest $6 billion in renewable energy by 2012.

One of the bigger developers of wind farms in the state, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, has been erecting wind turbines since 2003, well before the stimulus spending was passed in 2009. The components it uses originate in U.S. plants like LM Glasfiber in Grand Forks and DMI Industries in West Fargo.

“All the wind projects we’ve been involved with since 2003 have been GE-produced components,” said Basin spokesman Daryl Hill, referring to General Electric, a major domestic producer of wind parts.

Elizabeth Salerno, an analyst for the AWEA, said her organization and the Schumer proposal both share the goal of increasing domestic manufacturing jobs in wind power — which provide nearly

50 percent of the U.S. demand for components — but the buy American requirement takes away the certainty desired by investors in new projects.

“It creates a chilling effect on the ability to raise capital,” she said. “In the long-term, certainty is what drives investment.”

By George Pyle – Buffalo News - January 19, 2010

An industrial park under development in the Town of Tonawanda has been rebranded as New York’s first “solar ready” commercial development, as its owners Monday celebrated the signing of a deal expected to bring Chinese know-how and investment to the site.

Leaders of TM Montante Development, the owners of the newly renamed Riverview Solar Technology Park, and the Shanghai New Energy Industry Association held a ceremonial signing of a memorandum of understanding Monday morning at the offices of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership in downtown Buffalo.

The text of the memo was not made public, but it was described by leaders of both parties as a promise and plan to link the renewable energy industries of China, where 35 percent of the world’s solar energy modules are made, and Western New York, where solar and other renewable energy sources are seen as an environmentally responsible route to economic renewal.

In addition to its previous designation as a “shovel ready” development site by state officials, meaning that it has already received its environmental and development permits, Montante Development President Thomas M. Montante said the project will be “solar ready.”

Fifty of the park’s 180 acres, which sit along River Road northeast of the South Grand Island Bridge, will be set aside for solar energy collectors that will generate 10 megawatts of power for use on site.

That power, together with the area’s availability of pollution- free hydropower from the New York Power Authority, means park businesses not only can make products that do not create greenhouse gas emissions but also can make them in an environment that is pollution- free.

“We intend to be New York’s leader in solar development,” Montante said. “Energy and the environment are at the forefront of the battle for attracting and retaining business throughout the country. We decided to address this reality with a strategy of integrating solar as an enhancement of our core business.”

The Shanghai organization is a consortium of about 300 member companies from the Shanghai area’s renewable energy sector, which also maintains an office in San Jose, Calif. Its executive vice chairwoman, Yeu Mi, signed the document Monday on behalf of the association.

“I am 100 percent confident in this new era of energy development in New York State,” Mi said through a translator. “We are going to develop our products not only in the United States but in the whole world.”

A link between the two parties was provided by Daniel Montante, son of the company president and a director of Montante Development, who is a veteran of four years of business experience in Shanghai as an acquisitions and mergers representative for DuPont.

The younger Montante said the Riverview development plan allows a form of commerce that does not demand so much of a sacrifice from nature and forms a cooperative rather than a competitive relationship with growing Chinese businesses.

“We look forward to progressive and productive relations that will benefit both parties,” he said.

Also on hand to praise the agreement were State Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane, and Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, D-Town of Tonawanda.

“You have picked the right partners,” Maziarz said to the Shanghai delegation, “and you have picked the right location.”

State economic development officials announced recently that the state had awarded a $1 million grant to the Town of Tonawanda for its Riverwalk East Park Connector project to build roads and utility services for the Montante project and for the town-owned North Youngmann Commerce Center nearby.

gpyle@buffnews.com

May 7, 2009

BUFFALO—In its effort to promote renewable energy technologies throughout New York State and in response to Governor Paterson’s call to expand New York’s renewable energy portfolio, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) today joined with the University at Buffalo (UB) to announce a major, multi-million dollar award to the university to construct a 1.1 megawatt solar energy array on UB’s North (Amherst) Campus. The solar array, consisting of approximately 5,000 photovoltaic panels, will generate clean energy directly from the sun for students living in UB’s apartment complexes.

NYPA will work with UB to provide site design, engineering and construction services for this project.

The award to UB will serve as a cornerstone of NYPA’s $21 million statewide renewable energy program and will advance the UB 2020 strategic plan’s focus on making the university’s three campuses great places to live, work and learn, in part by improving their environmental sustainability. 

It will be the largest solar installation on any college or university campus in New York State and one of the largest on any campus in the United States, according to the American Solar Energy Society.

“This partnership between NYPA and UB exemplifies how New York State is poised to become the leader in this new energy economy,” said Governor David A. Paterson. “This project also demonstrates my Administration’s commitment to achieving the clean energy goals of the ambitious ’45 by 15’ program, which will create clean energy jobs throughout New York State, and result in greater energy independence and a cleaner environment.”

Richard M. Kessel, NYPA president and chief executive officer, said, “NYPA is committed to investing in Western New York, and the University at Buffalo is the perfect partner for promoting, developing, educating and training in photovoltaic technologies for a cleaner environment, energy independence and green-collar jobs.

“Through this project, NYPA is making great strides in advancing Governor Paterson’s ‘45 by 15’ initiative, which sets a date of 2015 by which New York State is to meet 45 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy efficiency and clean renewable energy.” 

According to NYPA, UB’s North Campus solar array will reduce carbon emissions at UB by more than 500 metric tons per year.

Designed to produce 1.1 megawatts (1.1 million watts) of electricity, the UB solar array is expected to be operating by fall 2010.  It will provide power to UB’s Flint, Hadley, South Lake and Creekside Village apartments, a total of 735 apartments, housing nearly 2,000 undergraduate and graduate UB students.

According to NYPA, the UB solar array will be specially designed to operate in a cold weather environment and to withstand heavy snowfall, serving as a benchmark for future systems in similar climates. In doing so, the UB/NYPA project will promote the development of innovative solar technologies.

As a result of this project, Western New York could become a new center for green-collar jobs, as the UB/NYPA partnership includes collaborations with the university and area colleges to start training and certifying personnel in the installation of solar panels.

UB President John B. Simpson said UB “takes great pleasure in accepting this exciting award from the New York Power Authority.”

“This award not only recognizes UB’s long record of environmental leadership, but it commits us to a greener, more sustainable future that is exactly in keeping with the goals of UB 2020 and Building UB,” he said.

“By helping us generate our own power on campus, this solar array helps us take a significant step toward meeting one of the primary goals of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, in which the university has pledged to go ‘climate-neutral,’” Simpson added.

Combined with existing clean energy purchases, this project puts UB well past the 15 percent interim renewable energy target set for signatories of the Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

Simpson noted that the project also will foster UB education and research with the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the area of renewable energy. It will provide students and researchers with the opportunity to study and track the real-time functioning of an on-site clean energy system. The system will include a data acquisition feature that will be especially useful in research and education.

New York State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer, said, “As a graduate of SUNY at Buffalo, I am very supportive of the solar panel project which will be one of the largest solar projects in New York State.”

New York State Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak, said, “This joint project between NYPA and UB will prove to be a blueprint for other campuses across the nation.  UB once again is spearheading a new era in WNY as we look to conserve energy, reduce carbon emissions and generate green collar jobs.”

Contrary to the conventional wisdom about Buffalo’s weather, data from the National Weather Service shows that from May through November, Buffalo is the sunniest and driest city in the Northeast, making it an ideal candidate for generating solar power.

The project will give many UB students the unique experience of living in apartments where their electricity is provided not by the burning of fossil fuels hundreds of miles away but by the clean, renewable power of the sun here on campus with virtually no greenhouse gas emissions, Simpson noted. 

UB student Emily Bauer, member of the UB Environmental Stewardship Committee and a delegate to the State University of New York Student Assembly, said she and her fellow students look forward to construction of the solar array on UB’s campus.

“Climate change is one of the biggest problems facing the next generation and is of great concern to UB students,” she said. “By stepping up as a leader in solar energy, UB has shown it is committed to a bright future for our environment.”

State Senator Antoine Thompson said the NYPA/Buffalo partnership is a step forward for green energy in Western New York. “As Chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, I have been focused on making Buffalo an epicenter for green initiatives,” Thompson noted. “An institution of the size of UB making the decision to run on solar panels instead of electricity is a step in the right direction.  Conserving energy and resources in this way benefits the environment greatly.”

The new solar installation at UB will be the largest ground-mounted PV system in New York State.

Its 5,000 panels will be installed on or adjacent to the North Campus grounds of the Melvin H. Baker Chilled Water Plant on Flint Road, which delivers utility services to the 1,200- acre suburban campus.

This will be UB’s second solar electric system; in 2006, UB installed a 73.5 kilowatt demonstration solar system on top of Norton Hall, which provides at least 6 percent of that building’s power.

By Nancy Gish – - SOUTHTOWNS CORRESPONDENT- BFLO NEWS – Jan 16, 2010

The Elma Town Board on Wednesday heard a presentation from a solar panel consulting company seeking the town’s business to install solar panels on property behind Town Hall on Bowen Road.

Supervisor Michael Nolan initially asked the board to consider solar panels on the roof of Town Hall but TVGA, a local engineering company, suggested the panels be installed on the ground behind Town Hall.

Grant money is available for the project through stimulus aid and no town funds would be required. However, TVGA, which would build the infrastructure to contain the panels, suggested the town pay for 10 percent of the project to speed up the grant process.

The consulting company, NYSOL, would procure the products, do the grant writing and hire the installers.

The goal is to reduce Town Hall electrical use by 15 percent by 2015 while increasing renewable energy, promote climate protection and support green innovation and the economy. Excess power generated by the panels would go back into the grid, officials said during the board’s workshop session.

The town would see a $6,000 saving in its electric bill and reap renewable energy credits. The project would employ about 100 16-square-foot solar panels.

Nolan, long a proponent of the panels, said, “We need to be proactive with energy efficiency. It is a lot to gain for the local taxpayer. It’s an investment in the future.”

However, Councilman Dean Puleo is not so sure.

“The whole idea is very distasteful to me,” he said. “It is clearly not cost-effective and is a horrible investment. . . .”

He said the $120,000 cost would take the town 20 years to recoup at the estimated electrical savings of $6,000 a year.

The issue will be on the agenda when the board meets on Wednesday.

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE -  April 28, 2010

BOSTON — After nine years of regulatory review, the federal government gave the green light Wednesday to the nation’s first offshore wind farm, a highly contested project off the coast of Cape Cod.

Multimedia

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The approval of the 130-turbine farm gives a significant boost to the nascent offshore wind industry in the United States, which has lagged far behind Europe and China in harnessing the strong and steady power of ocean breezes to provide electricity to homes and businesses.

With Gov. Deval Patrick standing beside him, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced at a news conference at the Massachusetts Statehouse that the government had approved a permit for Cape Wind Associates, a private venture, to build the farm.

“I am approving the Cape Wind project,” Mr. Salazar said. “This will be the first of many projects up and down the Atlantic coast.”

The Cape Wind turbines would lie in Nantucket Sound, about five miles from the nearest shoreline, and cover 24 square miles, roughly the size of Manhattan. The tip of the highest blade of each turbine would reach 440 feet above the water.

But the project is hardly shovel ready. Several regulatory hurdles remain, and opponents of the wind farm have vowed to go to court, potentially stalling Cape Wind for several more years.

For years the Cape Wind project has been the focusof pitched battles splitting politicians and environmental groups. While some environmentalists are prepared to go to court to stop the project, other major groups, including the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, support it.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, whose family compound overlooks Nantucket Sound and who died last year, had opposed the project, saying it was a giveaway to a private developer.

Senator Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts, issued a statement opposing the decision immediately after it was announced, saying it would hinder tourism and boating in the area.

But Mr. Patrick, also a Democrat, has supported it.

“America needs offshore wind power, and with this project, Massachusetts will lead the nation,” Mr. Patrick declared at the Statehouse on Wednesday. While there are differences of opinion, he said, “on balance, Cape Wind is good for our environment and good for our energy needs.”

He added that construction could begin within a year. “We are on our way,” he said. “If we get clean energy right, the whole world will be our customer.”

Ian Bowles, secretary of the Massachusetts executive office of environmental affairs, called the announcement “the shot heard ’round the world for American clean energy.”

At least half a dozen offshore wind farms have been proposed along the East Coast and the Great Lakes. Their relatively shallow waters make wind energy more feasible than off the West Coast, where the ocean floor drops off precipitously.

Supporters say the $1 billion Cape Wind project would provide a clean, renewable source of energy that could meet up to 75 percent of the power needs on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. They also say it would provide hundreds of construction jobs, decrease the region’s reliance on fossil fuels and benefit the environment by lowering emissions of greenhouse gases.

Opponents say it would be an industrial blot in an area of pristine beauty and change the region’s historic character. They also warn that the costs to consumers are likely to be double or triple the costs for conventional power. Improvements to the region’s electrical grid and transmission lines could cost $10 billion.

Audra Parker, president and chief executive of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, said that several groups would go to court to halt the project. While the permit is “a significant piece of the puzzle,” she warned, other pieces must still be put in place to get the project under way.

The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to make a final determination on the project, which it has rated “a presumed hazard” because of potential interference with airplane radar, she said. And Cape Wind has yet to sign a contract with the local utility, National Grid, to carry the wind power, she noted.

She said that nine state and local permits were still being appealed in the courts. And nearly a dozen parties have filed notices of intention to sue, saying the project violates various environmental rules and regulations.

Asked about future hurdles, Mr. Salazar said, “This is the final decision of the United States of America.” While delays could result from challenges, he said, he was “confident” that the courts would uphold his decision.

Officials said the official record of the decision, to be made available later, would spell out ways in which the government could mitigate any negative effects on coastal views by adjusting he number, orientation and color of the turbines.

The coastal Wampanoag tribe, which requires unobstructed views of the sunrise for sacred ceremonies, said Monday that it was preparing to challenge the project for violations of tribal rights.

“We will not stand by and allow our treasured public lands to be marred forever by a corporate giveaway to private industrial energy developers,” Ms. Parker said.

By John Seewer - ASSOCIATED PRESS -Updated: 06/24/09 07:31 AM

PERRYSBURG, Ohio — A new government council will help auto industry workers transition to new manufacturing opportunities, including jobs in alternative energy, Vice President Biden said Tuesday.

Biden toured the northwestern Ohio headquarters of the Willard & Kelsey Solar Group, which plans to begin large-scale production of solar panels this year. The Toledo area has been hit hard by job losses in the auto industry and is banking on more green factory jobs.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Manufacturing is facing one of its toughest periods, in at least my lifetime,” Biden said. But, he said, U. S. manufacturing can be successful again if, for example, auto workers are trained to work in the solar, wind or biotech industries.

There are close to 10 companies that are turning Toledo into a research hub for converting sunlight into energy.

President Barack Obama was expected to sign an executive order this week that establishes the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers. The council will be chaired by one of the president’s top economic advisers, Lawrence Summers, and his labor secretary, Hilda Solis.

The executive director will be Obama’s director of recovery for auto communities and workers, Ed Montgomery.

The recession has been particularly hard on the auto industry, which has lost more than 400,000 jobs in the last decade.

Ohio has taken hits from both the big automakers who have announced two plant closings in recent months and the small auto suppliers who have been forced to slow production. The state ranks first in the country in the number of suppliers.

The Obama administration is expanding its program to help link auto suppliers with companies that are making wind turbines, solar panels and robotics, Biden said.

The auto suppliers, he said, already have the technology and skilled workers that can help them transition into making alternative energy products. “This program is going to put them on a self-sustaining path,” he continued.

Biden noted that the solar company he toured Tuesday is using technology developed in Ohio to produce and ship a product overseas. “That’s the America I grew up in,” he said.

Willard & Kelsey hopes to hire about 400 employees this year to increase production, said Gary Faykosh, the company’s head of research and development. But everything is on hold because of the tight credit market, he said. “We’re ready to go,” Faykosh said.

The solar technology startups in the Toledo area have become a popular backdrop for politicians promoting alternative energy.

As the Republican Party vice-presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a campaign stop in October at a company that is developing flexible solar panels. Earlier this month, Solis and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland toured a factory that produces machines that make glass for the auto and solar industries.

By Jonathan D. Epstein – BUFFALO NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER 06/30/09

A Williamsville firm will handle most of the work on a $7.5 million contract to install a massive solar panel system at the University at Buffalo, designed to provide “green” energy to student apartments, the New York Power Authority said Monday.

Solar Liberty will work in conjunction with a Canadian firm to set up the system, which officials called the largest solar installation at any college or university in the state, and one of the largest on any U. S. campus.

It’s part of a new emphasis by the Power Authority and the state on renewable energy, and on lessening the state’s dependence on fossil fuels, officials said. And it will lead to the creation of what officials called “green” jobs that can’t be exported overseas.

The proposed contract, which still faces approval by the Power Authority board, calls for the installation of a 1.1-megawatt solar photovoltaic system on UB’s North Campus in Amherst. The project includes about 5,000 solar panels that will generate 1.3 million kilowatt hours of energy annually. That will power 735 apartments at UB’s Flint Village, housing more than 2,000 students. One megawatt typically powers 1,000 homes.

The contract, which was subject to competitive bidding, will technically be awarded to Simcoe, Ont.- based DeCloet Greenhouse Manufacturing. However, 80 percent of the contract, or up to $6 million, will go to Solar Liberty.

Power Authority President and CEO Richard Kessel said Monday that he will ask the authority’s board to approve the contract for Solar Liberty at the board’s regular meeting today, to be held at the Niagara Power Project’s Power Vista in Lewiston. Although the decision is not yet final, Kessel said he had spoken to many of the directors and said they are in favor.

“They think this is exactly what the Power Authority should be doing,” said Kessel. “This is the first of many projects we’ll be doing in Western New York.”

Under the contract, Solar Liberty, headquartered at 6225 Sheridan Drive in the Sheridan Meadows office complex, will purchase the panels and other equipment and provide the local labor to install the ground-mounted system. DeCloet, a greenhouse maker with expertise in laying fields of equipment in the ground, will provide technical expertise and supervision, but the work will be handled by Solar Liberty.

The panels will be installed at four feet off the ground, at a pitched angle facing south, and will occupy six acres near the campus’ chilling plant. Each panel is about 15 square feet. They can generate electricity even through a few inches of snow, but the top surface is glass with no friction so snow will slide off with a little heat.

Construction could start in August and it’s slated for completion by fall 2010, though Kessel said it could be ready sooner.

Solar Liberty, which employs 14, said it expects to hire another 10 to 15 installation workers, who will be paid between $35 and $50 an hour, as well as some more administrative staff to work in its offices.

The UB project is expected to be the largest ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system in the state. It’s part of a $21 million renewable energy program by the Power Authority that officials said will focus on Western New York and the North Country.

Founded by Rizzo, a UB Law School graduate, and his brother Nathan, Solar Liberty is one of the largest solar electric “integrators” and installers in the state. It serves government, nonprofit, education, commercial and residential customers.

In addition to its main office here, it has an office in Syracuse, and installation crews working around the state. It also serves installers nationally through a wholesale division.

jepstein@buffnews.com

Sunworks Pledges to Create 175 Jobs

By James Heaney - BUFFALO NEWS STAFF REPORTER - 7/01/09 

The state Power Authority has awarded a large block of low-cost hydropower to a fledgling California company that plans to build a plant in Western New York to manufacture solar panels.

Sunworks Solar plans to spend $200 million to build a plant that would employ 175. The New York Power Authority on Tuesday agreed to allocate five megawatts of hydropower, which it will sell to the San Francisco-based company for about one-quarter the market rate.

The plant would build large solar panels for utilities. Pay would range from $40,000 to over $100,000 a year, depending on the position.

Company officials said they have not yet selected a site, but that it would be in Western New York. A construction timetable is also up in the air. Work could start as soon as next spring.

The company was founded last year and does not operate a plant, but is in negotiations to build several in differing locales.

Sunworks Solar would be one of the larger buyers of low-cost hydropower from the authority. The five megawatt allocation is the fifth-largest made by the authority since 2006 and is eight-times larger than the typical allocation made by the authority during that period.

The deal would save the company an estimated $1.6 million a year, or $9,352 per job. By contract, the average deal made by the authority since 2006 provides annual savings of $11,833 per job.

The deal also compares favorably in terms of the amount of private investment the power leverages. On average, deals done by NYPA since 2006 produce $11,451 of investment for each kilowatt allocated. The Sunworks deal would generate nearly four times more investment, or $40,000.

The allocation marks the continuation of a trend by the authority to earmark large blocks of power to green manufacturing concerns.

In recent years, the authority has committed 40 megawatts to Globe Metals, which is refurbishing a plant in Niagara Falls to produce metallurgical-grade silicon for use in the manufacture of solar panels, and five megawatts each to ethanol plants proposed for Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

None of those facilities are operating yet, however. Globe is still overhauling its plant and the ethanol plants are still on the drawing board.

In the meantime, the authority is selling the allocated, but unused power at market rates and keeping the proceeds. U. S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, is pressing the authority to keep those proceeds in Western New York.

jheaney@buffnews.com

by David Robinson – Buffalo News Business Reporter - 1/31/09

Moog Inc., looking to become a bigger player in the wind energy business, has bought a 70 percent stake in a British company that makes components used in wind turbines, the Elma aerospace company said Friday.

The $16 million deal will expand the line of products that Moog makes for wind turbines, primarily equipment that stops and shuts down the turbines and also regulates their power output.

The newest acquisition, Insensys ltd., makes pitch control and rotor blade monitoring systems. Pitch control systems adjust the angle of the turbine’s blades to improve its efficiency and control its load. Monitoring systems can extend the turbine’s life and reduce maintenance costs.

Insensys had $7.6 million in sales last year.

The deal gives Moog the option to buy the remaining 30 percent of Insensys within the next year. The purchase is not expected to affect Moog’s earnings during the current fiscal year, which ends in October, because of accounting adjustments. Insensys is expected to add about $10.2 million to Moog’s sales during the eight months remaining in Moog’s fiscal year.

Moog executives said earlier this month that they wanted to expand their position in the wind energy industry, which has been growing at about a 20 percent annual rate.

Wind turbines have been steadily getting bigger, now spanning as much as 240-feet in diameter and capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of electricity. That increasing size can create a challenge to control motion on those turbines, Moog executives have said.

“The use of real-time data improves turbine performance and lower’s a wind turbine’s total cost of ownership,” said Steven Huckvale, the president of Moog’s international group.

Moog had about $70 million in energy-related revenues during its previous fiscal year, and the company in June broadened its position in the wind energy industry by acquiring a 40 percent stake in a German company, LTi RE-Energy GmbH, that makes motion control and drive systems used on wind turbines. Moog expects to buy the rest of LTi by summer.

drobinson@buffnews.com