Overcoming Barriers to Wind Development

in Appalachian Coal Country

Brent Bailey, Ph.D.Director, Appalachia Program

The Mountain Institute

An overview of a study funded by a grant from the US Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Energy

• Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program

– 20% Wind by 2030: Overcoming the Challenges• working with wind industry partners to develop clean, domestic,

innovative wind energy technologies that can compete with conventional fuel sources

– Grant program topics:• Supporting wind turbine research and testing• → Market acceptance ← • Environmental impacts• Transmission analysis, planning, and assessments• Workforce development• Distributed wind technology

Potential Market Barriers

• Land ownership – Federal, private, corporate– Size and distribution of parcels

• Ecological and cultural factors• Mineral rights• Competing commodity prices and portfolio diversity– Coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, hydro

• “Deal Structures:” Benefits to residents• Project scale• Policy environment: Public investment

Market Barriers: Land Ownership

Market Barriers: Ecological Factors

Market Barriers: Mineral Rights

Market Barriers: Competing Commodity Prices and Uncertainty

Appalachian Wind Capacity

State Developed (MW) Potential (MW)*

PA 463 5120

WV 330 3830

KY 0 34

VA 0 1380

MD 0 338

* “Potential” figures are highly variable due to changing criteria and verification methods

Policy Environment

• Pennsylvania has invested $807,000 in Voith Hydro through grants and tax credits to assist the company’s expansion and the training of its growing workforce. The state has also enacted an Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act of 2004 – which will ensure at least 18.5 percent of all energy generated in the state comes from advanced sources by 2021; launched the $650 million Alternative Energy Investment Fund passed in 2008; and, most recently, established one of the most ambitious energy conservation laws in the nation.

Community Wind• Community stakeholders have seized wind development

as a way to diversify and revitalize rural economies and increase energy independence, advancing “community wind” as a growing portion of the overall U.S. wind industry. Numerous schools, universities, farmers, Native American Tribes, small businesses, rural electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, and even abbeys have installed their own mid-sized and large wind turbines to promote environmental responsibility and keep energy dollars local.

• Challenges: economics, turbine availability, off-takers • Actions: policies to enable community ownership; wind

industry collaboration; valuing diversity and economic development benefits

Outputs

• Advisory Committee and Stakeholder input• Research topics: Capacities, trends, policies– In Appalachia– From other regions

• Recommendations• Outreach materials

• Time frame: Completion by December 2011