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The article examines Poland's Act on Windfarms, which sets the minimum distance requirement between a wind power plant and residential buildings, forests or national parks, and whether the law violates the Renewable Energy Directive. Topics discussed include the procedures and methods used to ensure the European Union (EU) member countries conform to the directive, analysis of interpretations of the directive and Poland's defenses to uphold its Act on Windfarms.

Through a study of planning law and the legal challenges to wind energy planning decisions, this article shows how law plays an important role in framing understandings of both wind energy projects and decision making with regard to such projects. Law also provides important forums for dispute resolution. These frames and forums create legal stability in the wake of the legal disruption created by the introduction of wind energy as a significant energy infrastructure. Highlighting that role raises important questions for scholars of energy transitions, planning law, and social regulation more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is promoting renewable energy such as wind power to address the objectives of both energy security and sustainable development. This paper reviews the nature of policies, institutional set-up and programmes in place to upscale especially onshore wind energy uptake, as reflected in publicly available documents. It shows that South Africa has put in place critical policies, institutions and programmes for wind energy uptake. Among key policy documents and policies are the White Paper on Energy (1998), Renewable Energy White Paper (2003), Energy Act of 2008, and National Climate Change Response White Paper (2011). There is also the Integrated Energy Plan, the Integrated Resource Plan (2010, revised 2013) and Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines for Renewable Energy Projects of 2015. Key institutions noted include the South African National Energy Development Institute, the South African Renewable Energy Council and the South African Wind Energy Association. The main programme is the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme, which resulted in more than 30 installed wind energy projects. Overall, wind energy promises to be among the viable and acceptable technologies in the renewable energy sector in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses developments and lawsuits related to environmental laws in the U.S. and Minnesota. Topics discussed include the case In re Xcel Energy related to approval by Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for purchase of wind-power by Xcel Energy, Save Mille Lacs Sportsfishing, Inc. v. Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources related to quantity of fish harvested from Mille Lacs lake and definition of solid waste rule finalized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

El artículo analiza decretos y sentencias en el área de Energía emitidos en España entre septiembre 2014 y enero 2015. Se incluyen el proyecto que modifica la Ley de Hidrocarburos de 1998, particularmente en medidas tributarias para fomentar la exploración de gas natural; diversos decretos y órdenes sobre el sistema eléctrico y decisiones de la Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia que sientan jurisprudencia sobre el sector eléctrico, energía eólica y fractura hidráulica.

Wind energy is the fastest-growing source of energy in the world. This conies as no surprise in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States where wind turbines are widespread. The advantages of wind energy make it an attractive source of new energy. But integrating wind energy into the existing energy system has proven difficult in the Pacific Northwest where there is an abundance of power. When energy oversupply events occur, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) displaces wind energy in favor of federal hydropower generation. Unsurprisingly, wind generators are frustrated with BPA's response, which threatens to eliminate their remuneration. This Comment proposes two storage methods-aquifer recharge and pumped hydropower-as alternatives to curtailing wind generation in the Pacific North west. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses wind power capacity, the economic aspects of developing commercial-scale wind facilities, and the proposed recognition of property rights in wind by states in the U.S. as of June 2013. It states that the establishment of a property right in wind will relieve a wind power developer of the risk that is associated with a wind power development project. Federal and state policies regarding wind power are addressed, along with wind-related legislative and common law rights.

The article discusses wind energy development and antinuisance legislation in the U.S. as of June 2012, focusing on a comparison of the legal protections afforded to agricultural facilities in regards to the nation's Right to Farm laws and the proposed protection of wind energy projects from nuisance litigation. Several nuisance-related lawsuits are addressed, including the New York case Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co., as well as the Missouri Court of Appeals case Tichenor v. Vore.

The article discusses the subsidy provided to wind energy industry in the U.S. It states that few of the landowners have negotiated a ninety-nine year lease for the construction and operation of a utility scale electrical generation facility funded by mezzanine financing syndicate.They must be given training programs and attorneys can assist themselves by educational materials which can aid in developing their technical and legal knowledge in this arena.

The article explores the benefits of wind energy to energy demands in the future. With electricity demands to increase by 39% from 2005-2030, the bill Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2011 was proposed by U.S. Congressman Paul D. Tonko to allot additional funding to the Energy Department to invest in wind energy development. Illinois is the fifth largest in wind-generating capacity in the U.S. with wind energy production at 2,438 megawatts per year.

The article discusses the need for some U.S. states facing significant farm development to examine the uniform statewide siting rules adopted and suspended in Wisconsin that geared towards allowing development of wind energy. The rules would allow limited property rights to non-participants and prevent localities from banning wind farms. An overview of the Muscarello v. Ogle County Board of Commissioners case that represents opposition to wind farm development is also offered.

This article considers the role of the public in obtaining planning permission for onshore wind farms in the UK. Attention will centre primarily on planning law and policy in England and Wales and the role of developers in engaging the public. Part I assesses the importance of public participation generally and reviews current public perception of wind farms. Part II sets out the planning permission legislative processes for wind farms and the involvement of the public within these. Part III looks at alternative ways of improving public acceptance of turbines and, finally, Part IV considers solutions to increasing public participation in planning decisions for these structures. The conclusion reached will be that, while planning procedures must become more participative - especially with regard to early engagement by developers of local communities in the area of the proposed wind farm - it is unlikely that the prescriptive laws required to ensure this will transpire in the near future. Responsibility, therefore, falls to developers to voluntarily apply this engagement to their pre-planning application procedures to ensure that a greater number of onshore wind farms gain planning permission without delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a time of heightened awareness of global warming and the need for renewable energy, wind energy has taken off as the fastest growing source of electricity in the United States. In 2008, the wind industry added record-breaking wind power capacity by installing over 8,000 megawatts of electricity, accounting for close to 42 percent of new power-producing capacity installed that year. This growth has brought the total U.S. wind energy capacity to over 25,000 megawatts, up from only 6,740 megawatts in 2004, launching the United States ahead of Germany as the world leader in wind electricity generation. American wind farms currently produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly seven million homes. While Texas leads the nation with the most new wind power, wind development is occurring in many regions throughout the country, with wind projects currently in 35 states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been conflicting accounts of the role and influence of local opposition within planning application outcomes for wind power developments. There is an expanding literature that considers public responses to proposed renewable energy developments and much of this suggests that public opposition is a key factor in the slow growth in renewable energy capacity. However, this paper will show that local opposition groups' power over such planning processes is very limited, and in fact extends only so far as delaying an outcome. Through a thematic content analysis of objection letters to one particular proposed wind power development, the key issues raised in connection with the development will be highlighted. Subsequently, these issues will be compared with those discussed in the official report of the planning appeals process, and it will be shown that the concerns of local objectors had little influence over the eventual verdict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulating power is needed to compensate for unplanned deviations from production and consumption plans. The transmission system operator (TSO) in each country is responsible for keeping the electric system balanced, and activates regulation if needed to keep the frequency in the network stable. The need for regulations will likely grow when more wind power is built in the power system, as it is difficult to forecast wind power production and make accurate production plans. By using data on wind power prognosis errors from the West Danish power system, a need for regulating power in the Swedish system is predicted, with 4000 MW of new wind power installed. An attempt is made to forecast pricing on regulating power in Sweden based on the need for regulating power along with other aspects. The results show that the regulating power market energy turnover increases together with the monetary turnover following the large-scale installation of wind power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analysis of the Great Britain's Energy Act 2004 law on the regulation of offshore wind power plants and this legislative framework's compatibility with international marine and environmental laws. Energy Act provides for the development of wind farms as a renewable energy source beyond the limits of the British territorial sea within designated enterprise zones. Legal issues are raised by rights of navigation, decommissioning of turbines at the end of their operational life, and the protection of the marine environment.

Although far less important than the now-expired federal tax credit in fostering the growth of industrial-sized wind plants within the United States, legislation in individual states has been significant in determining where wind plants will be built and how widely wind-generated electricity will be used and in fostering the use of smaller facilities that generate electricity for on-site use. Such legislation has principally taken two forms: financial incentives and regulatory mandates. Financial incentives, which include various forms of tax relief, loans for the purchase of wind-power equipment and rebates that partially offset installation costs, are typically available only for small projects generating electricity for on-site use. Regulatory mandates are directed at utility companies. The most significant of these require utilities to obtain increasing percentages of their sales of electricity or their generating capacity from renewable sources, such as wind energy. As this article seeks to demonstrate, state law will continue to play an important role in the development of wind-generated electricity even if the US Congress reinstates federal tax credits and enacts legislation authorising the use of federal public lands and offshore areas for wind facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in the case Swecker v. Midland Power Cooperative related to the interpretation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding the avoided cost rate for the purchases of power of wind generator.

An interview with Professor Karsten Neuhoff, head of the Climate Policy Department at economic research institute DIW Berlin, is presented. Neuhoff discusses the reason behind the introduction of voluntary direct marketing in the German federal government's wind power legislation in 2012, the reasons for not lowering the management premium for direct marketers, and the impact of mandated direct marketing on project-based financing of new wind turbines.

The article discusses that New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment has conducted an environmental impact assessment which revealed that environmental regulations should be imposed on the wind power projects in India which use turbines for generating wind power in forested areas.