NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

UWIG Announces 2010 Technical Achievement Honorees, Scholarship Recipients

UWIG President Henry Durrwachter will present the awards and recognize the scholarship recipients at a reception during its 2010 Spring Technical Workshop and Annual Meeting held April 15-16 in Portland, Ore.

The citation for the award to Parsons notes his "sustained leadership in development and management of a national wind integration program in support of electric utility requirements."

The citation for the award for Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study members Dave Corbus of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Matt Schuerger of Energy Systems Consulting Services, and Bob Zavadil and Jack King of EnerNex Corporation highlight the effort's role in breaking new ground in the largest and most comprehensive analysis of transmission planning and wind integration in the Eastern Interconnection.

The citation for the award for Western Wind and Solar Integration Study members Debbie Lew of NREL and Dick Piwko, Nick Miller, Gary Jordan, Kara Clark, and Lavelle Freeman of GE Energy highlight this effort's role as well in breaking new ground in the analysis of integrating wind and solar generation in the Western Interconnection.

The citation for the award for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) recognizes the efforts of retired CEO Rick Sergal and Director of Reliability Assessments and Performance Analysis Mark Lauby in establishing and leading NERC's Integration of Variable Generation Task Force, a seminal effort in investigating the impact of such resources on bulk system reliability.

UWIG announced it was honoring Kodiak Electric Association, which developed the Pillar Mountain Wind Project, the first utility-scale wind facility built in Alaska. Kodiak Electric and this project were also honored with the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) 2009 Wind Cooperative of the Year award at NRECA's TechAdvantage Conference last month.

Finally, the organization announced that it was honoring the University of Minnesota's Ned Mohan for "sustained leadership in power engineering curriculum development and revitalization in support of renewable energy integration."

According to UWIG President Durrwachter, the slate of honorees for 2010 reflects the core mission for UWIG: "Our mission is to understand how to responsibly and reliability integrate wind power onto the grid. Brian Parsons has led a nationwide program expanding the science of this topic. The work of the Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study, Western Wind and Solar Integration Study, and NERC Integration of Variable Generation Task Force are comprehensive investigations that further our understanding of integrating renewable resources. Kodiak Electric Association developed a pioneering utility-scale wind project in Alaska and Ned Mohan has done stellar work in advancing the improvement of power engineering education to meet the needs of the utility and renewable energy industries. As President of UWIG, it gives me great pleasure to announce these awards and to congratulate them."

In addition, the organization announced that Nathan Schares of Iowa State University, Justin Hughes of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Neal Lightle of Iowa Lakes Community College are the recipients of the 2010 UWIG Scholarship Program. Schares and Hughes will receive $2000 engineering scholarships while Lightle, studying wind plant/turbine technology, will receive a $1000 scholarship. Durrwachter hailed the three as "students who will have much to offer the electric power and wind industries in the future."

UWIG will also honor outgoing board members John Holt of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Cliff Murley, retired from Sacramento Municipal Utility District, for their service to the organization.

The Utility Wind Integration Group (UWIG) was established in 1989 to provide a forum for the critical analysis of wind technology for utility applications and to serve as a source of credible information on the status of wind technology and deployment. The group's mission is to accelerate the development and application of good engineering and operational practices supporting the appropriate integration of wind power for utility applications through the coordinated efforts and actions of its members, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, its National Renewable Energy Laboratory and utility research organizations. UWIG currently has over 150 members from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia, including investor-owned, public power, and rural electric cooperative utilities; transmission system operators; and associate member corporate, government, and academic organizations. For more information, visit the UWIG web site at www.uwig.org.

Utility Wind Integration Group
Sandy Smith
Conference and Communications Coordinator
865-218-4600, ext. 6141
sandy@uwig.org