On May 4-7, AWEA hosted their annual WINDPOWER 2009 Conference at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. In short, this conference broke records, and everyone in attendance felt like they were part of something bigger than themselves.

In 2001, WINDPOWER had roughly 1000 attendees and 25 exhibitors, these figures doubled in 2002.  However, this year, WINDPOWER attracted over 18,000 registered attendees and more than 1280 exhibitors who participated in the trade show. While this event did attract international participation, over 87% of those in attendance were from the United States and participation was overwhelmingly male, at 85%.  The conference and exhibition included an extensive trade show, moderately sized job fair and conference with six different tracks of curriculum ranging in spectrum from technical to policy interests.

Over 300 speakers and moderators were instrumental in the presentation of 50 sessions. In addition to standard breakout sessions, over 150 posters were strategically placed throughout the convention center with handouts; each of these posters could be presented as qualified papers in their own right and served as quick digestible ways to disseminate niche areas of the wind industry.

While the numbers alone are daunting, the organizers of this event should be praised for their ability to orchestrate such a large event in a manner that is truly designed to be user friendly and educate its participants. No matter what your previous level of experience or expertise was prior to attending this conference, you left immensely more informed. The unique perspectives from different industries and countries was particularly valuable and timely as the United States is positioned to potentially move into a new era with renewable energy, wind both on and offshore being a critical element of this movement.

Department of Interior Secretary Salazar, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Wellinghoff, Governor Quinn, and Spain's Minister of Industry and Energy Miguel Sebastian participated in the Welcome and Opening Session on Tuesday. Wellinghoff highlighted three goals: efficiency (improving efficient delivery of electricity and operational delivery), improving integration on the demand side (improving consumer participation and decreasing cost), and integrating renewables in the system. Wellinghoff strongly stated his support for a smart grid and a strong grid. He noted that we must consider transmission carefully and that a renewable energy standard does not get us beyond our transmission issues. Minister Sebastian noted that Spain has roughly 16,740 MW wind capacity and has avoided 20 million tons of CO2 emissions as a result. He also noted that over 40,000 jobs have been created by the wind industry.

With respect to offshore wind, we defer to our European neighbors since their offshore wind market has taken off. They cautioned us that offshore wind is not like onshore wind in water, it is a totally different industry. The UK has the best wind resource in Europe with 3.3 GW operating, 600 MW of which is offshore; over 7GW consented, over 4 GW offshore. Some of the challenges of offshore wind shared were the technical complexity, cost and timescale.  Essentially the message that was driven home was that the penalty for getting something wrong was very high so as much upfront due diligence and data collection as possible was highly advised. European electricity is expected to grow by 35% by 2030, flagging a close watch on their potential grid infrastructure issues. What was reassuring about this information is that we have neighbors to learn from and perhaps most importantly, it can be done (as we like to say at NRDC).

Another critical area that deserves more domestic attention is a need to implement, in a streamlined manner, a method to transfer the skills of employees from oil and gas into the renewable energy sector. As the United States leverages innovation and conservation to weather this recession, many have dusted off old skill sets and preconceived notions strategically positioning themselves to capitalize on this emerging market that has more political support than ever before.

It is clear that there were a multitude of interests from the participants of this event; businesses new and old trying to corner the market, job seekers hoping to be employed by the market, attendees trying to better understand the market.  One thing is clear, that everyone in attendance left feeling like when it comes to our country's energy future, there is an answer blowing in the wind...