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As wind and solar power draw increased attention in the push for clean, renewable sources of energy, the question of how to integrate them into the power grid is also in the spotlight. GE Energy recently prepared a lengthy report for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory — the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study — that took an in-depth look at the grid in the Western U.S. The report, one of the largest regional wind and solar integration studies to date, found that the system could handle a significant percentage of both wind and solar — 30 percent wind and 5 percent solar — but only if some new practices are adopted, such as improved weather forecasting and better utilization and coordination of existing grid infrastructure.

As goodcleantech.com observed: “The study suggests that even though winds are intermittent and sunlight does not perpetually shine, they’re no cause of concern on whether the renewable energy sources can provide the expected percentage of energy allotted for them. To be able to achieve the goal, the WestConnect group of utilities [which were the basis of the study] in the mountain and southwest states would have to be able to coordinate operations over a wider coverage area. They would need to be able to schedule the specific amount of power they can deliver within a period of time so that generators could adjust that power based on the current weather conditions. In the future, if such a change in operational procedures could be put into effect, the study says there would even be no need for back-up gas-burning power plants.”

The world’s largest wind energy conference is underway in Dallas, Texas, with the glitterati at the event including former President George W. Bush, singer Elvis Costello, “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander — and GE’s giant wind blade, now covered with over 3,000 signatures. The 131-foot blade has been stopping in communities across the country to drum up support for a clean energy future as it makes it way to the conference, held by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). The big expo was also the forum for the announcement that GE will be providing what’s known as “direct-drive” turbines — the newest gearless technology — for the first offshore, freshwater wind farm in North America. The 20 megawatt wind project — which the developers hope to grow into a 1,000 MW farm — is in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie and marks a major step towards accelerating the deployment of offshore wind in the Great Lakes.

GE’s giant wind blade just breezed into Columbus, Ohio for the city’s Clean Air Fair, which each year turns the spotlight on air pollution — and the clean energy alternatives that are available right in central Ohio to help fight it. Hundreds of people signed the 131-foot blade in support of wind energy and green jobs, including Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, as it makes its way to the industry’s big Windpower 2010 conference in Dallas as part of GE’s “Capture the wind” tour. As April Kasun of Watt Works, a local supplier of energy conserving products, says about wind in the video below: “I just feel like it’s the right thing to do, to try and look at other ways to power our lives. For me, it’s almost like if I can get you to save, and I’m saving, then eventually more people will save.”

Wind energy isn’t just clean, renewable and plentiful — it’s a major source of current and future jobs in the U.S. That wind-win situation is the message breezing into nine states over the next month as one of GE’s giant, 131-foot wind turbine blades — which is nearly half a football field long — travels 2,436 miles as part of our “Capture the Wind” tour that just kicked-off. Last year in our “Blade Runners” series on GE Reports, we traveled with driver Chris Lewis of Landstar Ranger trucking as he hauled one of the massive blades to GE’s Renewable Energy Global Headquarters in upstate New York. This year, we’re back with Chris at the wheel as the blade snakes its way to the huge Windpower 2010 conference in Dallas, Texas — with people all along the way signing the blade in support of clean energy. In the video below, it gets the marching band treatment as it leaves the factory of our supplier MFG, which stands for Molded Fiber Glass Companies, in Aberdeen, S.D.

The new gearless turbine technology that we’ve been writing about lately in our offshore wind stories is now on the fast track — with GE announcing today that it’s investing $450 million to produce it on a large scale. The plans call for development or expansion of wind manufacturing, engineering and service facilities in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Germany — signaling GE’s commitment to the growing European offshore wind market. The European Wind Energy Association expects that Europe’s offshore wind sector will grow more than 70 percent in 2010, with continued growth forecast over the next several years.