Hal Romanowitz receives national wind Lifetime Achievement Award
Hal Romanowitz receives national wind Lifetime Achievement Award
By: Hank Zevallos
Topics:
Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 491 times
0 responses 1 comment Oak Creek Energy Systems President and Chief Operating Officer Hal Romanowitz will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington D.C.-based American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) at the Windpower 2006 Conference & Exhibition on June 6 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Asked to comment on this award, AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher told the Tehachapi News:
"Hal Romanowitz has stood out as a leader within the wind industry, bringing a unique combination of technical and business skills to the challenges he has faced. The wind industry has been a very dynamic business environment, and has evolved quickly in a very short time, but Hal has been thoughtful and innovative in ensuring that Oak Creek stays ahead of the game. Hal has also been generous in devoting time to the broader industry agenda, including helping to lead the effort to solve the transmission constraints that have limited wind development in the Tehachapi area."
Having significantly participated in the formation of NASA while a lieutenant in the Air Force, Romanowitz has been instrumental in the creation of the first national Red-Yellow-Green map to control interference between military low level flight routes and newer tall structures. This has been very important in establishing a working relationship with local military bases and the installation of new wind turbines.
A Registered Professional Engineer with licenses in electrical engineering and control systems engineering, Romanowitz played a major role in saving the Oak Creek Energy Systems wind farm from bankruptcy when he became active in its management in the late 1980s. Under his guidance, the wind park re-powered with newer, more effective wind turbines and even became a test site for RISO, the national laboratory under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, seeing a major prototype installed and operated there with a computer link to Denmark.
More significantly to the local wind industry, Romanowitz has been a key player in improving the Tehachapi area grid, dedicating himself to the recognition of this area's natural assets and the long-needed improvement of local transmission lines.
As a result, California Energy Commission studies showed 40 percent of the state's renewable energy needs can be met from this area alone, and another 4,000 megawatts (MW) of transmission capacity was mandated to be built from here.
“Currently, there is 730 MW of wind energy in Tehachapi. If the full potential of the area is realized, we are likely to have over 5,000 MW of wind energy generation from this area,” Romanowitz recently told the Tehachapi News. “That is comparable power to five nuclear power plants, and it is environmentally benign. This will create an economic investment in Eastern Kern County of at least $4 billion dollars, and it could be double that amount. This will create increased employment, and a good environment.”
| Send to a Friend | Report a Violation |
Wed Jun 7, 2006 01:19:27 PDT
As Hal Romanowitz neighbor and friends, We are very proud of his achievements and successes at Oak Creek Energy Systems. He recently authored (or co-authored)text regarding wind turbine energy for engineering textbook. Keep up the great work. Laurie Miller
