“Distributed and community wind is the next frontier for Gamesa,” said David Rosenberg, Vice President of Marketing for Gamesa North America. “Combine our turbine platform with Harvest the Wind’s vast network of distributed wind developers, and the wind energy solutions we can jointly bring to communities and businesses across North America is enormous.”

Gamesa's G5X 850-kW turbines, like these, will soon be working in community wind projects.

Gamesa’s G5X-850-kW platform is a good fit for community and distributed wind energy projects. First installed in 2001, the turbine’s performance is well tested and validated, with more than 9,482 units (8,060 MW) installed around the world.

Because Gamesa says it continuously adapts its equipment to the most demanding connection grids and surroundings, the G5X-850 works well regardless of environmental conditions such as corrosive, desert dry, humid, and high or low temperatures. Environmental flexibility is vital to developers as community and distributed wind energy projects spread across the United States and occupy a variety of terrains.

Distributed and community wind projects are among fastest-growing segment in the U.S. wind industry as more cooperatives, smaller utilities, commercial businesses, small and large industrials, and communities embrace the clean-energy opportunities and utility savings.

Harvest the Wind Network is part of BTI Inc., a fourth-generation family business in southwest Kansas. BTI launched the network while rebuilding after a powerful tornado destroyed their business and community in Greensburg, Kansas, in May 2007. The small southwest Kansas town resolved to rebuild as America’s “greenest city,” and BTI Inc. was reborn, with a new addition, BTI Wind Energy LLC.

Harvest the Wind Network consists of 13 independent dealer groups in more than 200 locations. The network has installed and is servicing over 125 turbines, with more than 100 projects in progress ranging in size from 50 kW to 10 MW.

“The United States currently has a mid-scale wind turbine void that will be filled through this timely partnership,” says Haley Estes, Vice President of Harvest the Wind Network. “The two companies will provide American industries with the ability to power manufacturing plants, schools and large industrial facilities, which will create nationwide jobs and foster energy independence.”

Gamesa

www.gamesacorp.com/en/

Harvest the Wind Network

www.harvestthewindnetwork.com

Windpower Engineering & Development

The turbine, designed by Cleveland St U professor Rashidi sits atop Progressive Field.

An unusual wind turbine designed by Cleveland State University professor Dr. Rashidi has been mounted at the Cleveland Indian’s ballpark. The 18-foot-wide helix turbine – the first of its kind to sit atop of a baseball stadium – will generate about 40,000 kWh per year. CSU and the Cleveland Indians hope that the installation of this wind tower will help Northeast Ohio to become a world leader in alternate energy development spurring jobs and research. (Editor’s note: The prototype of the wind turbine was reported on in the first issue of Windpower Engineering, October 2009)

Dr. Rashidi, who felt that there was a better way to harness wind power, first received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. DOE in 2008 to develop a wind amplification turbine that would be cost-effective and commercially viable. The success of Dr. Rashidi’s wind tower paved the way for CSU’s deal with the Cleveland Indians.

Dr. Rashidi initially designed the turbine to use a large round structure. This prototype is from 2009.

Unlike traditional wind turbines that need vast open space, Rashidi’s tower can be retrofitted on existing structures such as farm silos and former water towers, making it possible for commercial use in rural and urban areas. The ability to transform such existing structures would greatly reduce costs and generate enough energy to power individual buildings during peak energy hours, power outages, and other emergencies.

Windpower Engineering & Development

In a special one-hour presentation, industry experts will discuss financing options, how to properly structure a financeable project, and what the current financing market looks like.

Speakers Include: Chris Diaz with Seminole Financial Services and Brian Minish with South Dakota Wind Partners

Watch this webinar to learn:

• Financing options for wind projects
• How to properly structure a financeable project
• An overview of what the current wind market looks like

Windpower Engineering & Development

“We are seeing an increased demand for large commercial and industrial organization projects such as Gundersen’s,” says Corey Juhl, Vice President of Development for Juhl Wind Inc. ”This community-based project will provide significant economic benefits to the region. As one piece of their Envision program, the wind farm project will help Gundersen Health System achieve their goal of becoming 100% energy independent by 2014.”

“This is an exciting time for Gundersen and our Envision program. This community wind project we have done with Juhl Wind was about two years in the making, and we’re happy to report that the turbines are now creating energy”, said Jeff Rich, executive director, GL Envision, LLC.

Rich added, “As a healthcare organization, it is important for us to lead by example. Creating renewable energy through programs, like the GL Wind project in Lewiston makes good business sense, creates local jobs during construction and ties directly to our mission of improving the health of the communities we serve. The money we generate from renewable energy projects, like the wind farm, and the money we save through energy conservation can be passed on to patients in the form of lower healthcare costs. The renewable energy projects are also allowing us to improve our environmental footprint in the communities we serve.”

Windpower Engineering & Development

The American-made Sky Farm 50 kW vertical axis wind turbine can mount in groups of 10 to 12 turbines on a roof surface creating a “Sky Farm” to maximize energy output. The turbine starts at the low speed of 4.2 m/sec (9.4 mph), and shut downs at 40m/sec (90 mph). The relatively small rotor, with three 6-m blades, has a 4.5-m diameter.

A electrical component manufacturer has launched a partnership with Boston-based Eastern Wind Power to test new power equipment for decentralized power generation in the small-to-mid range. The Drive Technologies Div. of Siemens will provide drive trains for small-scale or micro-power generation projects between 30 to 900 kW. “This is a fast moving business segment for OEMs targeting decentralized power generation,” says Razvan Panaitescu, business development manager of the distributed power generation and microgrids sector for Siemens Drive Technologies Division.

“Cooperation with Eastern Wind Power will provide data to support what we feel is the next generation of green initiatives, or what we call the 4C’s of the tomorrow’s energy landscape – Create, Convert, Control, and Conserve. The aim is to provide the basic building blocks for system integrators or OEM’s that would like to build equipment for localized power generation, distribution and storage and install them into commercial buildings, neighborhoods, farms and micro or smart grids.”

The partnership, a proposed six-month pilot program, will let the two parties work on a Siemens 55 kW permanent magnet generator and Energy Conversion System within the first prototype of Eastern Wind Power’s vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT).

The project is being conducted at Martha’s Vineyard Airport in Edgartown, Massachusetts where the airport manager and staff have lent their support. Eastern Wind Power believes its Sky Farm concept of mounting between 10 to 20, 50kW VAWT’s on the roofs of commercial or residential high-rise buildings is the most efficient way to produce on-site distributed green energy in urban areas which are land-poor but building-rich.

“Working with Siemens’ engineers we have now commissioned one turbine and are producing power for the airport,” says Jonathan Haar, President of Eastern Wind Power. He adds that the company’s 50kW turbine on a high-rise can generate about 45,000 kWh annually.

“Our 50kW VAWT can handle turbulent urban winds, runs quietly, does not harm avian life, and easily mounts and connects to a power grid. Its small scale is aesthetically acceptable to community standards. A 10 unit Sky Farm 50kW unit will generate enough electrical energy to supply about 10% of a typical 500,000 ft² high-rise building’s electrical power needs,” he says.

The turbine is connected to the NSTAR grid, the largest Massachusetts-based investor-owned electric and gas utility. The companies are logging real-time data including kilowatt output credited to the airport, temperature, wind speed, and wind direction. Upon completion of small wind safety certification this winter, the companies expect to build an install a second unit atop a high-rise building in Boston for further testing. The Siemens Drive Technologies Division serves all vertical markets in the production and process industries as well as the infrastructure and energy segment.

Siemens
www.usa.siemens.com/drivetechnologies

Eastern Wind Power
Easternwindpower.us

Windpower Engineering & Development

Lewis Crathern making about 20 knots.

Champion kitesurfer and star of indie film ‘The Man That Touched The Sky’, Lewis Crathern entertained many when he jumped over the U.K.’s Brighton Pier in 2010. A crusader for the cause of renewable energy for many years, Lewis is now teaming with Global Marine Energy Inc., the leader in subsea power cable installation, to bring the message of the power of offshore wind farms to a broader audience.

Global Marine Energy will showcase at tradeshows the type of equipment that would be used to service North American offshore transmission projects and offshore windfarms, including its underwater remotely operated vehicle ‘Predator’ as well as designs for a pioneering new cable installation vessel.

“Kitesurfing is an incredible sport. Using the wind and feeling connected with the environment changes your life,” says Crathern. “It has become my passion to pass this on to people in one way or another. So far I have found it an amazing tool to educate young people about the environment, thinking eco, and leading a healthy lifestyle. This partnership with Global Marine takes it to the next level.”

Lewis Crathern (right) with students from Yorkwood Elementary School

“Since our first involvement in offshore wind over ten years ago, we’ve noticed that young people have a great enthusiasm for the industry and how offshore wind might be part of the answer for our energy future,” said Joel Whitman, CEO of Global Marine Energy, Inc. “Through our partnership with Lewis Crathern – a champion kitesurfer and a passionate proponent of offshore wind energy – we hope to connect with that enthusiastic audience and help inspire the industry’s next generation.”

Global Marine Energy Inc
www.Globalmarine-energy.com

Windpower Engineering & Development

Robert Crowell Head of Development OwnEnergy www.ownenergy.net

Community wind refers to 100-kW to 100-MW projects owned in part by local community members, often land owners of the site. Though community wind represents only 4% of the overall wind market, it’s the fastest growing segment of the industry. The community-wind development model has several benefits over traditional absentee-owned mega farms.

Landowners often have a stake in the community-wind project, so they reap a higher return than in larger farms. The project also positively impacts the local economy through job creation, and the utility gains community good will. Also, zoning and permitting is often easier and faster when the application is submitted for a project that directly benefits the community—and when the community rallies behind it—than for one driven by outside developers and investors. Furthermore, the cost of transmission and connection to the grid can be much lower because projects can be closer to the cities they support, and require lower voltage lines with fewer upgrade costs to deliver power. To realize benefits, local partners must invest some capital, time, and effort, particularly in early stages. Most initial planning work must occur locally. Often there’s a steep learning curve at this point, because few laypeople have the specialized knowledge to determine if a project is viable.

The tricky part for any new wind entrepreneur is identifying a suitable location. Many factors will rule out a site altogether.  One must consider environmental aspects, such as wetlands, bird-migration patterns, and protected animal habitats, as well as aircraft-flight patterns. Also, along with state and federal permits and regulations, local restrictions and ordinances mandate how close a turbine may sit to residential areas.

Once a site is identified, several factors help determine its economic viability, wind availability being foremost. While different turbines have different capacities, the total power the farm can be expected to produce depends on the expected average wind speed. The most efficient farms have an average wind speed of 15 mph or more, though that figure can fluctuate in relation to power cost in any given state. Next, assess the cost of turning the wind into electricity on the grid. This includes everything from purchasing and erecting the turbines, to grid connection, and cost offsets such as state and federal grants and tax credits. The final factor to consider is the local market price for energy. A wind farm is considered a viable project if it can produce enough energy so that, at market price, it will provide a reasonable rate of return to its investors.

After a site is found environmentally and economically viable, and adheres to all regulations, most initial work can be done from a desk. High-resolution maps, wind-resource maps, and overlays with information on transmission lines, protected areas, and even air patterns are available in digital format, on the internet, and through private companies. Acquiring this data is much quicker and easier than in the early days of wind farms, when a developer had to drive a truck over miles of windblown prairie.

Next, to measure the wind, a carefully positioned meteorological (MET) tower with wind gauges at various heights will record actual wind speeds and direction for six months to a year.  Based on this data, a specialist can estimate the long-term average wind speeds at turbine height for each location. This determination, along with turbine specifications, helps a developer arrive at the farm’s total expected energy. Losses must be factored in, such as maintenance down time and “tower shading,” where one turbine blocks wind from another.  Total expected energy is used to determine the expected financial return, and therefore the site’s potential viability. Then developers can focus on gaining permits, signing a Power Purchase Agreement with the local utility, and securing financing. Finally, construction can begin. While work can be accomplished relatively quickly in comparison with the project prep, wind-farm construction and connection is a complex task. In most cases, a special wind-development group will partner with local landowners to achieve the best results in the given conditions.

Community-wind projects make sense in many places throughout the country, but getting expert help to assess a site and partner in completing specialized tasks will help expedite the process and ensure getting a project across the finish line.

WPE

Windpower Engineering & Development

The report says that on average, 40 to 140 jobs are created during the construction phase for every 100 MW of installed capacity and 6 to 10 new jobs are created during the operations phase for every 100 MW of installed capacity.

A report developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, “Wind Energy Guide for County Commissioners,” says wind energy projects are proven economic development drivers in the areas where they are sited. The report says that on average, 40 to 140 jobs are created during the construction phase for every 100 MW of installed capacity and 6 to 10 new jobs are created during the operations phase for every 100 MW of installed capacity.

SLWF represents a private capital investment in excess of $150 million. The construction phase will provide immediate stimulus to the community with jobs and the flow of money into the local economy through purchases of goods and services needed to support the project’s construction and operation. Some local businesses to benefit include hotels, restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations and building materials suppliers.

In New York State, it is common for wind developers to work with a county’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to obtain a Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes (PILOT) agreement that details the tax revenue the local community can expect to receive from the wind company over a set period of time. These PILOT agreements are authorized under state law to encourage economic development, job creation, and tax revenue growth that may not otherwise take place. Generally, a wind developer will agree with the IDA on annual payments based on a project’s installed generation capacity ($/MW) and a time frame for those payments. The payments will be shared according to a state-law formula unless the local tax jurisdictions agree with the IDA to a different sharing arrangement.
Turbine manufacturer Acciona will submit an application to the Jefferson County IDA to develop a PILOT for the St. Lawrence Wind Farm that sets payments to the Town of Cape Vincent and several others. Payments and allocation among the jurisdictions is not yet determined, but it is estimated based on the current project size of 76.5MW, that total payments over the PILOT’s 20-year term will exceed $20 million.

The incremental funds have a significant impact on the current school, county, and town budgets, especially because they come without a significant added burden of resource use often associated with tax revenue from traditional businesses. By law, the PILOT agreement for the St. Lawrence Wind Farm will not reduce the amount of New York State aid provided to the host school districts.

DOE
doe.gov

Windpower Engineering & Development

The SPS-Pavan 25 features minimum harmonic point tracking to reduce harmonic distortion, and a unity power factor operation while drawing or supplying power to a single-phase grid.

Small and community-wind farms (25 to 100 kW) are fast growing markets in North America for wind-energy applications. But this great opportunity has drawbacks. For instance, farms are mostly supplied with split single phase power. Though single phase inverters are available for small wind turbines, such products are not practically usable at such power levels. Larger wind turbines at such power levels typically work on three-phase power which is not readily available in rural areas, so products that need it go unused.

Though the available wind inverters have many useful features, they can only supply power into a grid. Power can’t be taken from the grid for critical functions such as electrical breaking of a turbine during high winds or starting a turbine and overcoming its inertia under light winds. This issue forces turbine manufactures to design around the drawback by adding larger resistor and mechanical brakes which drives costs up.

A third issue is safety. To their knowledge, says a company spokesman, there are no UL 1741 certified bi-directional single phase 25 to 100-kW systems commercially available to the small and community-wind-turbine manufactures at this time.

Smart Power Systems Inc says it has developed a solution to the problems with the introduction of a 25 kW single phase bi-directional inverter. The SPS-Pavan 25 features minimum harmonic point tracking to reduce harmonic distortion, and a unity power factor operation while drawing or supplying power to a single-phase grid.

The inverter has passed UL 1741 certification tests at Metlabs Inc and is certified for production. The 25-kW model can be paralleled to produce 50 or 100 kW systems. Three such inverters can also be used to make 3 phase, high-power systems. The SPS Pavan-25 inverter is said to be a versatile unit that with minor modifications can be used for solar farms as well. Additional inverter features include

• Single phase grid tie in for generated power
• Bi-directional power conversion
• Net metering made possible for single-phase farm lines and small businesses.
• Useful where three-phase power is unavailable or prohibitively expensive
• Helps energy production under light wind conditions by starting a wind turbine from rest
• Provides assistance in shutting down the wind turbine under high wind conditions.
• Low harmonic distortions, less than 5 %
• Possible to add power generation capacity through modular approach. (up to 100 kW)

Smart Power Systems Inc.
www.smartpowerusa.com

Windpower Engineering & Development

The details provide a closer look at WindFloat. A recent agreement with Vestas will supply a 2-MW turbine to a pioneer project off the Portuguese coast. Vestas and Principle Power have agreed to a joint venture led by Energias de Portugal to supply a wind turbine to the project. It marks the start of a test for floating turbines as part of a 12-month demonstration to begin in the second half of 2011.

WindFloat is fitted with horizontal water-entrapment plates at each column’s base. These stablilize the platform with additional damping and entrained water effects, allowing use of existing wind turbines. The platform’s stability is assisted by a closed-loop active ballast that mitigates wind-induced thrust forces, restoring the system to best efficiency following changes in wind velocity and direction.

Fabricating the structure onshore allows completing qualification tests at quayside in a controlled environment. The company adds that says commissioning costs are significantly less  when compared with monopole-jacket offshore support structures.

The mooring system uses conventional components such as chain and polyester lines to minimize cost and complexity. This also minimizes use of pre-laid drag embedded anchors and site preparation.

WPE

Windpower Engineering & Development