Building a Kansas sized wind-data network

Clean Line Energy Partners LLC of Houston, Texas and WindPole Ventures in Arlington, Mass. Say they’ll build a wind-resource-monitoring network in southwestern Kansas to support the planned Grain Belt Express Clean Line transmission project, which will deliver thousands of MW of low cost, renewable energy from Kansas to Southeastern Missouri and points farther east.

Clean Line develops transmission lines and is using the wind-resource-monitoring network to support its efforts to forecast use rates of the proposed transmission project and help future customers plan for the integration of 4,000 MW of new wind power. “These measurement stations, which will be spread across six counties in western Kansas, will help simulate production profiles of the broad array of 4,000 MW of new wind projects that our Grain Belt Express project will make possible,” says Clean Line President Michael Skelly.

WindPole will equip its narrow-face towers to generate a complete meteorological picture with seasonal and intra-day measurements. The company will also instrument 120-m towers around Spearville, Kansas, near the proposed terminus of the line. Each tower in the network will capture actual wind resource data at the turbine hub height reducing extrapolation errors. Clean Line will thus avoid the errors and uncertainty associated with 60-m towers or ground mounted sensors. WindPole’s sensors and communications architecture deliver five-minute data. Sensors, booms, and systems are guided by Annex G of IEC 61400-12-1.V-Bar LLC is advising both firms, and will guide WindPole on sensor placement.

Clean Line Energy Partners
www.CleanLineEnergy.com

WindPole Ventures
www.windpole.com