Subject: Wind Energy -Bergey Turbines in Ontario
BERGEY TURBINES RUNNING IN
ONTARIO HYDRO INSTALLATION
Ontario Hydro said February 4 that three 10-kW turbines
built by Bergey Windpower of Norman, Okla., are up and running in
an experimental project at the First Nation community of
Kasabonika Lake (see WIND ENERGY WEEKLY #726, December 9, 1996).
The project is part of the utility's Renewable Energy
Technologies program, the utility said in a news release, and the
Kasabonika Lake installation is "testing ways to offset the use of
diesel fuel generation using renewable energy sources."
Ontario Hydro currently provides electric power to 23
remote communities across the province's northern tier. Lionel
Smith, manager of the utility's Remote Communities Electrical
System, based in Thunder Bay, said, "We are hopeful that the
experience gained with these demonstration projects will lead to
broader application of wind and other renewable energy
installations in remote communities. If the costs can be brought
down, we see many potential benefits to wind power in these
locations."
Queried further about why the cost of wind in remote
communities is higher than the cost of conventional power, Stewart
Sears, a senior advisor with the utility's Corporate Business
Development Group, said, "Probably the main reason, to be totally
frank, is that we paid for the entire [wind] project. If the
community needed a new diesel unit, Ontario Hydro wouldn't pay for
it, the federal government would pay for it." The standard
practice with regard to remote community power generation, Sears
said, is for the federal government to pay the capital cost of
diesel unit replacements or upgrades, and for the utility to
handle the operations and maintenance costs.
"As far as I'm concerned," Sears added, "it's worth every
penny and more, for value that projects like this give toward
positioning communities for future development. We needed to find
out what's involved in design of a tilt-up tower [remote
communites lack heavy cranes for lifting], putting up a machine in
-43-degree weather, transportation costs and logistics, working
with the First Nation in structuring partnerships, and so on. For
all of those things, if we wanted to go in at some time in the
future and put in a 10- or 20-unit development, we'd just be
guessing at what real costs and schedules might be."
Bergey Windpower president Mike Bergey said the
subsidization of conventional power sources presents a problem for
his company worldwide: "We are time and again asked to compete
against equipment that goes in essentially free of charge, and
then the economics of small wind installations are called into
question. It's not a level playing field. But we welcome these
exploratory efforts of OH and we share their desire to find ways
to bring the costs down. We're confident that higher production
volumes and more efficient installation techniques will be able to
do that in the future."
The three Bergey Excel turbines, each installed on a
30-meter tower, are expected to collectively generate about 45,000
kWh annually under a variety of harsh weather conditions. The
installation, Ontario Hydro said, "is expected to provide
trouble-free generation for at least 10 years."
The Kasabonika Lake First Nation was actively involved in
planning for and siting the wind turbine project. Support and
approval were given by the Chief and Council. First Nation
members assisted with the installation and will be helping to
monitor the performance of the machines over the next few years.
Ontario Hydro and the First Nation will be monitoring the
installation, and presentations have also been made at the local
school, to help community residents better understand the purpose
of the wind turbines.
"These systems have a reputation for high-level
performance, reliability, and low maintenance. Based on operating
experience elsewhere, they should be ideal for this type of
experimental application," commented Murray Paterson, a manager
with Ontario Hydro's Corporate Business Development Group.
The Kasabonika Lake project was officially opened in early
January. A second wind turbine demonstration project, involving a
single AOC 15/50 50-kW machine built by Atlantic Orient Corp. of
Norwich, Vt., is nearing completion in the northern community of
Big Trout Lake and should be in operation within a month.
_______________________________________________________________________________
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has authorized me to offer
an electronic edition of its newsletter, _Wind Energy Weekly_, from
which the above article is excerpted (from a back issue), at no cost.
For those of you who have not previously seen excerpts from back
issues, the _Weekly_ reports on the outlook for renewable energy,
energy-related environmental issues, and renewable energy
legislation in addition to wind industry trade news. The
electronic edition normally runs about 10kb in length.
The free electronic edition of the _Weekly_ is intended as an educational
publication for those without a commercial interest in the wind energy
industry. If your interest in wind is commercial in nature, please write to
for more information about AWEA membership and
publications.
If you would like a free electronic subscription, send me an e-mail
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____________________________________________________________________________
Tom Gray tomgray@econet.org
____________________________________________________________________________
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