World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

June 22, 2003 – Vol.8 No.13

WORLD WIND WATCH.

The rolling hills of the state of New York will be home to two new windfarms.

Chautauqua Windpower, a subsidiary of Jasper Energy, will build a 51 megawatt farm on 1700 acres between the towns of Westfield and Ripley in Chautauqua County. The farm will have 34 1.5 megawatt turbines.

Windfarm Prattsburgh, a joint venture of UPC Windpartners, Global Wind Harvest and Natsource will plant 67 1.5 megawatt turbines for a total of 100 megawatts on multiple sites covering 2400 acres near the town of Prattsburgh in the Finger Lakes region.

Both projects were the fruits of a Request for Proposals (RFP) from the New York Power Authority (NYPA). The NYPA will buy 50 megawatts of power divided between the two projects. Windfarm owners will be able to sell remaining capacity to other customers. Visit the NYPA at http://www.nypa.gov/ .

Two new 1.5 megawatt turbines will join a crop of older turbines planted at a site in Worcester County, Massachusetts in 1984. Wind technology has improved ever-so-slightly in two decades. The two new turbines will produce 40 times the electricity of the dated machines.

Community Energy will build and operate the turbines with all of the power sold to the Princeton Municipal Light Department. The windpower will supply 40 percent of the annual power requirements of the 3560 residents of the town.

Under the terms of the power purchase agreement, the town government will receive lease payments as well as stabilize a portion of their power costs for the service life of the turbines. (Once installed, the cost of wind power remains constant, not subject to price changes related to supply and demand.) Community Energy will retain 90 percent of the new renewable energy certificates which will be used to build more capacity in New England. Visit Community Energy at http://www.newwindpower.com/ , Princeton Municipal Light Department at http://www.pmld.com/ .