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First Assess the Site, Then build the Wind Plant
Wind developers come in all sizes. For those who would like to offset their electric bills with a small turbine or two, local ordinances provide sufficient guidance and permission. But those who would like to install units capable of generating a few megawatts and more will have to do a little homework. The homework in this case is a site assessment. It gets a bit involved and take some time but the payoff is worth the effort.
“We have this land…”
Many community members are land owners who have heard that leasing their land to windfarm companies could be profitable. “Big incentives for community wind are the financial benefits,” says Erin Edholm, Communications Director at National Wind in Minneapolis (nationalwind.com). “A turbine on your property can earn an annual lease payment, a typical feature of wind projects. The community or land owner may get a percentage stake in the wind company and revenue, an amount that depends on how profitable it is.“
Developments are divided into a few categories specifically, community-owned wind and traditional or corporate-owned developments. “Community wind can refer to small wind or utility-scale wind farms. National Wind has initiated a utility-scale community model where the threshold for development is 50 megawatts (MW), involving 20 to 30 commercial size turbines, covering several thousand acres,” says Edholm. Small community wind refers to a farmer and individual, for example, owning one or two turbines. Traditional or corporate owned wind projects are developer or utility-owned. The main difference between the two types is that with community ownership, the profits stay local while with corporate-owned wind farms, the revenue is retained by the developer or utility.
A first step in the development of a wind farm is to identify land with sufficient wind to support a commercial project. “This calls for a series of studies, one of which is the wind-study assessment that looks at historical wind data. There may be a meteorological or met tower in the area that has accumulated sufficient information. We might also look at weather archives and model-out on that data to find what a potential wind farm could produce,” says Edholm.
A wind assessment along with transmission and environmental studies, can also tell if it is feasible to put together several land owners to commercially produce power. Landowners can try to put together a wind project on their own but it’s a complex process that often benefits greatly from the expertise of a community developer. “Several business structures exist to develop community wind. One model involves the developer and the landowners investing capital to form a community owned company called a limited liability corporation or LLC.”
Assessments are not required by law, but certainly before permitting a wind farm, authorities ask for a lot detail about the wind regime that an assessment provides. “Also, banks providing the financing will require not just one assessment, but more likely two or three,” says National Wind President Kevin Romuld. Different firms use different techniques. With such a big price tag on theses projects, its common sense to get several assessments. If all two or three are within reason, the banks feel better.”
For the full article, visit Windpower Engineering
“We have this land…”
Many community members are land owners who have heard that leasing their land to windfarm companies could be profitable. “Big incentives for community wind are the financial benefits,” says Erin Edholm, Communications Director at National Wind in Minneapolis (nationalwind.com). “A turbine on your property can earn an annual lease payment, a typical feature of wind projects. The community or land owner may get a percentage stake in the wind company and revenue, an amount that depends on how profitable it is.“
Developments are divided into a few categories specifically, community-owned wind and traditional or corporate-owned developments. “Community wind can refer to small wind or utility-scale wind farms. National Wind has initiated a utility-scale community model where the threshold for development is 50 megawatts (MW), involving 20 to 30 commercial size turbines, covering several thousand acres,” says Edholm. Small community wind refers to a farmer and individual, for example, owning one or two turbines. Traditional or corporate owned wind projects are developer or utility-owned. The main difference between the two types is that with community ownership, the profits stay local while with corporate-owned wind farms, the revenue is retained by the developer or utility.
A first step in the development of a wind farm is to identify land with sufficient wind to support a commercial project. “This calls for a series of studies, one of which is the wind-study assessment that looks at historical wind data. There may be a meteorological or met tower in the area that has accumulated sufficient information. We might also look at weather archives and model-out on that data to find what a potential wind farm could produce,” says Edholm.
A wind assessment along with transmission and environmental studies, can also tell if it is feasible to put together several land owners to commercially produce power. Landowners can try to put together a wind project on their own but it’s a complex process that often benefits greatly from the expertise of a community developer. “Several business structures exist to develop community wind. One model involves the developer and the landowners investing capital to form a community owned company called a limited liability corporation or LLC.”
Assessments are not required by law, but certainly before permitting a wind farm, authorities ask for a lot detail about the wind regime that an assessment provides. “Also, banks providing the financing will require not just one assessment, but more likely two or three,” says National Wind President Kevin Romuld. Different firms use different techniques. With such a big price tag on theses projects, its common sense to get several assessments. If all two or three are within reason, the banks feel better.”
For the full article, visit Windpower Engineering
Tags: assessment, for, site, turbines, wind
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