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Sunday, March 25, 2007 11:18:45 PM
Wind Energy @ Fort Peck
Video on youtube:
The Fort Peck Tribe recently completed a feasibility study for a 200-megawatt wind farm in northeastern Montana. This would create enough electricity for about 10,000 homes and good-paying jobs for between 30 to 40 "windsmiths." "We're about as close as you can get without actually building it," said Stoney Anketell, coordinator for the tribe's Wind Energy Project. The tribe began looking into wind power in 1994 after it received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The tribe used the money to identify two sites that had average annual wind speeds of about 19 mph. To be commercially viable, the site needs to have average speeds of 15 mph, Anketell said. "Every mile per hour above that is profit," he said. "Depending on the size of the wind farm, it could be millions." The tribe hopes to erect up to 200 wind turbines, each would be 200-feet tall and produce more than 1 megawatt of electricity.
The tribe is working with potential investors right now. An outside group would own the turbines to take advantage of federal tax incentives - worth about 1.7 cents per kilowatt hour on wind energy - but the tribe would have an ownership stake and would earn royalties off each turbine. Using the latest technology, the turbines could sell electricity for about 4 cents per kilowatt hour and still make a profit. Current utility rates are closer to 7 cents per kilowatt, and are expected to rise another 20 percent in coming months, Anketell said. "Wind power just makes great sense now," he said. "This could be a great source of income for rural Montana, especially with the price of wheat what it is. We can harvest a crop of wind and still farm around these wind turbines. You can grow two crops and one lasts all year long." Unlike the old towers, which were a lattice-work of steel girders, the towers being considered by Fort Peck would be sleek tubes.
Video on youtube:
The Fort Peck Tribe recently completed a feasibility study for a 200-megawatt wind farm in northeastern Montana. This would create enough electricity for about 10,000 homes and good-paying jobs for between 30 to 40 "windsmiths." "We're about as close as you can get without actually building it," said Stoney Anketell, coordinator for the tribe's Wind Energy Project. The tribe began looking into wind power in 1994 after it received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The tribe used the money to identify two sites that had average annual wind speeds of about 19 mph. To be commercially viable, the site needs to have average speeds of 15 mph, Anketell said. "Every mile per hour above that is profit," he said. "Depending on the size of the wind farm, it could be millions." The tribe hopes to erect up to 200 wind turbines, each would be 200-feet tall and produce more than 1 megawatt of electricity.
The tribe is working with potential investors right now. An outside group would own the turbines to take advantage of federal tax incentives - worth about 1.7 cents per kilowatt hour on wind energy - but the tribe would have an ownership stake and would earn royalties off each turbine. Using the latest technology, the turbines could sell electricity for about 4 cents per kilowatt hour and still make a profit. Current utility rates are closer to 7 cents per kilowatt, and are expected to rise another 20 percent in coming months, Anketell said. "Wind power just makes great sense now," he said. "This could be a great source of income for rural Montana, especially with the price of wheat what it is. We can harvest a crop of wind and still farm around these wind turbines. You can grow two crops and one lasts all year long." Unlike the old towers, which were a lattice-work of steel girders, the towers being considered by Fort Peck would be sleek tubes.
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