Fox Islands Wind Project

System

I recently attended the commissioning ceremony of the Fox Islands Wind Project on Vinalhaven island in the Penobscot Bay, Maine.

They erected three 1.5MW GE wind turbines on 263' towers. Blades are 123' long each.

From first permit application to completion was 7 months; 4 months from groundbreaking to commissioning!

These wind turbines provide all the power for Vinalhaven and North Haven islands. Residents were paying ~$0.32/KWh. Their rates are quite a bit less now and expected to drop further in the next few years.

Maine actually passed a new law that permitted the group to operate an electric utility. They sell excesss power to the grid during the winter months when winds are higher and residency is low. Then they buy needed power in the summer to cover usage. They expect a net zero purchase of off-island power in the future.

The state is expecting other island communities to follow their lead in the near future. Some islands are paying more than $1.00/KWh for power where there is no connection to the mainland grid and all power must be generated locally with fuel ferried to the island.

GreenPowerManiac

Re: Fox Islands Wind Project

I'll bet it costs a Mega Buck to install one.....

icarus

Re: Fox Islands Wind Project

There was a large article in last months "Down East" magazine about it, that spells out in simple terms how the community was able to do it. A pretty good model for others. Vinalhaven suffered from big problems with their submarine cable and the expense to upgrade if I remember right. This project helped with some of the cash flow issues to help upgrade the cable.

Tony

My wife is a Mainer!