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University of Rhode Island Wind Power Project Picks Up Speed

Posted on: Thursday, 29 December 2005, 18:00 CST

By Brandie Jefferson, The Providence Journal, R.I.

Dec. 29--At first glance, the University of Rhode Island's initial material step toward implementing wind power seems less than spectacular.

A 160-foot tower that is so skinny it needs to be tethered to the ground by three wires is the only sign of the giant structure that members of the university's Renewable Energy Club hope to see installed by the summer of 2006: a 1.5 megawatt wind turbine that could have blades that span more than 230 feet.

Two devices that measure wind speed, called anemometers, are attached to the tower, one at the top and another about 100 feet from the ground. They will record wind speeds for six months in an effort to determine whether the location would be a viable one for a wind turbine.

The installation of the tower was funded by the Rhode Island Renewable Energy Fund, a state program that offers subsidies and other incentives to individuals and organizations interested in using renewable energy sources.

Energy club member Taylor Spalt, a senior who is double-majoring in mechanical engineering and Spanish, said the university is working with a third party company, NORESCO, to analyze the data and, if the data is promising, finance the construction of the turbine.

According to Erich Stephens at People's Power and Light, a nonprofit energy co-op, NORESCO will fund the turbine if they believe there is sufficient wind to power the turbine. Once it is up and running, "URI would have to pay [NORESCO], but it would be less than what they were paying to National Grid," the power company, he said.

The energy club estimates the turbine could provide 5 percent of the electricity for the URI campus. Even after paying NORESCO, Stephens said, the university would still be saving money.

People's Power and Light used grant money from the state energy office to help get the URI project started. The idea, he said, was to help jump-start the project, helping the students devise a plan and seek funding.

"Our grant ran out a long time ago," Stephens said, and the students have been running the show since.

The tower was installed Dec. 20 after 2 1/2 years of preparation by the energy club, which currently has 200 student, faculty and professional members. Until now, Spalt said, "The previous work was mainly getting the university on board with what we wanted to do. Then we proceeded to pick out a site."

The tower is in the turf fields, at the northwest end of the Kingston campus. The area was chosen because of its relative remoteness, Spalt said. "Not being visible was a plus, to limit the amount of grievance from the neighbors."

The tower placement puts it in environmentally sound company. The turf fields abut a new parking lot for the Ryan Center. The lot, which was paved with permeable material, reduces runoff water that can wash pollutants into Narragansett Bay after a heavy rain. Instead, the water seeps through the pavement, into the ground.

Two dozen yards from these modern constructions is a small field with other weather-related equipment; anemometers, rain gauges and wind vanes dot the landscape, spinning in the wind. The devices record information for the National Weather Service at a station that has been there since 1889.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Providence Journal, R.I.

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Source: Providence Journal

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