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Community Wind at Mt. View School PDF Print E-mail

CEI is in the final phase of a community wind project at Mt. View School, a pre-K–12 institution which opened in September 2009. Mt. View School serves MSAD #3, Maine’s largest school district in the area, spanning more than 300 square miles and 11 rural towns. The school sits on Knox Ridge, a ridgeline of nearly 1000 ft. in elevation running through farmland and woodlandImage.

Currently there are two residential-scale wind turbines in operation along Knox Ridge, one at the Kinney Farm in Thorndike, the other at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association headquarters in Unity. At Mt. View, we clocked wind speed for a full year to determine if there was sufficient sustained wind to warrant installation of a community-scale wind turbine onsite. Annual wind speed at the school averages 10 mph, below the threshold of 12-14 mph that would make the cost of a larger turbine practical given the (clean) energy savings produced. CEI’s interest in community wind was spurred by a wind power feasibility study we conducted several years ago. The study concluded that an opportunity exists to undertake a “community development” approach to wind power—whereby schools, hospitals and other public and nonprofit institutions can generate clean energy onsite as a contribution to their electrical load needs.

Given the available wind at Mt. View, we are now raising funds to install a residential or farm scale turbine at the school. Its value will be less as a generator of clean power than as a learning tool about the opportunities and challenges of renewable energy.
In addition to the MSAD #3 School Board, we’ve been fortunate to have other valuable partners in the project. Unity College, with a strong environmental curriculum (www.unity.edu) lent and erected an NRG met. tower for the Mt. View effort and analyzed the resulting wind data. The met. tower is a donation to Unity College from NRG Systems of Vermont (www.nrgsystems.com), a leading manufacturer of wind assessment technology. Unity, through Dr. Mick Womersley and the Sustainability Design and Technology Program, is now providing wind assessment studies for other community wind projects in Maine.

CEI is glad to share its experience in community wind development with others. Please contact Stephen Cole, Director of Natural Resources & Sustainable Communities, 207-882-7552, ext. 133.
 
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