June 2000
What's inside?
- Delta-Montrose installs nation's first propane fuel cell
- Western's CSO to use wind energy
- Wind potential brighter with Workshop in a Box
- Salt River Project aims $29 million toward renewable project
- Salt River Project helps community through education programs
- East River, co-ops REED community needs, help develop projects
- Basin Electric donates wind data to public
- SchoolNet Project connects kids with information
- What's so great about fuel cells?
- Fergus Electric, BPA invest in fuel cell
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Western's Power Line: |
| The Energy Services Bulletin is published by the Western Area Power Administration (Western) for the information of Agency customers. The mailing address is Western Area Power Administration, P.O. Box 281213, Lakewood, CO 80228-8213; the telephone number is (303) 275-1739, e-mail: buntin@wapa.gov. Regional Energy Services Managers are: Billings, MT - Diane Noennig, (406) 247-7392; Loveland, CO - Peggy Plate, 1-800-472-2306; Phoenix, AZ - Steve Szarka, (602) 352-2462; Folsom, CA - Robert Parkins, (916) 353-4490; and Salt Lake City, UT - Dave Bennion, (801) 524-5506. The mention of any service, product, or technology does not constitute an endorsement of same and Western, the Department of Energy, or the United States Government cannot be held responsible or liable for use thereof.
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Basin Electric donates wind data to public
Power producers interested in the impressive potential of wind generation in North Dakota have access to $200,000 worth of wind study data. And it's available at no cost.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative and five other utilities in North Dakota and Minnesota participated in a three-year $200,000 study of wind resources in the area. They donated the resulting data to the North Dakota Division of Community Services.
The data assessed the potential for developing utility-scale wind generation at eight North Dakota sites in Barnes, Burleigh, Cavalier, Dunn, LaMoure, Nelson, Ward, and Williams counties. Sites selection focused on areas with topographical features that concentrate wind energy, existing wind data, and anecdotal evidence from North Dakota residents concerning windy areas. The project gathered data from 1994-97.
"Hourly wind speed and direction data were gathered at various heights up to 180 feet," said Wayne Backman, Basin Electric's vice president of Power Marketing and Transmission. "The data was then reviewed by a professional meteorologist from the wind industry."
The Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Calif., managed the study conducted by the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, through a research contract.
Even though Basin Electric does not have immediate plans to develop wind-driven electrical generation, Backman said the information from the study is very useful.
"It provides the data to determine the feasibility of installing wind generators," he said. "I believe there is a niche for producing electricity from wind or even solar generating sources. But reliability, availability, and transmission concerns must first be addressed."
The other utilities involved in the study include Great River Energy, Elk River, Minn.; Minnkota Power Cooperative, Grand Forks, N.D.; Montana-Dakota Utilities Company, Bismarck; Northern States Power Company, Minneapolis; and Otter Tail Power Company, Fergus Falls, Minn.
To review the data, contact the North Dakota Division of Community Services (formerly the Office of Intergovernmental Assistance) in Bismarck.
PV in the spotlight
Western's Sierra Nevada Region and the Arizona Department of
Commerce teamed to offer a series of workshops on the uses and benefits
of photovoltaic technology. Workshops focused on PV for Federal facilities,
system design, and utility grid-connected systems and were held May
8-12 in Tempe, Ariz.
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