Wind Power Makes N.Y. debut

MADISON - For years, this part of Madison County has been renowned for the buying and selling of antiques. Suddenly, it's jumping into the 21st century, as the site of the first wind-generated merchant power plant east of the Mississippi River.

On Sept. 15, PG&E National Energy Group, out of California, officially opened this first wind farm in New York State. Seven gigantic Vestas turbine-powered windmills, manufactured in Denmark, are visible high atop a hill outside town. Bert Snyder, Madison town supervisor, described the project at the opening ceremonies as one of "the seven wonders of Central New York." He commented that "tourism is the operator of the Route 20 corridor, and the towns supply the power."

Four of the windmills are operable currently, but when all are up and running, they will generate 11.5 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 10,000 homes a month. And it's all emission free which has environmental activists such as the Natural Defenses Research Council (NRDC) eager to jump on the windpower bandwagon.

In fact, NRDC is one of the first "partners" to buy Pure WindTM certificates. Pure Wind certificates are being sold by PG&E National Energy as a means for industrial, commercial, nonprofit, and residential groups to help support wind power as a viable alternative energy source.

Customers can buy Pure Wind certificates representing the environmental attributes of a specific amount of electricity generated by Madison. According to NRDC sources, the organization is buying certificates equal to 50 percent of its electricity. consumption in its New York City headquarters. Certificates will be available to customers through a Web-based sales site, at www.purewind.net, currently under development.

One of the first companies to partner with PG&E National Energy is Kinko's the California-based copy-center chain, Larry Rogero, Kinko's corporate environmental manager, points out that the chain operates its centers 24 hours a day, so the amount of electricity consumed daily is "equivalent to a year's energy consumed by 25,000 households." The company says Rogero, has agreed to purchase Pure Wind certificates up to 50 percent of the energy it uses.

David Wooley, of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), explains that New York State, and Central New York in particular, is a desirable area for the construction of wind farms. What's needed, he says, is a good wind source on high-plateau, open land. And this latter requirement, according to Wooley, fits in very nicely with area farmers. The companies that build these power stations lease the land from the farmers, thus providing Central New York's farmers with a "fourth crop." He adds that the amount of land leased by companies such as PG&E National Energy is about 2 percent of each farm's total acreage. "And all the Power lines are buried underground, so the farmer can use his land right up to the windmills."

Muir Davis, PG&E National Energy Group's director of strategy and new initiatives, adds that, after consulting with neighboring farmers, the company buried power lines 3 feet underground. "And they're all located along the access road, an area which the farmer wouldn't plow," says Davis.

The Madison project joins one of the nation's fastest growing power-generation sectors. According to AWEA, capacity from wind-power plants has nearly doubled in the last 10 years. Currently, installed wind-power facilities supply nearly 2,650 megawatts of capacity to U.S. markets.

The Madison Windpower project cost $15 million to construct, says Davis. Of that, $2 million, he explains, came from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in the form of a research and development contract, paid for from that organization's Energy Smart program, and garnered from the system benefit charges that appear on everyone's electric bill., The remaining money came from "private investors," says Davis.

Davis says that PG&E National Energy Group is a "conglomerate of several smaller groups," among them U.S. Generating and the energy trading, gas transmission, and national energy services groups. PG&E Corporation had 1999 revenues of nearly $21 billion and operations in 21 states. The corporation has ownership and management interests in 30 operating electric-power generating plants in 10 states, for a portfolio of more than 7,000 megawatts and more than 10,000 megawatts in new power under construction

The Madison site consists of seven Vestas V-66 1.65megawatt turbines, a substation, and a meteorological tower. It is located on 120 high acres, visible from miles away. Slowly rotating blades on the facility's towers, which are 66 meters tall, will generate more than 24,000 megawatthours annually. Electricity generated at Madison will travel through a New York State Electric & Gas Company interconnect (transmission line) for distribution by the New York Independent System Operator.

On average, other New York State power plants would emit 994 pounds of carbon dioxide, 5.36 pounds of sulfur dioxide, and 1.57 pounds of nitrogen oxide to produce a megawatt-hour of electricity. Madison produces that amount without any -emissions. And the wind mill's 33-meter blades rotate at less than one revolution per second, a slow pace that helps keep noise and other environmental disruptions to a minimum. Pre-construction studies investigated the local environment, especially the bird populations, to ensurethat the facility would have little or no impact. The "tubular-style" turbine towers offer no perch for birds and all power lines are buried.

Copyright Central New York Business Journal Sep 22, 2000
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