HomeMy WebLinkAboutWind & Hydropower NAWIG newsletter 2004St. Paul Island: Looking Back to Find the Future
“Centuries of experience living in the wind have
allowed us to merge our culture with this
new technology for the benefi t of future
generations.”
- Aleut elder comment at the blessing of the turbine
What began as an economic development pro-
gram on Alaska’s St. Paul Island turned out to
be a prime example of a successful remote,
high-penetration wind diesel project—and
a source of tremendous pride for a Native
Alaskan community.
In 1999, TDX Corporation, a Native Alaska
developer and investor, began construction of
a wind/diesel hybrid power station that would
incorporate Alaska’s largest wind turbine.
The Vestas V27 turbine and twin Volvo diesel
generators form an integrated package that
provides low-cost electricity and heat. The
high-effi ciency power plant, located adjacent to
one of TDX’s large and underutilized industrial
buildings, was designed to provide power to the
80,000-square-foot facility, allowing a variety
of planned commercial ventures to be developed.
TDX funded the $1 million power plant, and TDX shareholders
were trained to operate and maintain the system on a full-time
basis. Although the plant suffered some early setbacks due to
improper design for the sub-arctic climate, the plant experienced
100% availability in 2004 and more than a 60% capacity factor
in January of the same year. In 2003, the wind turbine provided
almost 55% of the total electrical load (672,000 kWh out of
1,226,000 kWh). The turbine is on track to deliver similar
performance in 2004.
The system includes two unique aspects: the wind-only and
thermal components. During the winter months when the
wind resource is strongest, the confi guration of the
plant allows the diesel generators to turn off, which
in turn allows the wind turbine to follow the load
requirements of the complex. Excess electricity
produced by the turbine during these periods is
routed to a thermal tank that pumps hot water
around the facility, further decreasing fuel
consumption otherwise used for heating the
large complex. The project typically reduces
diesel generator fuel consumption by 3,346
gallons per year and fuel for space heating
consumption by 8,940 gallons per year.
TDX is currently in the early stages of a
planned expansion of this facility. Two
economic development programs, both
requiring additional power capacity, are
under development, and TDX plans to triple
the wind generating capacity to support these
two endeavors. TDX is evaluating larger alter-
natives to the plant’s V27, which is no longer
manufactured by Vestas. Pending the conclusions
of an environmental assessment, TDX hopes to
begin construction in the next year.
As part of its Native American outreach, DOE’s
Wind Powering America program has initiated
a quarterly NAWIG newsletter to present Native
American wind information, including projects,
interviews with pioneers, issues, WPA activities,
and related events. It is our hope that this
newsletter will both inform and elicit comments
and input on wind development in Indian Country.
TDX Power/PIX13634Villagers attend the commissioning and blessing
of the TDX Power St. Paul Island power plant.
NAWIG NEWS • The Quarterly Newsletter of the Native American Wind Interest Group • Fall 20042
How did you become interested in wind for Native America?
Tribes receiving Western Area Power Association (WAPA) hydro-
power allocations were required to conduct integrated resource
planning for all of their energy resources. I was the acting direc-
tor of the Rosebud Tribal Utility Commission in 1995, and we
arranged for an 18-month anemometer study of the Rosebud
wind resource at the Tribal casino site. That study revealed a
phenomenal wind resource on the Rosebud. In 1998, following
the Native Peoples/Native Homelands Climate Change Workshop,
reservation-based renewable energy was seen as a no-regrets
strategy for Tribal energy self-sufficiency and for addressing
global warming. The Northern Great Plains reservations have
more than 200 gigawatts of clean wind energy potential. This
is far more than needed to meet local demand, and it could help
to power the country from the Great Plains.
What crucial elements are required for Tribes to capture wind energy?
Tribes interested in pursuing wind energy projects require four
crucial elements: wind resource, technology, market, and trans-
mission. The wind resource should reflect high average annual
wind speeds of high consistency and duration with reliability
in daily and seasonal frequency and direction. Using efficient
technologies—including taller towers and larger generators—
reduces the cost of the power. A market for Tribal wind power
must precede project development, and transmission facilities
must exist to carry the power to market. The more favorable each
of these four crucial elements is, the less expensive the cost of the
generated wind power will be.
What national policy reform is needed to encourage tribal wind
development?
The playing field for the full range of energy resources needs to
be level so that all of their costs and contributions are considered.
Fossil fuel extraction costs are heavily subsidized by the tax-
payers, and the price of pollution, legislated caps on insurance
liability, unproven long-term nuclear waste storage proposals,
and impacts on public health and environmental quality are put
on society’s collective tab. Other uncounted costs of our conven-
tional power plant system include water consumption and
heightened national security issues. In the future, we can add
another item to the list: Emerging estimates for anticipated
extreme weather-related disasters attributed to the rapid accel-
eration of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
In today’s markets, even without taking into account the societal
costs of conventional power or the benefits of wind power, wind
generation is competitive with new coal and gas projects.
What ownership models appear most attractive for Tribal
development?
Tribal ownership and intertribal ownership are most attractive for
Tribal development. Intertribal COUP and the Rosebud Tribe have
joined forces to sponsor an environmental justice community
revitalization plan to develop Tribal wind resources on the Great
Plains. The plan has five distinct phases: Pilot (the 750-kW utility-
scale tribally owned turbine at the Rosebud); Demonstration
(a 30- to 50-MW tribally owned project at the Rosebud); Distri-
bution (an 80-MW distributed generation intertribal-owned proj-
ect of 10-MW clusters on up to eight reservations with tall-tower
data, while the remaining reservations collect data); Expansion
(10-MW projects to 50- to 150-MW projects at each site); and
Replication (on other Great Plains reservations).
You’ve traveled extensively and visited with Tribal leaders. What
concerns do they have over wind development on their lands?
The Tribes welcome the benefits that wind energy can bring, but
they’re also concerned about the potential impacts on wildlife
(eagles, hawks, and prairie chickens) and habitat and the visual
impacts in placement and siting. Wind turbines reach into the
sky higher than the length of a football field, and in places like
the Northern Plains and the Southwest, they can be seen for 10-
20 miles away in parts of the landscape that might rarely see
something taller than a cottonwood or a Ponderosa pine.
For example, the 750-kW turbine at Rosebud is probably the
tallest structure, besides communication towers, west of the
Missouri River in South Dakota. To give you a sense of scale,
on most Indian reservations a second-story building is a rarity.
So how and why turbines fit into an ancestral landscape is an
important concern to be addressed.
Read the entire Robert Gough interview at
www.windpoweringamerica.gov.
Interview: Robert Gough, Secretary of Intertribal Council on Utility Policy (COUP)
Robert Gough receives the U.S. DOE Wind Energy Program Outstanding Tech-
nology Acceptance Award 2004. Left to right: Peter Goldman, program mana-
ger, DOE; Pat Spears, Intertribal COUP; Robert Gough, Intertribal COUP; Tony
Jimenez, NREL’s Wind Powering America program; Larry Flowers, NREL’s
Wind Powering America program; Robert Thresher, director of the National
Wind Technology Center, NREL. NREL/PIX13341
NAWIG NEWS • The Quarterly Newsletter of the Native American Wind Interest Group • Fall 2004 3
Wind Energy Symposium Attracts 42 Participants
The National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) near Boulder,
Colorado, once again hosted the annual Wind Energy Applica-
tions and Training Symposium (WEATS) on August 25–28.
WEATS is designed for project planners, developers, utility
officials, and engineers who are considering wind energy devel-
opment and want to learn more about wind energy technology
applications. The 42 participants included 19 representatives from
14 Native American Tribes and organizations. Topics included
wind energy fundamentals, resource assessment, small wind, and
large wind. Activities included a tour of the NWTC, a visit to the
Ponnequin wind farm, and a luncheon talk on CO2 and climate
change by Randy Udall, director of the Aspen-based Community
Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE). Participant feedback was
very positive—more than 90% of participants said that WEATS
met their expectations.
WEATS 2005 is scheduled for May 11–14, 2005. This is the week
prior to the annual U.S. wind industry conference, WINDPOWER
2005, which will take place in Denver this year. The WEATS
attendance fee will be waived for Native American partici-
pants. If you are interested in attending WEATS 2005, please
contact Tony Jimenez at tony_jimenez@nrel.gov or
303-384-7027.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is currently accepting
renewable energy and energy efficiency grant applications under
two solicitations.
The first solicitation, “First Steps Toward Developing Renewable
Energy and Energy Efficiency on Tribal Lands,” provides funds
for strategic planning, energy options analysis or resource plan-
ning, energy organization development, and human capacity
building related to sustainable energy efficiency implementation
or renewable energy development. Applications are due by
January 20, 2005.
The second solicitation, “Renewable Energy Development on
Tribal Lands,” provides funds to conduct feasibility studies for
the development of economically sustainable renewable energy
installations or to implement sustainable renewable energy
development projects. Applications for this solicitation are due
by February 4, 2005.
The total amount of funding available for these solicitations
depends on Congressional appropriations. More information
about these solicitations is available at
http://www.eere.energy.gov/tribalenergy/financial.html.
DOE Tribal Energy Program Accepting Renewable Energy Grant Applications
Wind/Diesel Workshop
The Wind/Diesel Workshop 2004, co-sponsored by the Alaska
Energy Authority and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), attracted participants
from all over Alaska, the lower 48 states, Europe, Australia, and
South America.
More than 100 participants gathered in Anchorage
and Girdwood from September 28–October 2 to
share recent experiences with wind/diesel hybrid
systems, discuss the latest technology develop-
ments, and introduce the concept to new attendees.
Participants flew to Kotzebue, Selawik, and
St. Paul villages to visit three commercial
wind-diesel projects in rural Alaska and to talk
with local operators and village leaders on the
operations and value of retrofitting diesel mini-
grids with wind turbines and associated controls.
In rural Alaska, the cost of fuel for home heating
and power generation typically comprises 30%
to 50% of the cost of power production. Wind/
diesel hybrid systems generate electricity while
displacing expensive, price-volatile fuel. These
hybrid power plants have higher upfront capital
costs, but because the cost of wind energy is not
volatile, utilities can estimate future costs of
operation more accurately.
Proceedings of the 2004 workshop are available online at
http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/
wind_diesel.asp.NREL/PIX13622Wind/Diesel Workshop 2004 participants visited the wind turbine on St. Paul Island, Alaska.
2005 Calendar
Jan. 18 Wind Energy in Arizona: Resource to Reality —
Tempe, AZ
www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/
windpoweringamericapdfs/workshops/
2004_az_workshop.pdf
Feb. 23–24 Conference on Renewable Energy in the Upper
Midwest ‘05 — Grand Forks, ND
www.undeerc.org/reconference/
Feb. 28–March 2 National Congress of American Indians
Executive Council Winter Session —
Washington, D.C.
www.ncai.org/main/pages/national_calendar/
ncai_events.asp
April 3–6 American Indian Higher Education Consortium’s
Annual Conference — Albuquerque, NM
May 3–5 National Tribal Environmental Council
12th Annual Conference — Green Bay, WI
May 11–14 Wind Energy Applications and Training
Symposium (WEATS) 2005 — Boulder, CO
May 15–18 Global WINDPOWER — Denver, CO
June 13–16 National Congress of American Indians
Mid-Year Session — Oneida, WI
Oct. 30–Nov. 4 National Congress of American Indians
62nd Annual Convention — Tulsa, OK
Current Native American wind events can also be found on the Wind
Powering America Web site at
www.eere.energy.gov/windpoweringamerica/wpa/na_calendar.asp
Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy
by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a DOE National Laboratory
A Strong Energy Portfolio for a Strong America
Energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy will mean a stronger economy,
a cleaner environment, and greater energy independence for America. Working
with a wide array of state, community, industry, and university partners, the
U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
invests in a diverse portfolio of energy technologies.
DOE/GO-102004-2038 • Fall 2004
National Renewable Energy Laboratory1617 Cole BoulevardGolden, CO 80401-3393NAWIG NEWS • The Quarterly Newsletter of the Native American Wind Interest Group • Fall 20044
Wind Powering America • www.windpoweringamerica.gov
American Wind Energy Association • www.awea.org
U.S. Department of Energy Tribal Energy Program •
www.eere.energy.gov/tribalenergy
National Wind Coordinating Committee • www.nationalwind.org
Windustry • www.windustry.orgUseful LinksFor more information contact:
EERE Information Center
1-877-EERE-INF (1-877-337-3463)
www.eere.energy.gov