Green Power Switch News
Issue No. 2, Summer 2001

Live from Buffalo Mountain
Current Wind Conditions

April was a banner month for Green Power Switch at the Buffalo Mountain Wind Park. The wind turbines produced record power, the community conducted a major cleanup of the area, and the outreach program participants got involved in the Coalfield School Science Fair.

The wind turbines generated at 100 percent availability during April. The total amount of wind generation through the end of the month was 1,681,123 kilowatt-hours. Although the projected values for the less windy summer months are half as much, they are expected to increase in the fall and winter. Upcoming changes at the site will include security upgrades and a video camera that will also be used as a Webcam.

Residents of the surrounding community held a major cleanup effort April 21 - 22. The Windrock Mountain ATV Club, the Coal Creek Mining & Manufacturing Company, and TVA also worked on the cleanup, and Green Power Switch provided T-shirts to participants. Keep Roane Beautiful Inc. recognized the hard work of the volunteers by issuing certificates of appreciation.

TVA’s Public Power Institute sponsored the April 27 science fair at Coalfield School near Oliver Springs, Tennessee. TVA set up solar kiosk software on three laptop computers for students to use as they toured the exhibit. The students learned about instruments designed to measure wind velocity and direction, and they enjoyed making paper windmills and learning about the Buffalo Mountain site.

The wind program continues to grow as wind monitoring takes place at four candidate sites. TVA is working with AWS Scientific and Ontario Power to test sodar equipment. Sodar, similar to radar, is used to measure wind velocity. A mini-sodar will be tested as a tool to monitor wind velocities at the lower elevations needed for a wind project. The next wind sites will be chosen based on all of the data collected.

In July, TVA released a request for proposals for a minimum of 20 megawatts of new wind generation to be built in the Tennessee Valley by 2003. Tentative plans call for the proposals to be submitted no later than August 31, 2001.

For more information on wind power, see the TVA wind turbine energy page.

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