A group of Iowa utilities involved in a jointly owned wind farm will get a jump on proposed Federal and state requirements to invest in renewable resources. A bill currently before the U.S. Congress, sponsored by Rep. Dan Schaefer of Colorado, mandates that utilities and generators purchase non-hydro renewable credits equal to 2 percent of their kilowatthour load. Buying wind farm shares entitles participating municipal utilities to credits for their share of the wind farm output. |
9 participants so far
As of May 1, about nine of the Iowa Municipal Utility Association's 137 members planned to participate in the proposed class-4 wind farm site at Algona, Iowa. Members have indicated interest in purchasing from 8 to 1,300 kilowatts of power output, according to IAMU Energy Services Coordinator Patti Cale. The proposed site can support five 750-kW turbines.
Capital and operating costs are estimated at $4.2 million, with $1.4 million expected through a Department of Energy contract award, according to Thomas A. Wind, utility wind energy consultant. DOE's award is contingent on the level of support and commitment from the utilities. The remaining capital and operating costs will be funded from sales of shares in the project.
Each share is expected to cost $863 with no minimum or maximum limits on number of shares purchased, Wind said. Each participant can either use or sell its allocation of power. Utilities that use the wind power can create a customer green pricing program or spread the costs throughout their customer base.
Joint ownership reduces risk
Joint ownership of the wind farm reduces the risk for each participant. "This is another example of municipal utilities sharing risk and sharing rewards," said Wind.
Each participant's fully loaded cost is estimated at 2.45 cents/kWh plus wheeling costs. This includes a Federal renewable energy production incentive subsidy of 1 cent per kWh. "This is comparable to the avoided costs that many utilities currently pay for power," said Wind.
Three sites, including Algona, were studied for wind resources, to determine the average and seasonal wind speed. Average wind speeds are about 16.5 miles per hour (27 kilometers per hour) at 164 feet (50 meters) above ground.
The utilities selected Zond Energy Systems of Tehachapi, Calif., to provide turbines. Zond's Z-50, 750-kilowatt turbine, has an expected average annual generation of 1.9 million kWh at an average windspeed of 16.5 mph (27 kph).
Mounted on a 164-foot (50-meter) tower, each turbine has three blades that sweep an area 164 feet (50 meters) in diameter. Each turbine structure includes a 750-kilovolt/amp, pad-mounted 480/12,740-volt transformer at the base. An inner-connecting underground cable links the turbine power output to a 12.47-kV overhead transmission line.
The turbine power output is variable, according to Wind. It increases by the cube of the wind speed and can vary from minute to minute and month to month. The sites' windiest month is April and least windy month is August.
(For more information, call Cale at (515) 289-1999, or Wind at (515) 386-3405.)
