Year to Date 2012 Maine Wind Power Output is Poor

The data for the Third Quarter (July, August, September) for production of Maine wind projects has been obtained from the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency (FERC) and the results are, as expected, very poor.  The Summer months low production completely offsets the Winter months.  Unfortunately, due to air conditioning demand, the need for generation for ISO-New England is greatest when wind power fails the most.  If the 4th Quarter mirrors the 2nd Quarter, it appears that in 2012, the average capacity factor of Maine's wind projects falls below 25%. 

 

Year To Date Maine Wind Project Output

 

This is part of the Record Hill wind project from Roxbury Pond.  This project, developed by Independence Wind and subject of much attention this year as wind site developer Angus King ran for US Senate, is a prime example of the failure of Maine wind projects.  Think Maine's western mountains are always windy and thus productive wind turbine sites?  Think again! 

Capacity factors year to date for the Record Hill Project (see table above) are:  1st Quarter (Jan., Feb., March):  34.37%;  2nd Quarter (April, May, June):  22.57%;  3rd Quarter (July, Aug., Sept):  15.96%

What is worse is on June 8, 2012 Independence Wind was awarded $33.7 million ARRA Section 1603 grant (free gift of taxpayer $$$)!  This is an up-front payment that bails out the troubled project temporarily.  This is in lieu of earning 2.2 cents per kwh from Production Tax Credit for 10 years, a smart move considering the poor performance.    Does it get any worse?  Yes!  Using King's influence and alleging a dubious "innovation", Independence Wind obtianed a Federal government $102 million loan guarantee.  With continuing poor performance, this project might not re-pay its loans and default, leaving the taxpayers to bail it out with the loan guarantee.

This is not an isolated case, as there are poor performances and many problems with and questions concerning the circumstances of Maine wind projects.  It is time to end this farce and stop any further development of wind power in this state.  These figures posted here tell the real facts that wind power does not work in Maine.  We do not need this fickle trickle of unpredictable, unreliable, non-dispatchable, and costly electricity.  We need to protect our beautiful state, its "Quality of Place", and its natural resources from industrial wind blight!

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Comment by Willem Post on November 24, 2012 at 10:14am

Brad,

Thank you posting this great information.

I will use it in my articles, etc. See below URLs.

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/46142/impact-pv-solar-fe... 

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/46252/thermal-solar-cali... 

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/46652/reducing-energy-us...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/46824/impact-csp-and-pv-...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/46977/impacts-variable-i...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/47519/base-power-alterna...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/50167/impact-pv-solar-pe...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/50925/electric-vehicle-h...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/51642/dutch-renewables-a...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/52228/impact-closing-ver...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/53258/examples-wind-powe...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/53939/radiation-exposure

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/57905/wind-power-and-co2...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/59747/ge-flexefficiency-...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/61309/lowell-mountain-wi...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/61774/wind-energy-expensive

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/64492/wind-energy-reduce...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/67528/german-nuclear-dec...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/69710/will-germany-make-...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/71771/energy-efficiency-...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/74311/german-eeg-program

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/74847/pv-solar-energy-st...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/77343/vermont-leaders-ba...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/83704/reduce-co2-and-slo...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/84293/wind-turbine-noise...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/89476/wind-energy-co2-em...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/98061/irelands-wind-ener...

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/107316/global-warming-co...

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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