Harrison Roper's Blog (87)

UMPI  has finally posted March power production: 17564 KWH, or 566 KWH per day. The turbine's capacity  is

600 KW, or 600X24=14400 KWH per day.  This figures  as a 3.9%  capacity factor, or less than an hour per day of "good" wind. 

This sort of  "explanation" of the lack of other data has been posted for about 10 weeks::

    "The  Live  Wind Turbine Data is not currently active due to repairs. The general contractor anticipates

this system will be functional this…

The UMPI turbine states that several parts are expected to be delivered "soon" and the turbine should be operating late this week. It has been inoperative since 2/19.

Harry Roper-Houlton/Danforth 

The UMPI website is once again not working, for the past week. There have been some good wind days, and maybe it was generating power and not reporting it for some reason. No explanation is offered.  This is a rather common situation.  Eventually it gets fixed.

  Friday 2/18 at 6:00 pm the UMPI website reported net power produced 1,099,296 kWh; since then it has reported zero net power.  I will continue to monitor the site daily.

  You will also be interested to know that when…

 My self-imposed task of monitoring of the UMPI turbine website continues. The latest ten-day net power production for this 600 kW turbine averaged 935.7 kWh per day.  That's 6.6% of "rated capacity"! 

My casual log of rotor windspeeds shows the following  momentary data:  (Rotor-level wind speed in mph)  4.3; 2.5; calm; 7.8; 3.8; calm;14.5; 13.9; 7.4; 9.6; 5.1; calm, calm, calm, 3.1; 5.4; 3.4; 13.2; 10.5; 15.2; (one day I skipped; the next day, 2/08, the site reported all zeroes),…

Today is January 27. According to the website, the UMPI wind turbine produced a total of 22,200 kWh over the past ten days. Those days included a n'or'easter Friday the 21st and  yesterday the wind was essentially calm.  That's the way it goes with wind power. 

That  power output is an average of 2,220 KWh per day. So, with capacity of 600 kW, the turbine averaged less than four hours of good wind each day. 

Ideal wind whould produce 14,200 KWh - but it never happens. Thanks to…

The UMPI turbines' website reports average power output of 3,379.7 kWh per day for 12/22 - 12/31. This from a turbine which has "installed capacity" of 14,200 kWh per day.  So, the turbine achieved 23.8 % of its installed capacity forthe period. 

  The best day in the 10-day period was December 22, when it produced 5784 kWh. This is 40.7 % of installed capacity, and is unusually high for a wind turbine.   Still, this was the result of the equivalent of ten hours of "good" wind .... I…

I have some figures on efficiency for the Stetson and Mars Hill "wind farms" for the second quarter of 2010: Stetson produced 17 % of its rated capacity; for the same period, Mars Hill produced 28% of its rated capacity. Mars Hill, in Aroostook county, is higher and more exposed than the Stetson I & II site,which is about 50 miles to the south in Washington County.

Both of these industrial wind installations were promoted and built by First Wind. Some information on generators'…

UMPI's 600 mw turbine reports an average power production of 2324.7 mwh the past ten days.

This is a little over five hours of good wind per day. The period included a 3-day nor'easter. Right now it is calm, agai,with power at munus .3 kw.

Harrison Roper

Houlton/Danforth

UMPI's turbine website reports power produced for the past ten days (10/02 thru 10/11) totaled 20192 kwh, or an average of 2019.2 kwh per day. This is better than usual; there has been some windy weather lately, for a change.

In the ten days 9/11 thru 9/20, the UMPI turbine produced only 688 kwh per day. The turbine's "capacity" (which wind turbines rarely if ever produce) is 600 kw, or more than 14,000 kwh per day (600 kW X 24hrs)

Harry Roper

Houlton/Danforth

For the past ten days (9-11 to 9/20) the UMPI turbine produced an average of 688.4 KWH per day. This period included some of the hottest days on record - there was essentially no wind most of the time on Sept 11,12, 13, 14, or 15. If Presque Isle residents saw the blades turning, it was either just to look good or perhpas to keep the shaft from warping.

Harry Roper Houlton/Danforth

I have learned that the websitge of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has quarterly information on quantity and prices of energy sold to the grid. All power producers are required to report quarterly peak and off-peak power sold and the price. When the data appears on the computer screen there is no URL in sight, but maybe you can find it via Google at FERC.

I just did, and I learned that First Wind's Stetson ( Evergreen…

Mark my words:

In the light of the Congress dropping all efforts to pass "cap and trade" or any other greenhouse gas limits, I am afraid nothing will be done until high tide begins to lap at the steps of the Stock Exchange on Wall Steet, floods low-lying airports like D.C's Reagan (National), and washes away the CEOs' Palm Beach mansions.

Then, when it is too late, business interests and financiers will complain that the "scientists did not give proper warning". It is time to…

Covering the past 10 days, UMPI's windmill website reports a total power output of 8339 kwh, or a daily average of 834 kwh per day. This is from a turbine that has a nominal 'capacity" of 600 kw. Do the math: 600 kwh X 24 = 14,400 kwh per day, or 140,000 kwh for a ten day period. This would be the power output if the wind were ideal, which hardly ever happens. Apparently we have been getting the equivalent of an hour and a half of good wind per day.

Just looking out the window here in…

(from National Windwatch)

In a closing comment on page 17 his firm's June 8, 2010 report of to the Adams County Board (Quincy, Illinois), professional real estate appraiser Michael S. McCann states, in part:

When people react to the negative influences (of industrial wind energy) in ways that would normally seem extreme, such as filing lawsuits or selling their properties for steep discounts from what they…

I am glad to read that UMPI plans to "reduce its building cooling load" when the wind does not generate power. That is the first mention I had seen of load management as a consideration in living with wind power. It's about time someone thought of it.

Here in northern Maine when we have a hot day (like today and yesterday) there is usually little if any wind. Turning down the air conditioners is a good way for UMPI to save power, and good for them for thinking of of it.

When I…

UMPPI's wind turbine website is working again, reporting (finally) net output in "kwh" instead of the meaningless "kw" that prevailed for so long. You must understand that, on this website, "kwh" really means: "net kwh produced since commissioning May 19, 2009". I am hoping someone will make these distinctions clear to them; I have done my best.

In the 18 days from 5/19 to 6/05 (2010) the UMPI windmill produced (net) 24948 kwh, or an average 1386 kwh per day. It was a pretty quiet…