Saco looking to get rid of wind turbine

The wind turbine has never come close to generating amount of energy promised, and Entegrity Wind went bankrupt in 2009.

The wind turbine is in need of repair and was shut down last year due to safety concerns, said City Administrator Kevin Sutherland.

The city’s Energy Committee and city staff have recommended getting rid of the wind turbine, and putting it out to bid to see if someone will purchase it for scrap material.

Howard Carter, chairman of the city’s Energy Committee said the City Council had forgone a study prior to purchasing the wind turbine, as it had a contract guaranteeing a minimal rate of production.

Continue reading here:

http://www.journaltribune.com/news/2017-06-14/Front_Page/Saco_looki...

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7/21/10 - Wind Presentation Given to Saco (Date of posting on this site; not the date of the actual presentation)

Download PDF at:Saco_ewsi.pdf

Source: http://www.sacomaine.org/news/ewsi.pdf

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9/29/10 - UM Student Shows LePage Fallacies of Small Wind Turbines

James C. LaBrecque

University of Maine
Department of Mechanical Engineering
james_LaBrecque@umit.maine.edu
Sept. 29, 2010

UM Student Shows LePage Fallacies of Small Wind Turbines

University of Maine Students Open Candidate's Eyes to Fallacies' of Small Wind Turbines

Seven Mechanical engineering students and Capstone advisor Jim LaBrecque present gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage with engineering and statistical facts that money spent on engineering returns a superior economic advantage over small windmills. "The visit was meant to educate the candidates to energy and engineering issues," said LaBrecque.

Alexander Polk, Orono Senior engineering student, gave startling facts to Mr. LePage. For example, a typical $16,500.00 windmill like the one at Mt. Abraham High School produce between 200kWh-500kWh per year - a cost savings of only $30.00-$80.00 per year.

We can't find a windmill with a payback less than two hundred years said Instructor and Capstone adviser Jim LaBrecque. Farmington's sewage treatment plant has a payback of 625 years said Mr. LaBrecque.

Senior student Polk showed that one Mt Abraham student promising to drive only 3/4 of a mile less per day would produce the same energy savings as the sixteen thousand dollar windmill. When Polk explained the 500kWh produced by a typical windmill was 376kWh's short of the 876kWh a 100-watt light bulb takes to run continuously for one year, LePage stated "one of these windmills can't even produce enough electricity to keep one light bulb going for a year."

Earlier this year gubernatorial candidate Libby Mitchell visited the Tranten's market. LaBrecque said the energy savings from the Tranten's market hi-tech refrigeration system is equal to 1,350 $16,500.00 windmills. Plus, the windmills would cost more than 22 million dollars.

The students feel LePage understood their message: we cannot continue to throw money down the drain for nonsense when real energy solutions can be harvested by real engineers.

LaBrecque said energy efficiency and conservation are complex engineering issues. We can no longer depend on lawyers, lobbyist, legislators and special interest groups in Augusta who lead us down this windmill path.

http://www.asmainegoes.com/content/labrecque-cant-find-windmill-w-p...

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