Excess wind power finds home on Maine islands
Thermal storage heaters could help Vinalhaven and North Haven offset the high cost of petroleum.
By Tux Turkel tturkel@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
The futuristic idea of heating buildings and powering cars with electricity from wind farms off the Maine coast is being tested on a small scale, on two islands that are home to a community-run wind project and some of the highest energy bills in the state.
Noise levels still too high, residents say
Organizers of the Fox Islands Wind Project say the three turbines that began turning last fall on Vinalhaven generated more power this winter than residents needed, putting the community on a path toward stable energy costs. But attempts to lower noise levels that are disturbing some people who live near the towers have yet to make a difference, according to Cheryl Lindgren, one of the residents.
“They say it’s going to take time, and that may be,” she said. “We’re always hopeful.”
Remedies are still being studied, according to Bill Alcorn, who serves on the Fox Islands Wind board. Turbine speed has been turned down a bit at night to comply with state noise standards. Sound insulation may be upgraded around the turbines, and a sound engineer is analyzing data collected by neighbors, although some abutters have declined to return the logs, he said.
The board remains committed to trying to reduce the impact to neighbors, Alcorn said. But overall, he added, the turbines are performing as designed.
“They’re a major step in helping this island survive,” he said.
During the next year or so, up to 50 homes and businesses on Vinalhaven and North Haven will install electric thermal storage heaters. These units, which can absorb a day's worth of heat in dense, ceramic bricks, will be charged with electricity from the Fox Islands Wind Project.
The charging will take place when the project's three turbines are generating more power than the islands need, which is common in winter. Rather than sell electricity to the mainland grid at low prices, the energy will be used on the islands to offset the high cost of oil and kerosene heat. In addition, some of the excess power could be soaked up by batteries in electric vehicles.
Organizers say the experiment is the first of its kind in the United States. In theory, it's exactly what state officials hope Maine can do in the next decade by developing floating, offshore wind farms and tidal energy sites.
Theory is becoming reality this spring in Penobscot Bay. The first five units were hooked up in March on Vinalhaven; another is set to go in on North Haven. Residents say the heaters seem to be working well. next winter, they'll know more about the "smart grid" technology that makes the power shunting possible, and the impact on their energy bills.
"Vinalhaven is a grid we can study," said Adam Lachman, a local businessman spearheading the project for the Island Energy Task Force. "We can understand how it works."
Using wind power to reduce Maine's dependence on petroleum reflects the vision of the Baldacci administration and a task force that studied ocean energy. But it's premature to say what Vinalhaven's experience will mean in a larger sense.
A plan that would have raised electric rates to encourage ocean energy development by switching Mainers from oil heat to efficient electric heating systems was defeated last month in the Legislature. Moreover, industrial-scale wind power faces opposition for reasons including noise, a factor that remains an issue for at least some neighbors on Vinalhaven.
But supporters say wind energy can become a hedge for Maine against sky-high oil and gasoline prices in the future. On Vinalhaven and North Haven, that future is now. Electric rates are roughly twice what they are on the mainland, and heating oil is well over $3 a gallon.
"The overwhelming concern on the islands," Lachman said, "is how much it costs to heat homes and businesses."
In the initial phase, the task force is testing storage heaters donated by North Dakota-based Steffes Corp., which are distributed by Thermal Energy Storage of Maine. These units are common in Europe and Canada, and are becoming more available in other states. They use lower-priced electricity produced when demand is low, typically at night.
On Vinalhaven, the recently installed wind turbines produce excess power more than half the time they're turning during the winter. The island utility sells this electricity to the mainland grid via an underwater cable, but the price is low compared with the cost of space heat.
On the mainland, a meter keeps track of when power is flowing off the island and a signal is sent to each heater telling it whether to charge or not. The meter also could tell the heaters to charge using electricity from the mainland grid, if the price is low enough. For this experiment, the power for the storage heaters will never cost more than 9 cents a kilowatt hour, which was the equivalent price for heating oil in March.
Storage heat participants paid less than that last month. The math worked out to an oil equivalent of $2.20 a gallon, at a time when oil was selling for roughly $3.20 on the island.
"So they're saving $1 a gallon on their heating source," Lachman said.
This seemed like a good deal for Shelly Andrews.
Andrews wanted to start heating her greenhouse in early spring, to grow flowers for her landscaping business. But the greenhouse has a kerosene heater, and the cost was too high.
"Now I can start sooner," she said last week.
The storage heater is hooked to a computer modem in her home. Andrews' husband, Tom, a plumbing and heating contractor, said the unit appears too small to warm the entire greenhouse but it should cut the use of kerosene, which has been costing more than $3.50 a gallon.
"That's what we're trying to determine, whether it's cheaper than K-1," he said.
The heater is getting good reviews at The ARC, Vinalhaven's community center and Internet cafe. The unit there is warming 980 square feet of public space and reducing the need for an aging oil boiler.
The heat produced by the unit is very comfortable, according to Tristan Jackson, the center's executive director. He wonders, though, how many more turbines the islands would need, or how much power islanders would have to buy from the grid, to greatly expand the concept.
"The question is, how far can it scale up?" he said.
In the bigger picture, scale will depend on how far Maine gets toward its goal of developing thousands of megawatts of wind capacity off the coast. any measure, said Sam Zaitlin, president of Thermal Energy Storage, excess capacity will exist at certain periods. Storage heat and the coming of electric vehicles are two ways to integrate renewable energy into the grid.
"When you get a sudden surge of wind," he said, "rather than curtail generation, or ship it elsewhere, you can shunt it to heating or transportation."
Using the energy locally to replace oil could have a side benefit, according to Beth Nagusky, a state environmental manager and co-chairwoman of the ocean energy task force.
"People may be more accepting of seeing, and perhaps hearing, wind turbines if they know they are replacing their oil furnace," she said.
If the initial phase of the island experiment is a success, organizers plan to expand it to more households and create a more sophisticated control system.
Lachman and his colleagues have partnered with the Rockland-based Island Institute to help with project management and fundraising. A start-up company from Rhode Island, VCharge, is providing the energy management software to control the heaters. VCharge is working on a larger thermal storage program with Steffes Corp. in Concord, Mass., which has a municipal electric company.
Looking ahead, Lachman hopes the islands can partner with one of the car makers poised to release a plug-in vehicle this year. Another option is the fleet of electric recreation vehicles on the market, one of which is already on Vinalhaven, he said.
"This will allow us to study how we can use renewable power in the state," Lachman said, "rather than thinking about how we can transport it out of state."
Staff Writer Tux Turkel can be contacted at 791-6462 or:
tturkel@pressherald.com
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19 COMMENTS
UofA said...
The residents of Vinalhaven don't want anything new on their island. The noise coming from those "bricks" will probably be piercing and unbearable. Leave them alone to their rubbing sticks together.
April 4, 2010 at 5:29 AM Report abuse
mutt said...
Is it scalable? If this was a viable business the government wouldn't and shoulnt be subsidizing it.
April 4, 2010 at 6:03 AM Report abuse
DR_NO said...
I'm happy to see people using mathematics rather than emotion when figuring the real cost of alternative energy.
April 4, 2010 at 7:13 AM Report abuse
jack33 said...
Perhaps the residents of Vinalhaven were not fully informed, if not lied to, about the noise levels. Never underestimate the ability of any company to place its own profits before the well-being of people.
April 4, 2010 at 8:10 AM Report abuse
qwenky said...
Baker is using his Guinea Pigs on Vinalhaven for his curiosty and play. That's how these elitist millionaires go about their days. They tend to scurry when Sued, which they will be . This turbine scam is affecting innocent people, driving them from their homes and disrupting their lives. They should be fully compensated.Regulations on low frequency noise must be established by the DEP and the state should also be sued for imposing this disruptive , feckless technology on people. Or better , Mainers should insist that Baldacci live 24/7 with a turbine in his backyard, and see what he has illegally imposed. This subsidy grabbing , feckless technology is poorly conceived and wrecklessly applied for money grabbing, that is all. Baker is just another Subsidy Pig playing with Blow toys for enjoyment,:screwing the average citizen.
April 4, 2010 at 8:12 AM Report abuse
macmac said...
Whatever you do, Vinalhaven, do not cut your cable to the mainland.
April 4, 2010 at 8:26 AM Report abuse
qwenky said...
Blowtoys are a feckless technology. Wind gets a subsidy of $23.37 per MW. Natural gas and oil are a 25 cents per MW. One good Natural gas generator would have prevented this tragedy! * Why did the Dutch stop using their windmills to grind their grain and pump water to reclaim their land from the sea–as soon as the steam engine was invented? * Why are sailing vessels used almost entirely for recreation today, rather than for commercial purposes? * Why aren’t gliders and dirigibles providing a substantial percentage of commercial air transport? * What is the difference between energy and power? What would be the likely consequence if all our gas pumps were wind “powered?” * What is the percentage of oil used in the production of electricity, nationally and in New England? * Why must electricity supply be matched to demand at all times?
April 4, 2010 at 8:29 AM Report abuse
qwenky said...
Any Modern society needs power on demand, 24/7, 365 days a year. We can't wait in Maine for the wind to blow on January 6, (maybe) to power a mill, or light a factory! Such a joke! This Subsidy scam perpetrated on Maine by this "Green" scam for money is laughable, because citizens are so naive and brainwashed by the "Green Religion". Economics will kill this soon, but until then, the damage continues. The scammers like Angus King et. al. , First wind, continue the spoof on naive, hard working Mainers. Just wait for the electric bill to come in a few years if this continues. Wait until Mainers realize they will be the ones paying for the new transmission lines! Maine, Screwed Again by Disgusta! The only ones making a living from this will be the incestuous Maine political Gestapo!
April 4, 2010 at 8:50 AM Report abuse
BonusEleven said...
Natural Gas, Clean Coal, Nuclear. These are the technologies we should be supporting and subsidizing. Hell, even Obama knows that!
April 4, 2010 at 8:54 AM Report abuse
qwenky said...
.....and well said by macmac. VINALHAVEN , DO NOT CUT YOUR POWER CABLE TO THE MAINELAND.... YOU HAVE BEEN SCAMMED!
April 4, 2010 at 8:55 AM Report abuse
Obamination said...
I can just imagine the liberal elite, like Chellie Pingree, looking out their picture windows in their oceanfront mansions, with concerned looks on their faces over the wellbeing of the poor. Elizabeth, dear, are you aware we're saving one dollar per week with this new wind powered electric bird feeder? Yes, John, but the poor are being taxed for three dollars in stimulus money for every dollar we're saving. Yes, aren't non-profits wonderful! Can you bring the hybrid Range Rover around front, it's time to plug in while the windmill is still turning.
April 4, 2010 at 9:33 AM Report abuse
Jack_Pine said...
"Electric rates are roughly twice what they are on the mainland" ***** and that is why Vinalhaven is the place doing this. But leave it to the greenies to extrapolate from this atypical situation and then try to shove thermal storage heaters down everyone's throats on the mainland. Do they think that the $.09 test rate is possible on a wide scale in the real world? People forget that electricity is not free. They seem to forget that the reason they save the gallon of oil is they had to electricity. If we are going to heat with electricity, why on earth would be choose the most expensive form out there - wind? How about inexpensive electricity from Hydro-Quebec?
April 4, 2010 at 11:03 AM Report abuse
ThorEau said...
In 50 years when real R&D yields true energy breakthroughs, they will look back at the turn of the century to the fad of wind, where policy makers put us in technological reverse. If we took the subsidies that all the insiders are handing over to industrial wind and the likes of people like George Baker and put it into R&D, we'd hit a breakthrough far sooner. Chellie Pingree is not a scientist and couldn't calculate the gratuity on a $10 bill at a restaurant. Of course she likes wind turbines - she doesn't have to see or hear any.
April 4, 2010 at 11:17 AM Report abuse
Jack_Pine said...
And as soon as people buy these thermal storage units and start using the off-peak electricity, it will no longer be off-peak and the electricity heroin dealers will have simply gotten their addict clients to use more. This is not so much about being clever as it is thinking of new ways to part the people and their money. Wind is the most expenive form of electricity. That is why the state of Rhode Island just told the offshore wind industry there to take a walk because their wind electricity, at three times the going rate, was bad for ratepayers. One of the STUNNED wind pushers from the Conservation Law Foundation responded to the fact wind was triple the cost with "but it is green". By, bye big wind.
April 4, 2010 at 11:24 AM Report abuse
common_cents said...
I noted they have to leave a computer and modem on; I'd bet the 'brick' has a fan in it...while not much power, it still represents a net loss....I say take the ride, as long as its free and not dangerous.
April 4, 2010 at 11:31 AM Report abuse
backwrdstate said...
mutt said...If this was a viable business the government wouldn't and shoulnt be subsidizing it.......well said. Just like the government shouldn't be subsidizing the airline industry with their contributions to airports, or the road building industry with their highway funds, or the arms industry, which is actually a double subsidy as we use our armed forces to protect the oil flow from the middle east. Shouldn't the oil companies be paying 100% of the cost of the wars to protect their business from the middle east? Well Mutt? Or is is only when something is on the other side of your idiot partisan dogma that you object to subsidy?
April 4, 2010 at 12:06 PM Report abuse
mutt said...
Backwrdstate all u mentioned is quite accurate at least we get something for our $$$ they don't know if this is scalable??? So we are going to subsidize millions to heat 25 homes. Hahaha yes good business for the scammers. And what pray tell is my politics on this oh dog breath?? I just don't like my tax dollars thrown down the tubes for some romantic green fantasy. It either works or it doesn't.
April 4, 2010 at 1:02 PM Report abuse
Arthur said...
Neat idea if you don't have affordable heat and electric supplies. But it won't even work onshore in Maine. We mainlanders pay the 6th highest rates in the nation, at just over 15 cents, but the scheme in the article would kill us. The Islanders pay 40 to 60 cents, so that is what makes them look at wind power. (See Maine PUC std offer and delivery rates below.) Islanders are desperate. Lots of states that rely upon traditional generation pay 7 cents. http://www.maine.gov/mpuc/electricity/delivery_rates.shtml ------------------- http://www.maine.gov/mpuc/electricity/standard_offer_rates/current_sorates_cou.html
April 4, 2010 at 2:13 PM Report abuse
mainerunr said...
so they're paying $0.34 per kWh? (1 kWh = 3412btu at 100% efficiency) and $3.20 per gallon of oil (1 gallon of oil = 110,400btu at 80% efficiency) 110,400btu / 3412 btu/kWh =32.35kWh 32.35*%0.34=$11.00 or at 'mainland' rates, $5.50. So, if they were paying more than that for oil, it might make sense...
April 5, 2010 at 10:01 AM Report abuse