Steel Winds
Encyclopedia
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
located on the coast of Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
in Lackawanna
Lackawanna, New York
Lackawanna is a city in Erie County, New York, U.S., located just south of the city of Buffalo in the western part of New York state. The population was 18,141 at the 2010 census. The name derives from the Lackawanna Steel Company...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, just south of the City of Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
proper in Erie County
Erie County, New York
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 919,040. The county seat is Buffalo. The county's name comes from Lake Erie, which in turn comes from the Erie tribe of American Indians who lived south and east of the lake before 1654.Erie...
. The project is situated on 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) of the 1600 acres (6.5 km²) brownfield
Brownfield land
Brownfield sites are abandoned or underused industrial and commercial facilities available for re-use. Expansion or redevelopment of such a facility may be complicated by real or perceived environmental contaminations. Cf. Waste...
that was the former Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
Plant. It was designed to produce 20-MW of electricity (enough to power 6,000 average American homes) or 9,000 homes in New York. Power is being sold into the NYS ISO grid for sale to retail customers. It is one of the largest urban wind power developments in the world.
The project is owned by First Wind, who will be selling energy, capacity and RECs to energy retailer Constellation NewEnergy through 2009. The project was built by Tennessee Valley Infrastructure Group, of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is operated by First Wind. Operation and maintenance services will be provided by the manufacturer of the turbines, Clipper Windpower
Clipper Windpower
Clipper Windpower is a wind turbine manufacturing company formed in 2001 by James G.P. Dehlsen, who also formed Zond in 1980. In December 2010 Clipper Windpower was acquired by United Technologies Corporation.-History:...
, for the first five years.http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=48803
The project uses the old steel mill's roads and off-site transmission lines, requiring little new infrastructure. The project cost was $40 Million.http://www.buffalorising.com/story/lackawanna_windmills_go_nation
Specifications
The project consists of eight Clipper WindpowerClipper Windpower
Clipper Windpower is a wind turbine manufacturing company formed in 2001 by James G.P. Dehlsen, who also formed Zond in 1980. In December 2010 Clipper Windpower was acquired by United Technologies Corporation.-History:...
2.5-MW Liberty series wind turbines. According to a press release from the manufacturer,
- The Project's Liberty 2.5 MW wind turbines are designed to mitigate loads to components found in many of today's multi-megawatt wind turbine designs through Clipper's patented Quantum Distributed Generation Drivetrain ("DGEN-Q") and the use of four unique permanent magnet generators. Proprietary variable speed technology also enables operation in a simpler, more efficient manner than standard wind turbine technologies. Grid integration is achieved through power factor regulation technology with ride-through capability which exceeds current and planned standards for electric grid operation; a 2-ton on-board crane simplifies maintenance to significantly reduce service-related costs. The 2.5 MW Liberty turbine installation can be accomplished with a crane sized for standard commercial 1.5 MW units.http://www.clipperwind.com/pr_072406.html
More detailed information can be downloaded from their site.http://www.clipperwind.com/pdf/liberty_brochure.pdf
Project history
The turbine components were manufactured in 2006 at Clipper's facility in Cedar Rapids, IowaCedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city...
, shipped overland at high cost to the project site in early 2007, constructed, and placed on-line in April 2007. This makes it the first commercial deployment of their 2.5-MW Liberty Series turbines.http://www.clipperwind.com/feature_steelwinds.html June 5, 2007 marked the start of full commercial operations.http://www.clipperwind.com/pr_060507.html
Norman Polanski, mayor of Lackawanna, NY, is a supporter of the project, using it as part of his re-election campaign. It is hoped to have a positive effect on tourism and attract industry to the area, as well as the possibility of manufacturing turbine equipment locally to reduce costs for future projects.
External links
- BQ Energy
- BQ Energy's Steel Winds Site - includes photo galleries, archived news articles and media coverage video clips
- Clipper Windpower
- UPC Wind
- TVIG