Peaks Island is getting closer to testing its wind resources.
On March 25, the Peaks Island Council unanimously approved a resolution supporting the testing of the wind on Peaks and asking the Portland City Council for its support as well.
Peaks is now awaiting language from Mary Costigan, the City of Portland’s associate corporation counsel, for a height exemption that would permit a 111-foot tall meteorological tower to be set up at Trott-Littlejohn Park (near the middle of the island) for a year. The City of Portland’s zoning code limits structure heights to 35 feet everywhere on the island.
City Councilor, Dave Marshall (District 2), has assisted us with this request. Trott-Littlejohn Park is not bound by conservation easements as is the naval tower where we had earlier hoped to set up meteorological equipment but could not do so because of a 90 day limit for “temporary structures” on island conservation land.
Associate Professor Mick Womersley, Ph.D, of Unity College, plans to compare the data collected from the tower with other local data from weather stations, wind buoys, and a Maine Forest Service anemometer at the transfer station in order to verify the potential for electricity generation from the wind resource on Peaks.
Wind direction, speed, and the frequency with which it blows at different velocities will all be recorded for at least a year.
The data will then be analyzed by Unity College, and if the potential for power generation seems good, it could then be matched to several turbines of similar size in order to see which turbine can produce the most power given the wind resource. Unity College undertakes such projects to train its students for green jobs in the wind industry while providing a needed service to Maine communities. The college is being supported in its community wind assessment efforts by Efficiency Maine, part of the Maine Public Utilities Commission charged with developing renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, particularly those related to electricity transmission and distribution.
Once the height exemption language is ready, we expect a Portland Planning Board hearing on our request, followed by a vote of the Portland City Council.
It is hoped that the tower will be up and functioning some time in the next several months, and we look forward to working with the Peaks Island Land Preserve, folks from the anticipated Community Garden, and others who use the park for recreation to make sure that the tower is sited is sited compatibly with other uses.
Meanwhile, the Peaks Environmental Action Team (PEAT), our grassroots island group, is applying for non-profit status which should help us acquire funding to further investigate the development of a modest wind project should the wind resource prove sufficient.
No decisions have been made yet regarding the size or location of any future turbine, as wind velocities must be proven adequate first.
A turbine does not have to be located on the exact spot where the wind data is being collected. The Portland City Planning Division is in the process of drafting an ordinance that would govern the siting of wind turbines.
As part of a preliminary assessment, Womersley also suggested that any wind data collected at the site might be valuable to the Governor’s Ocean Energy Task Force, which is looking at the possible development of offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Maine.
Womersley, along with Cody Floyd, a student who is learning wind assessment science, and Katherine Roux, an environmental educator working for Efficiency Maine, visited Peaks Island on Feb. 17 to look at potential sites for the meteorological tower and possible turbine sites.
“The basic physical situation of Peaks Island makes it a good option for community or commercial wind power development,” wrote Womersley in his report, dated Feb. 18. “The land mass is relatively low-lying in Casco Bay. It is open to the bay and the Gulf of Maine to the east. To the west lies the City of Portland.”