Subject: Wind Energy Weekly #5 1/2

From: [email-masked] (Howard Smith)
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 93 13:32:00 -0700

This message was from [email-masked] to HOWARD SMITH
originally in conference EMAIL
and was forwarded to you by HOWARD SMITH
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[The following is the electronic edition of _Wind Energy Weekly_,
Vol. 12, #554, 7.5.93, published by the American Wind Energy
Association.  For more information on the Association, contact
AWEA, 777 North Capitol Street, Suite 805, Washington, DC 20002,
USA, phone (202) 408-8988, FAX (202) 408-8536, email
[email-masked]]

ENDLESS ENERGY OBTAINS
PERMIT ON MAINE PROJECT

     Endless Energy Corporation said June 24 that it has received
a conditional use permit from the Carrabassett Valley (Me.)
Planning Board for a windfarm on Sugarloaf Mountain that, when
built, will be Maine's first and New England's largest wind
project.

     The company had previously received a permit from the Maine
Department of Environmental Protection, and now plans to begin
construction in the fall with the project going on line on January
1, 1994.

     Central Maine Power Co. (CMP) signed a contract with Endless
Energy in 1989 to purchase 15 megawatts of power from windfarms at
up to three sites.  The contract allowed CMP to determine if wind
energy could contribute to Maine's electricity supplies without CMP
having to risk any rate payer money.  Endless Energy in turn was
able to raise capital based on the contract and sign contracts with
landowners.

     Endless Energy now has agreements with three landowners for
sites which can hold 70 MW of wind generating capacity.  Once the
pilot project at Sugarloaf proves itself, the company plans to move
on to these other sites, according to president Harley Lee.  "This
approach to wind energy starting with a small pilot at an already
developed site will allow Mainers to learn about the technology
gradually", Lee said in a news release.  "In other parts of the US
and world, public approval of wind energy has risen after wind
turbines were installed.  I think that once the people of Maine see
our turbines spinning up on Sugarloaf, they will be quite
supportive of our larger projects".

     Endless Energy has been measuring the winds on Maine mountains
since 1988 and has found a power generating resource comparable
with the wind farm sites in California and Europe, Lee said.  The
company will use modern wind turbines with 500-kW generators.  The
turbines are expected to produce well over 1 million kWh annually
each.  (A typical residential CMP customer uses about 7,000 kWh a
year.)  The towers will be 128 feet tall and the blades 128 feet in
diameter.

     The permits allow the installation of up to seven wind
turbines along the ridge at Sugarloaf Mountain ski area between the
summit and the shoulder of the mountain where Bullwinkle's Grill,
a restaurant, is located.  Sugarloaf's management recently
expressed some concern about the effects of wind turbines on its
ski business and wants to start with a small project, Lee said.

     In a recent letter to local residents, Warren Cook, president
of Sugarloaf Mountain Corporation, said, "We are interested in more
efficient and/or lower cost energy.  We are also concerned about
the visual impact on our area, community, and guests of the
resort".  Sugarloaf and Endless Energy are currently in
negotiations on the best number of turbines to begin the project.

DANISH OWNERS RATE
THEIR WIND TURBINES

     Danish turbine manufacturers Bonus, Wind World, and Vestas
were ranked most highly in the recently-published 1992 version of
the publication WindStats's annual turbine owners' survey.

     This year, WindStats asked wind turbine owners in Denmark to
grade manufacturers as poor, average, good, or excellent on
turbine quality, manufacturer guarantee, service guarantee, and
machine reliability, i.e., performance and availability. Of nearly
1,500 survey cards sent out, a total of 788 were returned
representing 905 turbines, or 26 percent of the more than 3,400
wind  turbines installed in Denmark. Of the twenty-five different
manufacturers represented by at least one response, only eleven
received 15 or more replies.

The top four manufacturers in each category include:

Turbine Reliability

Wind World     3.42
Bonus          3.31
Nordex         3.29

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