Wind Farm

Background and upgrade plan

PMLD has removed the old eight 40kW wind turbines and will replace them with two new 1.5MW wind turbines mounted on 70 meter towers. The new wind turbines will produce approximately 40% of our town’s annual energy requirements.

The Wind Farm Commissioning Ceremony -- May 15, 2010.

Wind Turbine Facts.

Assembly & erection of the wind mills:
Thanks to Sam Feinsilver:
- Slide show: FAST -NORMAL -SLOW (Small delay while the files download.)
Thanks to Onsite Studios: Here's a timelapse video of the erection of both wind turbines.

Recent news articles about this project:

Windmills producing even better than estimated. (Landmark article, July 22, 2010)
Feds honor Light Dept. with national award for piloting windfarm. (Landmark article, July 22, 2010)
Windy winter means more watts. (Landmark article, March 4, 2010)
Wind for sale - PRINCETON STARTS TURBINES SPINNING. (T&G article, December 13, 2009)
Second windmill is up at PMLD wind site. (Landmark article, October 29, 2009)
Windmill construction underway. (Landmark article, October 15, 2009)
Wind power is poised to return. (T&G article, October 9, 2009)
Crane assembled - ready to erect windmills. (Landmark article, September 17, 2009)
Windmill parts driver in it for the long haul . (Landmark article, September 17, 2009)
Windmill towers are next to arrive. (Landmark article, September 3, 2009)
Wind wends way to new tower site. (T&G article, August 29, 2009)
Blade runner -- Windmill blades finish their journey (Landmark article, August 20, 2009)
Pieces come into place for $7.3M wind project. (T&G article, July 24, 2009)
Something's in the wind in Princeton. (Landmark article, July 16, 2009)
Tower rings arrive at wind site. (Landmark article, November 26, 2008)
Land swap finalized at wind farm. (Landmark article, October 30, 2008)
Site preparation at wind farm almost complete. (Landmark article, September 18, 2008)
$7.15 million financing for wind turbines in place. (Landmark article, December 20, 2007)
Groundbreaking. (Landmark article) August 24, 2007.
Detailed report prepared by Jonathan Fitch, PMLD General Manager, March, 2006.
Petition for exemption from town zoning by-laws.

Other sites for information on wind as an energy resource:

Wind Turbine Facts
PHYSICAL	PMLD’s wind farm site is approximately 1,450 feet above sea level. The tower height is 215 feet (65 meters) above ground level. Maximum height of the turbine structure — with blade straight up — is approximately 360 feet (108.6 meters) above ground level.

COMPONENTS	The tower sections were manufactured in Minnesota. They were delivered and installed in three pieces. The blades were manufactured in South Dakota. Each blade is approximately 125 feet (37.5 meters) long and each weighs 6 tons. The wind turbine-generator manufacturer is Fuhrlaender from Germany. Each generator weighs approximately 60 tons.

ROTATIONAL SPEED	Normal turbine speed is 17-20 RPM. Minimum wind speed to start producing energy is 7 MPH (3 meters per second). Wind speed to produce the rated power output is 27 MPH (12 meters per second). The maximum blade tip speed is approximately 204 mph. Cutout wind speed is 45 MPH (20 meters per second) and the survival wind speed is 133 MPH (59.5 meters per second).

ELECTRICAL	The rated power output of each turbine is 1,500 kilowatts (KW). Annual energy output of the two turbines is approximately 9,000,000 KWH. Together, both turbines generate the equivalent annual energy consumption of 900 homes. They will generate approximately 40% of Princeton’s annual energy requirements.

OPERATING	The blades act just like airplane blades and are ‘lifted’ by the wind to turn the generator shaft. The pitch of each blade is computer-controlled to optimize energy production at various wind speeds. The wind turbines use an anemometer and wind vane to sense wind speed and direction. This data tells the wind turbines what direction to point towards and when to start or stop. The electricity generated by the wind turbines feeds PMLD’s electric grid. This lowers the net amount of energy required from PMLD’s energy contracts.

FINANCIAL	Cost to purchase and install the two turbines was approximately $7,300,000. The estimated energy production cost is $0.07 per KWH. The expected lifespan of the wind turbines is 20-25 years.

The new wind farm in Princeton (November, 2009)

Early view of the wind farm in Princeton as it was being constructed. (circa October, 1984)	Erection of the new wind farm. (October, 2009) Click image to view slide show.