Another Washington County Windfarm

Bangor Daily News:

"First Wind plans to erect 17 wind turbines on Jimmey Mountain and Owl Mountain north of Route 169 in northern Washington County. The project, dubbed Stetson II, will extend First Wind’s 38-turbine Stetson Wind facility that was completed earlier this year on a ridgeline just south of Route 169.

Massachusetts-based First Wind received regulatory approval for Stetson II earlier this year but, like other wind power companies nationwide, had trouble lining up financing after the lending market for wind energy projects collapsed because of the recession."

Wind Power Fails

The problems in Kittery and Saco show that the site for windmills need to be thoroughly assessed before turbines are put up.

Portland Press Herald:

"In Maine, the theory and the practice never matched.

Saco and Kittery bought the wind turbines with the assurance that they would generate about 90,000 kilowatts a year. Entegrity guaranteed that output with the payment promise.

Saco's windmill generated only about 16,000 kilowatts from the time it was installed in February 2008 until this August, when a meter stopped transmitting data.

In Kittery, where the windmill was supposed to power a trash transfer station and lower the electricity bill for nearby Shapleigh Middle School, the machine generated about 35,000 kilowatts from September 2008 until this fall, when hydraulic brakes malfunctioned, locking the blades in place."

Tidal Energy Project

Mainebiz:

"Portland-based Ocean Renewable Power Co. will launch a demonstration project of its proprietary tidal turbine generator technology by early next year in Cobscook Bay, and expects to connect its first full-scale turbine to the power grid by the end of 2010.

'Once launched, the Energy Tide 2 will deploy the largest ocean energy device ever installed in U.S. waters,' said Chris Sauer, president and CEO of ORPC in a release. A prototype was launched in 2007 and tested for more than a year."

Vinalhaven Wind Turbines Up

Portland Press Herald:

"And on Tuesday, the $14.5 million Fox Islands Wind project officially goes on line with a ribbon-cutting event, marking the completion of Maine's first island wind project. It's also the largest community-owned wind project on East Coast.

Vinalhaven itself is a step back in time, a small, close community that looks out for its own. Stacks of lobster traps adorn the docks, and the cut granite that has been the island's industry for more than 100 years is everywhere.

The island has long generated its own power. Tidal waters flow under the Tidewater Motel, through the remains of a mill system that once used hydropower to run a granite cutting operation and a blacksmith's bellows with a network of belts. At one time, a coal-fueled power plant operated near where the ferry landing sits today."

Too Much Wind?

Sun Journal:

"Instead, everyone learned that such a project might not even be viable, because First Wind studies so far show that wind atop Black Mountain is too strong for wind turbine engineering to handle, said Matthew Kearns, vice president of business development for First Wind.

'The gusts are extraordinary, and that's a problem for wind turbine bearings,' Kearns said. 'Turbine blades like a nice even wind.'

He said Black Mountain meets the minimum siting requirements for wind turbines, but the wind is too intense."