For the past two years, the Peaks Environmental Action Team’s (PEAT) wind group has worked toward testing the wind resource on Peaks Island. The group has hosted community meetings and informational talks for island residents. Lead by Sam Saltonstall, this volunteer group spent hours exploring the issue, considering a variety of test options and looking at grant opportunities.
Last fall the University of Maine and Efficiency Maine awarded PEAT the loan of a 100′ tall meteorological tower to test the wind on Peaks, but various delays have slowed implementation of the project until this summer. The tower loan will allow for one year of wind data gathering. Once a year’s worth of wind data is collected, the information will be analyzed to determine whether a wind turbine project might be viable.
PEAT worked with a variety of island organizations and city departments to bring this project forward, first securing a unanimous endorsement from the Peaks Island Council. PEAT then provided useful information as the Portland City Planning Department created its wind testing ordinance, which required city council approval before a height exemption could be provided for the tower.
With a grant from the Peaks Island Fund, PEAT obtained a city-required tower safety report. Working with the City of Portland, PEAT has secured conditional use approval to site the test tower in Trott-Littlejohn Park, which is city-owned land in the center of the island-zoned recreational open space.
With the support of local donations and an Island Institute grant, liability and property insurance was purchased. PEAT worked collaboratively with the new Peaks Island Community Garden to site and insure the tower. A building permit was issued and this spring a $1 lease, signed with the city, formalized the use of space in Trott-Littlejohn Park for the test site.
In early August, after a full year of investigation and a second year of preparation, the tower installer finally broke ground for the project and buried the three required cable anchors to which the tower’s guy wires will be attached.
On August 9, Dr. Mick Womersley from Unity College, along with a team of students, successfully performed pull tests to ensure the anchors exceed the manufacturer’s strength specifications. The stage was set for the installation of the met tower.
On a rainy Tuesday morning, August 24 to be exact, the tower was delivered and erected. Now that the tower is in place, a fence has been set up around it and a sign posted to describe the purpose of the project. The guy wires have been flagged to be highly visible to the hikers and horseback riders who frequent the park.
Visitors to the site will see two small spinning anemometers affixed to two horizontal arms and a wind vane. Those devices wind velocity and direction. The data will be logged to be analyzed by the University of Maine.
At the end of the testing period, the tower, fencing, and anchors will be removed from the site. Most importantly, islanders will learn whether wind velocities are sufficient to investigate the feasibility of a small community wind project.
Mary Terry is the Island Institute’s community development director and a resident of Peaks Island.