August 2004 Newsletter

Wind Warriors: Engineers Test the Area's Potential for Wind Power

Monday, July 5, 2004
By Lorraine Cavener, Twin Falls Times-News

Gerald Fleischman was on a safari – a wind safari. Dressed in expedition-style clothing and driving a mustard-yellow, 20 percent diesel-powered Dodge Ram, all he needed to measure the wind was loaded in the back of his pickup.

Fleischman, a staff engineer for the Idaho Energy Division, and his team of interns erected an anemometer on state endowment property to measure the wind this past week at a location about 15 miles south of Malta. It was installed atop a 66-foot metal pole, which was held in place by guide wires anchored in the ground.

The anemometer is a small electronic device containing a data chip that measures wind speed, direction and other data that can be downloaded into a computer and charted. The data, which is a crucial element in determining whether a site has commercial development potential, will be collected for one year.

The group, which also consisted of a five-person team lead by Kurt Myers, an Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory principal engineer, received a $75,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Powering America program to help a rural electric company get involved with wind power development, Fleischman said.

Officials from the Department of Energy, INEEL and the Bonneville Power Administration combined heads and ranked electric co-op territories for wind potential, he said.

Raft River Rural Electric Co-op was chosen No. 1

The purpose of the Wind Powering America program is research, development and testing, Myers said. "We want to collect data to help some of those projects happen," Myers said.

Economics are not the only reasons to promote wind power, he said. National security efforts could benefit, too. "It would reduce our dependence on foreign countries for energy," he said.

Congress needs to act to help promote the wind industry, Myers said. While federal assistance has lapsed, wind power won't always depend on government help, he said. "Eventually it will get to the point to where it doesn't need incentives to be competitive," Myers said.

Leroy Jarolimek, who recently erected a wind turbine with help of a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, agreed that incentives are needed to give the wind industry a boost. Jarolimek has been looking for financing for his project and continues to help with other wind projects such as the Malta anemometer. "Banks don't want to touch it," he said.

"Maybe we need to take some of our bankers to Minnesota," Fleischman said. "Bankers there are loaning on it." Minnesota has state incentives for wind projects, he said.

Part of the money generated from renewable energy projects in that state goes into a pool to help more wind projects, Jarolimek said. "We've got to work with the Legislature to get some of those things put in," he said. "Right now I'm running up against a brick wall."

Jarolimek used a hydraulic motor this past Wednesday to help auger down the anchors for the cable, which hold up the anemometer. Before he started bringing the motor along to help with wind projects the anchors were put in place by hand. "You could spend three hours and work a whole bunch of guys to death," he said.

As the group anchored the cables among cactus, sagebrush and cow pies, an Idaho downpour started. One thing seemed promising – the wind was blowing.