BY TONY BARTELME
The Post and Courier
Saturday, November 14, 2009
As Santee Cooper explores the feasibility of building a wind farm off the Carolina coast, it's also looking at the viability of generating power from small wind turbines in Georgetown County, officials said Friday.
Crews plan to install an anemometer at the end of Georgetown Fishing Pier next week. Engineers will monitor winds for three to six months.
If the wind is sufficient, Santee Cooper could install a 2-kilowatt wind turbine there.
"We think these projects offer a great learning opportunity for students, and they will help us all learn about this important potential renewable energy resource," said Marc Tye, Santee Cooper's vice president of conservation and renewable energy.
Santee Cooper already has gathered data on wind speeds on land and found the wind isn't strong enough to generate enough power on a large scale.
Winds blow much harder off the coast, however, and earlier this year Santee Cooper and Coastal Carolina University stationed buoys at the south and north ends of the Grand Strand to measure wind speeds for a possible large-scale wind farm.
Turbines in offshore wind farms are capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 750 homes. A 2-kilowatt generator, however, would be more suitable for a single home.
Santee Cooper also plans to test winds at Morgan Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment