HomeMy WebLinkAbout02072012 Energy Study Committee MinutesDraft Minutes for The ESC Subcommittee on Wind Turbine Risk Assessment meeting on
Feb 7th., 2012, 1.30 pm, Conference Rm., 2 Fairgrounds Rd.
Next scheduled meeting Tuesday, Feb. 14th., 2012, 1.30 pm, Conference Rm., 2
Fairgrounds Rd.
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Peter Morrison at 1.35 pm. In attendance
were subcommittee members Peter Morrison, Whitey Willauer, John Stover, Chris
Magee and Ian Golding. David Strong, Senior Project Manager of Sustainable
Energies Development, was on speaker phone, as was George Aronson, Principal of
CommonWealth Resource Management. Also present were Selectmen Rick Atherton,
Lauren Sinatra, Energy Project & Outreach Coordinator, Jason Graziadei from the
Inquirer and Mirror, Frank Kaminsky, Bill Tornovish and Julia Lindner.
The minutes from the meeting of Feb. 7th. were adopted. Frank Kaminsky and Peter
Morrison introduced three short papers on energy production and wind variations,
relevant measures of turbine capacity, and the wind resources at Madaket. The
updated one page 900 kW Pre-RFP Engineering Estimate, with escalation cost of
3% for 2013, was discussed. David Strong provided a brief ‘behind the data’ recap
of the 45% CAP assessment: initial Tall Tower data compiled by UMass, AWS “State
of the Art” software used for correlation, final data verified by Frank Kaminsky. The
different performance characteristics of Class 1 and Class 2 turbines were compared;
it was ascertained that the economics of the pro forma are based on the Class 2
wind conditions prevailing at Madaket. David stated that the power curves for the
PowerWind56 had been observed and verified by an independent third party, and that
the turbine chosen should be certified to IEC standards. The discrepancy between the
SED and B&V studies with regards to “losses” was examined in detail before a vote was
taken to accept the SED figure of 10%. The lack of hard data for turbine losses, not
generally recorded and considered hard to quantify, was noted. George Aronson gave
his analysis of the present and near-future RECS market, and expressed the view that
there was “zero risk RECS will be dropped.”
The meeting was adjourned at 3.41 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Ian Golding