HomeMy WebLinkAbout01202012 Energy Study Committee MinutesMinutes for The ESC Subcommittee on Wind Turbine Risk Assessment meeting on
January 20th., 1.00 pm, Conference Rm., 2 Fairgrounds Rd.
Next scheduled meeting January 26th, 2012, 1.30 pm, Conference Rm., 2 Fairgrounds
Rd.
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Peter Morrison at 1.05 pm. In attendance
were subcommittee members Peter Morrison, Whitey Willauer, Chris Magee, John
Stover, Ken Blackshaw and Ian Golding. David Strong, Senior Project Manager
of Sustainable Energies Development, was on speaker phone, as was George
Aronsonson, Principal of CommonWealth Resource Management. Also present were
Selectmen Rick Atherton and Bobby DeCosta, Lauren Sinatra, Energy Project &
Outreach Coordinator, Jason Graziadei from the Inquirer and Mirror, David Worth, Frank
Kaminsky, Bill Tornovish, and Matt Mulcahy.
The minutes from the meeting of January 12th. were adopted. It was agreed that the
Response Matrix provided by George Aronson in response to questions raised in Frank
Kaminsky’s letter, Comments on the Economic Analysis, would form the basis for the
agenda.
A discussion ensued concerning the difference between the average wind speed
value presented by SED [8.56 m/s] and the data of UMass RERL [8.8 m/s]. Data
from the demolished Madaket ‘Tall’ Tower, Nantucket Airport, and the Buzzard’s Bay
Navigation Tower was compared and evaluated, as were mathematical variations
in probability and ranges of standard deviation. In response to Bobby DeCosta’s
observation that readings at the BB Tower were often affected by the vortex of tide and
heat from onshore and did not necessarily reflect conditions a few miles offshore, David
Strong agreed that while the correlation was not perfect, the model developed by the
meteorologists at AWS Truepower compensated for those types of factors. He also
stated that “the Tall Tower data set was really good.” There was general agreement
that the figure of 8.56 m/s seemed realistic. David Worth expressed his concerns that
the operating characteristics had been insufficiently examined. David Strong mentioned
that the turbine at the High School had had a “98.6% availability over the first year.”
A graph as to the probabilities associated with the turbine’s potential energy production
was introduced, and the different economic implications and outcomes of both net
metering and behind the meter were considered, as were the political risks implicit
in the long-term continuity of the net metering program, a downside risk that George
Aronson characterized as being “very low.” A meeting between George and the DPU
to discuss the constraints imposed by Nantucket’s current net metering allowance has
been scheduled for January 31st.
Factors affecting overall capital costs in addition to construction costs were discussed,
including interest rates, reserves for debt service payments before the project comes
online, annual inflation, barge and crane costs, final turbine size, insurance costs, and
the possibility of road construction to the turbine site.
Bobby requested additional calculations using a lower capacity factor for the turbine
output.
The meeting was adjourned at 2.56 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Ian Golding