Hook Your Wind Machine to the Grid
With the help of a couple important federal financial incentives, it can make sense to take the action outlined herein, including be your own friendly local utility, tax incentives, energy future.
With the help of a couple of important federal
financial incentives, it can make sense to ...
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By Russ Ramsey
In the last five years, the use of wind energy has enjoyed
a powerful resurgence in the United States. And the
proliferation of machines that employ moving air to
generate electricity can largely be attributed to two
pieces of federal legislation, both of which resulted from
the recognition of our nation's energy predicament back in
the 1970's. These two important incentives can actually
turn a wind system that costs as much as $3,000 per
kilowatt of capacity into a wise financial investment.
YOU, THE FRIENDLYLOCAL
UTILITY
In 1978 Congress passed the Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act (PURPA), which contains a provision, Section
210, that—among other things—specifies that
utilities must buy power from (and sell power to)
independent producers of electricity who utilize renewable
sources of energy. Under PURPA, an owner of a wind machine
is guaranteed a connection with his or her local utility.
The wind systems of a couple of generations ago had battery
banks to store their excess production. These plants were
designed to be electrically independent, simply because
there was no centralized source of power in the form of a
utility grid. Admittedly, windplants of the 20's and early
30's were far better than the alternatives: motor
generators or no electricity at all. But when the wind
stopped blowing for extended periods, their battery banks
did eventually go flat. And, until the wind came up again,
the residents either had to fire up a backup generator or
go without electricity.
Today the utility grid can offer a windmachine owner an
essentially unlimited source of backup power. And the
utility's interconnection charge—which the system
owner must bear—is far less than the cost of buying
and maintaining a battery bank.
Hooking into the grid provides another important benefit,
in the form of a constant customer for excess electrical
production. Since a wind machine's capacity will sometimes
be greater than the amount of power that's needed (in the
middle of a windy night, for example), it's very convenient
to have someone around to purchase the excess.
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