Meteorological towers in Presque Isle, Mapleton to record data
THE MAN NEAR THE MOON – A worker with Tower Services of Bangor makes adjustments to the meteorological tower that was installed last week in the northeast corner of the ball fields – about 1,000 feet from the road – at Presque Isle Middle School. The met tower is about 150 feet tall and will collect wind data at various heights to ensure suitable wind speeds for a pending wind energy initiative in SAD 1. A second met tower will be erected at Mapleton Elementary School this week.
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – With one meteorological tower already installed and a second one to be set up this week, SAD 1 officials will now collect data to determine if money can be saved by erecting wind turbines.
A meteorological or met tower was installed in the northeast corner of the ball fields – about 1,000 feet from the road – at Presque Isle Middle School Jan. 22-24 while another tower is scheduled to be erected at Mapleton Elementary School on a piece of farmland this week. The met towers will collect wind data at various heights to ensure suitable wind speeds for a pending wind energy initiative in SAD 1.
“The met tower at the middle school is about 150 feet tall,” said Superintendent Gehrig Johnson, “while the one at Mapleton tops out at 200 feet. The middle school tower height was limited by the FAA because of the proximity of the Northern Maine Regional Airport and the fact that it’s on high ground to begin with.”
Original plans had called for a similar tower to be located by the baseball fields near Presque Isle High School to check the feasibility of providing wind power for both the high school and Zippel Elementary School. Also researched was a fourth tower at the SAD 1 Educational Farm located on 38 acres at 340 State St. Those plans have since been abandoned due to FAA restrictions.
Recognizing that the district is one of the largest electricity users in the county, Johnson said wind power was one option being studied to lower the cost of electricity for future generations.
“SAD 1 is facing very difficult financial pressures and we will not keep our budget balanced by simply cutting positions and programs. We need to reduce our fixed costs where possible and electricity is our biggest fixed cost … $375,000 per year,” he said. “This wind power initiative could substantially lower our electricity cost at Mapleton Elementary School and PIMS, and we will do it without impacting our operating budget by using federal grant funds.”
The met towers will remain up for nine months to a year.
“The more data you have with any feasibility study, the better off you’re going to be,” said Larry Fox, wind power project coordinator for SAD 1. “We think we’ll have some meaningful data a year from now.”
The data will be analyzed and a report will be provided to Johnson who will then make a recommendation to the board of directors.
“With that data, they’ll be able to do a cost analysis regarding a return on our investment, so we’ll know whether we want to take the next step which would be installing the wind turbines,” said Johnson. “We think the data will be positive because of apparent windy conditions at the middle school, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
“The wind data will be used to help size the wind turbine, as well,” said Fox. “The amount of wind will help to determine how large a unit we’d need.”
The met towers are being installed by Tower Services of Bangor.
“The permitting process was a little more complicated than we thought it would be,” said Johnson, “but we’re happy to have things in place to begin collecting data.”
If data results are favorable, Mapleton Elementary School and PIMS could likely be powered with wind energy beginning in 2011.
SAD 1 is the first school system in Maine to pursue wind power as an energy source in its public schools.
CREWS FROM TOWER SERVICES of Bangor installed a 150-foot tall meteorological tower at Presque Isle Middle School Jan. 22-24. A second met tower will be erected this week at Mapleton Elementary School. The towers will collect wind data at various heights to ensure suitable wind speeds for a pending wind energy initiative in SAD 1. Mapleton’s tower will be about 200 feet tall.
