Final Project Site Report
Portage, PA
Project Summary
The Saint Francis University Renewable Energy Center’s Community Wind Project installed a meteorological tower at a site near Portage, Pennsylvania, Cambria County, to assess the site’s wind energy potential. The mean monthly wind speed was recorded from March 2006 through September 2007 at 3 different levels, 15m (49 feet), 30m (98 feet) and 50m (164 feet). At the highest level 50m (164 feet) the mean average wind speed was 10.2 mph. Other summary data, graphs and tables can be found on the pages to follow. A Rural Electric Cooperative substation is located 2.5 miles to the northwest of this property with a second one located 5 miles to the west. A 500kV line runs 1.5 miles to the south, a 138 kV line runs 1.5 miles to the southeast and a 115kV line runs 4.5 miles to the north of the met tower. The tower was located 200 yards from the primary building. The school’s annual electricity usage is approximately 1.15 million kilowatt hours.
Project Location
The monitoring equipment was installed on 1 acre of partly forested school district property near Portage, PA at an elevation of 1, 977 feet. The site is located at N 40° 22’ 58.3”, W 78° 39’ 44.1”.
Monitoring Equipment
NRG Symphonie System including one 50m tower, a NRG Symphonie data logger with shelter box, 6 #40C anemometers, 2 #200P wind direction vanes, 1 temperature sensor, sensor cabling, 1lightning spike with 2 grounding rods and copper grounding wire.
Wind Shear Information
Power law exponent: 0.508
Surface Roughness: 3.43 m
Roughness Class: 4.94
Other Site Information
The electric utility provider is Penelec.* This site is located directly in the town of Portage. As shown on the following maps. There is a thin line of trees 50m to the west, and forest 50m to the east and 60m to the north. The field opens to the south, but is stopped by forest after 100m. Trees are 60' tall. A gravel road comes within 100m of the met site, the rest of the way is overgrass. A large storage tank is 80m to the northwest. The schools are over 200m to the west and northwest.
See Graphs and Tables
Full Report PDF