Renewable Energy Center

Community Wind Project

Wind Assessment for Citizen-Powered Energy Projects

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What is Community Wind?
Community wind is large-scale wind power typically owned by public or private entities for on-site usage or sale to the grid. Projects can consist of one to several turbines and produce 100 kilowatts – 10 megawatts (enough power for 10 – 2,500 homes respectively). The key feature of community wind is local ownership which maximizes local benefit. Project costs are typically $300,000 - $3 million plus dollars and can take 5 – 7 years to put together. The long-term benefits to the community, measured in energy security, increased revenue, and solidarity, however, last a lot longer. Here are lots of examples of successful community wind projects and our Community Wind Project FAQs.

APPLY NOW
What is the Community Wind Project?
The Renewable Energy Center's Community Wind Project was established in 2005 to support community wind development in Pennsylvania by offering technical assistance, feasibility analysis, and project development consulting. In a word, we help jumpstart your community wind project. There has been an incredible amount of interest. We've received over 600 applications from nearly every county in Pennsylvania. We have 9 wind assessment projects in 5 counties and 5 sites with a full 12 months of data. See where we've collected a full 12 months of data.

Of course they are smiling, the Hull Wind Project in Hull, Massachusetts helps that town save over $150,000 a year and the municipal utility owns the two turbines themselves. Learn more about the Hull Wind Project. . .
Links:
^{Check out our Assessment Site Map and Data}
^{Wondering what makes a good wind site? Here's what we look for.}
^{Learn more about community wind}
^{Learn about the benefits of community wind for Pennsylvania}

How the Community Wind Project works. . .
APPLY NOW
The Community Wind Project is for community and business leaders with a serious interest in working on behalf of their business, agency, or institution and their community for a prosperous and healthy future. Successful applicants will have a 50-meter meteorological tower installed at their site for a 12-month preliminary feasibility study.

Our 5 Step Community Wind Project Process:

1. Community Wind Project Application
REC provides desktop analysis and submits a PA Natural Diversity Index review to assess any environmentally sensitive areas and, if warranted, a site visit is completed

2. Permitting and Approvals
Building permits and environmental permits are submitted by the landowner for the installation of the meteorological tower.

3. Community Meeting
REC provides a public presentation and open discussion

4. Participation Agreement
An agreement between REC and the landowner is signed

5. Meteorological Tower Installation
REC installs the met tower and performs data collection and analysis

The Center then links good sites with qualified community wind developers by preparing and sharing with them Final Site Reports (see examples). Interested developers then work directly with the landowner who retains complete control over how a project gets developed on their land and in their community. Call us at (814) 472-2872 for more details on how we serve businesses and communities with the Community Wind Project.

"I was pleased wth all the support I felt at the Borrowers Workshop. There was room for us to participate and ask questions. Your team and all the presenters had lots of expertise, energy and enthusiasm.”

-Community Wind Project client

Two Basic Approaches to Community Wind

As the illustration to the right shows, there are two basic ways community wind projects can be structured.

For Sale to the Grid or a Consortium of End Users
They can be one to several turbines in a windy location not close to a large energy user in which case the electricity is sold to the grid. Here is an example of a “for sale to the grid” project. The owners and investors receive revenue from the sale of the electricity to the power purchaser (usually a utility) and possibly from the use of a federal Wind Energy Production Tax Credit (currently 2 cents/kwh) and even Renewable Energy Credits (whose market value varies widely). Electricity can also be sold to a consortium of very large electricity end-users such as a project in 2009 in eastern Pennsylvania described here.

On-Site Usage or Net Metered
They can be one or several large turbines that generate electricity for a large energy user such as a water treatment facility, prison, university, municipal utility or business. This kind of arrangement can be referred to as net metering. Here is an example of a net metered project.

Links for more information:

^{Check out our Assessment Site Map and Data}

^{Wondering what makes a good wind site? Here's what we look for.}

^{Learn more about community wind}

^{Learn about the benefits of community wind for Pennsylvania}

Above: Two General Ways Wind Generated Electricity is used

Saint Francis University