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.
What is the Community Wind Project?
The 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 you get your community wind project going.
Consider the benefits to rural Pennsylvania. . .
Just 100 megawatts of locally-owned wind power could mean $14 million in annual revenues and many environmental benefits (see Table below). Currently, Pennsylvania has 294 megawatts of wind power, enough electricity for 90,000 homes (see American Wind Energy Association’s Wind Profile of Pennsylvania). These 294 megawatts are a significant source of sustainable economic development benefits as clean electricity pour thousands of dollars into rural communities while not using any water or emitting any pollution. However, none of these projects is locally-owned and so community-based wind power is still a mostly untapped resource. This means there are great wind resource areas that larger corporations might not be interested in because they can't do a large enough project--but a smaller project would benefit the community!
Economic and Environmental Impact of 100 MW
of Community Wind in Pennsylvania [1]
Economic | Benefits | 100MW |
| Kwh production | 260,100,000 |
| Number of US homes equivalent | 30,000 |
| Revenue | $14 million |
| Capital investment | $170 million |
Environmental | Carbon Dioxide (lbs) | 147 million |
Nitrous Oxide | 676,000 |
| Sulfur Dioxide | 1.6 million |
[1] Source: Economic Calculations: use a 30% capacity factor, typical of Pennsylvania, assume a Class 3+ wind resource and a $1.7 million per installed megawatt estimation for capital costs and $0.06/kwh for wholesale revenue (an average PPA rate in Pennsylvania according to Tom Tuffey); Note: many of these projects may be net metered resulting in much higher revenue/cost savings; Offset Calculations: uses figures from EPA Power Profiler—eGRID and NC Greenpower
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
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).
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. | .jpg "Wind Projects") |
How the Community Wind Project works. . .
The Community Wind Project exists to help Pennsylvania landowners assess their wind resource and develop community wind projects. The Center works with industry specialists to select possible sites, review applications and choose the best wind sites.
Selected sites receive a meteorological (met) tower system which is installed and maintained by professionals. Wind data is collected monthly and analyzed by a trained student-faculty team working closely with an experienced meteorologist specializing in wind energy.
Wind is typically tested for 12 months at which time data is analyzed and a summary report is prepared for the landowner. Also included in the summary report are the results of:
- Preliminary environmental review conducted by a trained faculty-student team that is advised by industry experts
- Preliminary financial analysis performed by another faculty-student team also working in tandem with industry professionals
The Center then acts as matchmaker to link good sites with qualified community wind developers by preparing and sharing with them Final Site Reports. Interested developers then work directly with the landowner who retains complete control over how--and even if--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.
Other Resources:
How Community Wind Gets Done
- Check out the official Community Wind Financing Handbook written by the Environmental Law and Policy Center which details how Community Wind projects are typically financed
Who is Doing Community Wind in the United States?
- You can check out these case studies of farmers, business owners, and schools from around the country that have successfully developed community wind projects.
Leading Community Wind Organizations in the U.S.: