Tue Feb 09 2010
PETTISVILLE -- Officials at Pettisville Local Schools believe that wind power can cut their electricity costs, while providing important educational opportunities for their students and community members.
The district was recently selected by Green Energy Ohio (GEO) and the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) for participation in the 2009-10 Ohio Anemometer Loan Program (ALP). Monitoring towers for the site will be installed in August.
According to superintendent Dr. Stephen Switzer, the board of education plans to locate the tower to the south of the property the school just purchased in the general location of the proposed turbine.
"It is anticipated that the tower will be installed during the week of Aug. 24," said Switzer. "We anticipate a ceremony involving our school students. The event may coincide with a groundbreaking for our new building project. Plans are tentative at the current time."
According to AWS Truewind, the Pettisville site has a projected average wind speed of 5.93 miles per second or 13.3 mph at a height of 60 meters.
Pettisville Local Schools is planning to install a commercial-sized wind turbine (approximately 600 kilowatts) adjacent to the school campus to generate electricity for on-site use with a net-metering agreement. Pettisville is designing a new LEED silver accredited pre-k to grade 12 facility that will use geothermal technology to provide heating and cooling and wind-generated electricity to provide a majority of the building's electricity.
Pettisville has assembled a team of local school and community leaders to pursue a wind development project, the "Fulton Wind Project," and are working diligently to obtain necessary funds from public and private sources. The district has outlined clear plans to educate students and community members about the project.
"Pettisville schools is very appreciative of Green Energy Ohio for this grant and their support of the Fulton Wind Project," said Switzer.
"The data we will collect will supplement that gathered in Archbold last year and provide an increasing base of information to support development of a wind industry in Fulton County and northwest Ohio. For Pettisville, this grant award will bring us one step closer to our goal of building a new geothermal school powered substantially by wind energy."
Funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and ODOD, Ohio ALP is managed by GEO, a statewide non-profit advocate of renewable energy sources. Ohio ALP was designed to provide assistance to non-profit organizations such as municipalities, school districts and park districts, along with small businesses/industries that are interested in developing wind power but that may lack the money and the expertise to perform these predevelopment tasks. Preference is given to those organizations/businesses that best show their potential for the development of a wind energy project.
Under Ohio ALP, qualified applicants can borrow equipment from a dedicated ALP inventory and obtain wind-monitoring study services, such as site inspection, equipment installation, data analysis/reporting and program management.
Monitoring studies are conducted over a 12-month period. Site sponsors receive data summary files and monthly tabular and graphical analytical summaries that characterize the site's potential for wind power generation.
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