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July 2010

Vol. 15, No. 28 Week of July 11, 2010

Wildlife refuges installing wind turbines

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that this summer it is starting a “$3.1 million experiment” to boost the production of renewable energy through the use of wind turbines in two Alaska wildlife refuges. The primary purpose of the wind power production will be to heat the refuge headquarter buildings.

According to a Fish and Wildlife environmental assessment the project involves installing two turbines at the headquarters for the Alaska Peninsula/Becharof Refuge, with two other turbines placed at refuge facilities in King Salmon. Seven turbines will also be installed at the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge headquarters in Cold Bay.

Heating forms the biggest drain on refuge power use and the new turbines may reduce heating costs by 40 to 50 percent, said Bill Schaff, manager of the Alaska Peninsula/Becharof Refuge.

In the interest of minimizing the risk of bird strikes into turbine blades Fish and Wildlife is using turbines that rotate on a vertical axis, rather than the more commonly seen design with propeller-like blades mounted on a horizontal shaft. The vertical-axis blades, in form of curved shapes within a cylindrical pattern, rotate through a much smaller area than propeller-style blades.

No guy wires

In addition, the mounting of the turbine columns will not require guy wires and the electrical cables from the turbine systems will be buried underground. Devices may be fitted on the turbine structures to discourage birds from perching or nesting on the structures.

“It is hard to predict there will be zero bird collisions,” Schaff said, adding that experts will monitor the installations for three years to ensure minimal wildlife harm.

“We want to be double or triple sure we’re not having an adverse impact,” he said.

Visible impacts from the turbines for King Salmon and Cold Bay communities would be minimal, the project’s environmental assessment says.

According to the environmental assessment, funding for the wind turbine systems is coming through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, in support of an executive order by President Obama requiring Fish and Wildlife to increase its use of renewable power.

—Alan Bailey






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