Dec 3 2010
The power purchase accord contracted between Bluestem, an Omaha-based company, and Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) will make Nebraska’s first wind farm functional again.
The wind farm, which had two 750 kW wind turbines ceased its operations in 2007 due to the non-availability of spare parts needed for the wind turbines and were sold to FPL Energy, a Florida-based company.
Last September the board of directors of NPPD directed the administration of the company to contract an accord with Bluestem to install two 1.5 MW wind turbines, utilizing a novel direct drive technology, which is suitable for utility level power projects. The proposed direct drive turbines are dissimilar to the wind turbines utilized in other NPPD’s wind farms in Nebraska and Ainsworth. The turbines do not incorporate a gear box, which is utilized in the normal type of turbines to match the slow speed of the rotors with that of the generator. Instead, the direct drive turbines use electrical power inverters to match the power production of the generator with that of the grid. Bluestem has taken the responsibility of building the project and will also manage its maintenance and operation. The power generated from the project will be purchased by NPPD, which has signed a power purchase agreement with Bluestem for 20 years. The construction work of the new Springview wind farm is expected to begin this year and become functional by the middle of 2011.
Dave Rich, Renewable Energy Manager, NPPD, said that his company is looking forward to understanding the new technology, especially on the issues related to its cost of maintenance and the availability of wind turbine. He added that the opportunity helps the public power company to know the benefits offered by the use of direct-drive wind turbines.
Source: http://www.nppd.com/