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Second Source Power Supplies Virgin Islands With Alternative Energy

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Virgin Islands Daily News

  Alternative Power is Here: Tutu Park moves ahead on switch to windmills.   St. Thomas – Tutu Park Mall is working on the installation of two 50-kilowatt wind turbines – the first large scale wind generators to be erected in the territory. The AOC 15/50 turbines – which stand about 115 feet – will reduce the amount of energy that the mall gets from the V.I. Water and Power Authority by about 10 percent which is an annual savings in the tens of thousands of dollars. The generators are expected to begin producing power for the mall later this month.             On Monday, a work crew behind the commercial complex in Estate Tutu finished affixing the second rotor onto its supporting tower. “We’re getting close. It’s lots of fun,” Tutu Park Mall partner John Foster said. The next steps in the project are to string electric cables to a junction box in the mall, hook up to WAPA’s power grid, and run some final tests, Foster said.An official ribbon cutting is being planned in January, he said.  With the malls annual utility increasing by more then 100 percent during the past few years, Foster said that securing alternative power sources has become a top priority for him. “We wanted to show there are alternatives to WAPA,” he said. “We’re kind of like guinea pigs.” Foster said that the project has sparked the interest of many people and businesses territory wide and many have visited the site to observe the installation and take photographs. “They are very keen to see how this installation goes,” he said. A critical part of the project is the interconnection with WAPA. In order for turbines to work, they need to be connected to the grid. They will not draw power from the grid, but they must be connected to an energizing source to operate. The turbines will not feed power back to the grid.             On Oct. 24, the Public Services Commission approved Tutu Park Mall as a small power producer. The formal certification requires WAPA to negotiate an agreement with the producer. The PSC`s order also mandated that WAPA and mall officials return turn to the commission in late December with a status update. An interconnection agreement has not yet been established but a meeting has been is scheduled for Wednesday to begin negotiations, said Gordon Anderson, principle of the wind turbine company Green Power Electric Inc. While the cost of oil, gas and WAPA’s Levelized Energy Adjustments Clause rates have fallen dramatically over the last month, Foster said that the private and public sector’s pursuit of alternative energy remains strong and is here to stay. “We are relieved that LEAC rates are going down, but we have no idea if we will soon see $120 oil again,” Foster said. “Many are very nervous and we don’t trust today’s price of oil.”   Currently, there is much research being done in the united states and in Europe to bring forward new technologies that could help wean countries off fossil fuels, Foster said, and with President-elect Barack Obama planning to allocate billions of dollars for research, the push for alternative energy sources will continue.  “We wanted to be an example and take that step in the right direction,” Foster said. “I’m hoping that everybody will gradually move in that direction as well. God gave us the wind and sun – so we should use it.”