electricity deficit

I see in the news today about keeping the lights on for Christmas, the 150 megawatt deficit in electricity.
Has anyone ever thought about windpower to produce power, there always seems to be a very nice breeze blowing, the trade winds should be efficiient enough to produce power with the new wind turbine technology available, they even have fold down collapable towers for storms. See http://www.bergey.com/ for information, seems a good alternative.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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As a matter of fact, yes, they have. In fact one of the posters here, Tom F, I think, is very knowledgable about this. Several sites have been located and the government has sigened some stuff for a "300" megawatt ( I think that was what they said) facility out inthe Macao area of the East. There is a site onthe North Coast and another in Samana that are very promising.

I will file that site away for reference, thank you Wud!!

HB
 

Tom F.

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Jan 1, 2002
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Hillbilly is right on the money. Michael Bergey has made a number of trips to the DR and there are 20+ turbines functioning in various parts of the country that I know about. Until the situation with the electrical problems are solved, I can't see too much investment in renewable energies. The capital investment is high and they really can't be used as your only source of power. Does anyone know what the status is of the wind farm on the North Coast?
 

Tom F.

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Jan 1, 2002
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Does it include installation? How tall is the tower? What brand is it? 1kw wind turbines are rated at that production level at I think 20-25 mph winds. At the best sites in the country, you might have these conditions for part of the day and only part of the year. Most of the time they produce much less than they are rated.
 

m65swede

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Mar 18, 2002
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I would think that wind power would be a possible secondary source of energy in the DR. There is certainly enough breeze to turn the rotors as they are highly efficient.

We used old fashioned windmills to pump water from the pozos on our cattle ranch near San Juan de la Maguana. I recall having sufficient wind power 1/3 to 1/2 the time.

We used Dutch made, single cylinder, diesel fueled, hand-crank started engines to provide pumping power on calm days. :)

Swede
 

Tom F.

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Jan 1, 2002
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A windmill can pump water a fairly low wind speeds. A wind turbine that produces electricity requires higher wind speeds. Most need at least 5 meters/second winds to produce anything substantial. At 7 - 8 m/sec they do a real nice job. Micro-siting turbines is key. Bigger projects will measure windspeed at a site for a year or more before decisions are made. A single homeowner needs to really be a do-it-yourselfer. If you have the money and like experimenting, it would be a fun project. There are a number of places in the DR where it makes sense.