Bergey Windpower News

Bergey Turbines Featured in AEP Small Wind Turbine Project

 April 22, 2000

Article excerpted from the Wind Energy Weekly, Vol. 23, #894, American Wind Energy Association.  Used with permission.

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AEP USES FIVE 10-KW TURBINES FOR

DISTRIBUTED GENERATION STUDIES

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American Electric Power, a large utility based in Columbus, Ohio, said April 19 that it plans to help customers learn about wind technology and learn more itself by installing small wind turbines and sharing real-time information about their operation and performance on its web site. 

As part of a program to familiarize AEP and its customers with distributed generation devices, five 10-kW units will be installed this year at several company sites and featured on the Web at http://www.aep.com/environment/wind .

AEP's first wind turbine was recently installed at the John Dolan Electrical Engineering Laboratory in Groveport, about 12 miles southeast of Columbus. Additional turbines are planned in Indiana, West Virginia, Virginia and Michigan.

The Web site will monitor the output of the turbines in weak and strong wind areas and is designed as an information aid for customers who might consider buying a wind turbine. An Internet-based energy management system will allow viewers to use wind maps from the Web site to show at any given time how much electricity the wind turbines are generating and compare it to the power typically required for a household or business.

Power quality statistics will be shown, helping customers with sensitive electronic equipment understand the impact of wind generation on power quality. Links to sites that offer more comprehensive data on wind turbines are also accessible through the web site.

"Our customers have told us they want energy that is inexpensive, high quality, very reliable and delivered safely," said Bruce Renz, AEP's vice president of energy delivery support. "These small turbines are the kind customers might want to install at a home or business. The turbines are matched well to the low-wind resources that exist throughout most of the current AEP service territory.

"The 10-kW turbines are different than the large turbines clustered on wind farms in Texas, Minnesota, California and other high-wind states. Government wind maps show these states have suitable winds that cover more of their territory and are more conducive to wind farms, in contrast to AEP states which are characterized by pockets of moderate wind areas.

"This project is part of AEP's efforts to understand how distributed generation sources installed at a home or business might interact with the traditional power system in which energy is generated at a remote location and delivered to the customer via transmission and distribution lines."

Renz said AEP will quantify the electrical characteristics of wind turbines and other generation sources, including fuel cells, microturbines, advanced batteries and photovoltaics at its research laboratory.

The wind turbines project complements AEP's Learning from Light program, which helps schools install solar cell panels and teach their students about energy resources. Students are able to use the AEP web site, http://www.aep.com//environment/solar/index.html , to track the amount of solar electricity produced and energy used by their school. Students can then use the information to compare their school's energy usage to others and to study the science and economics of energy. Learning from Light is a cooperative effort between AEP, the Foundation for Environmental Education, federal and state governments and local communities.

A 30-minute television documentary produced by the Foundation for Environmental Education will feature AEP's wind turbines program later this year on public television and will be distributed to most U.S. school districts and the public.

   Steve Wilke, Customer Service, Bergey WindPower Co.

   T:  405-364-4212    F: 405-364-2078    E-mail:  swilke@bergey.com