Island Power | 10 comments (10 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Island Power (4.00 / 4)

Always enjoy and appreciate your northern perspectives, particularly about these new energy developments!! Interesting diary, thanks!

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia

by whataboutbob on Fri Jul 27th, 2007 at 08:39:14 AM EST

Thanks (4.00 / 3)

I'm very proud of our wind turbines. In fact, as you drive along one of the main roads of the small coastal city of Mariehamn, which runs in parallel with the shore, you can see four of them in the distance on the other side of the bay. It's a landmark of sorts.

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde

by NordicStorm (m<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Fri Jul 27th, 2007 at 08:42:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Thanks (4.00 / 2)

What turbines are they (manufacturer and scale), and who provides maintenance?

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Fri Jul 27th, 2007 at 09:41:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Thanks (4.00 / 2)

They all seem to be listed here (homepage of Ålands Vindenergi, the company mentioned in the diary), the four in particular I mentioned in my comment above ("Fortuna", "Fredrika" etc) are Vestas 600Kw with a wing span of 44m and a hub height between 45m - 50m.

As for maintenance, I'm assuming Ålands Vindenergi handles its nine (soon to be 13), but I couldn't say if they have enough knowledge "in-house" or hire outside expertise.

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde

by NordicStorm (m<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Fri Jul 27th, 2007 at 09:57:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Island Power (4.00 / 4)

Yea! for the windpower guys!

Two days ago, I got into another (pointless) debate about whether wind turbines were "eyesores." Debating aesthetics is hard enough, but relying on clever sentences and hand gestures is impossible.

So I went and found some footage I have on wind turbines here in Minnesota and cut them together into a video I called "The Beauty of Windpower" and posted the thing on Youtube. If you have some time, try to look at it--less than 6 minutes long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3EkdtXpBrI

If you think I have advanced (or harmed) the argument that wind turbines are indeed beautiful, please let me know.

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Fri Jul 27th, 2007 at 04:48:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Island Power (4.00 / 2)

New Youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/v/EDlUWRgVPos

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Sat Jul 28th, 2007 at 06:27:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Island Power (none / 1)

I've never found them to be particularly obtrusive, personally. Of course, Åland is fairly sparsely populated area (27,000 inhabitants), so you don't need a whole lot of wind turbines to meet the electricity demands of the whole area.
That said, the new wind farm mentioned in the diary isn't being constructed in anyone's way anyway; they're being constructed in a former mining area!

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde

by NordicStorm (m<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Sat Jul 28th, 2007 at 07:00:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Island Power | 10 comments (10 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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