Loch Sheldrake - Manhattan-based Environmental Technologies LLC (ETLLC) and Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) held the official groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s new vertical shaft wind turbine to be erected on the college campus this fall.
ETLLC’s 1.25-megawatt, vertical shaft wind turbine (model ETC-LU) is based on nearly 19 years of research and development by the company and its partners, including early prototypes previously erected in Pennsylvania, Taiwan and Japan. With the start of construction taking place under the direction of Albany-based engineering firm Clough Harbour & Associates LLC, ETLLC plans to complete the installation of its wind turbine on the SCCC campus in January 2009 and be in full operation by early spring, making it the world’s first grid-scale, vertical shaft wind turbine.
According to ETLLC, the turbine’s unique blades – which are designed to catch the wind from all directions – will resemble Venetian blinds stacked on top of each other in an array about the size of a 10-story building. In addition, the turbine will stand at just over 111 feet, about one-third the height of traditional propeller-style wind turbines, yet is estimated to produce twice the output. ETLLC believes these innovations give its wind turbine a more efficient design that also is relatively quiet, unlike traditional turbines, and easy-to-maintain. For example, all of the mechanical elements will be located in a ground-level power room rather than at the top of a 300-foot mast, which allows the turbine to be outfitted with a set of DC motors and AC generators that will work like the transmission of a car that kicks into a higher gear as wind speed increases. Another feature of the ETC model is the slow rotor rotation (estimated at 10-15 rotations per minute) which causes no motion smear or blur, a reason for many bird and bat deaths related to traditional turbines.
"Environmental Technologies’ corporate philosophy is ‘Enjoy Life Doing for Others,’" said Sam Ikeda, company founder, president and chief executive officer. "Given our mission to help solve the problems facing our planet as a result of global warming, we are very excited to install our internationally patented, 1.25 megawatt-class vertical shaft wind turbine here at Sullivan County Community College. This will be the world’s first installation of our ETC-LU model wind turbine; the first, we hope, of many to come."
ETLLC’s wind turbine, along with an educational kiosk describing the technology and how it works, will be constructed on approximately one acre of land located at the intersection of College Road and the campus traffic circle. The land is being leased from the college and Sullivan County. While still experimental, any power generated by the turbine will be sold to the college for its energy needs. ETLLC anticipates that its turbine can produce more than three - four million kilowatt hours of power per year at an average wind speed of more than six meters per second.
"Today is a notable day in the history of Sullivan County Community College and our surrounding community," said College President Dr. Mamie Howard-Golladay. "As an institution of higher education, we’re excited to serve as the site for Environmental Technologies’ first grid-scale vertical shaft wind turbine. Not only will this turbine complement our existing campus sustainability initiatives, it also will serve as a unique, hands-on learning opportunity for our students, particularly those in our Green Building Maintenance & Management and Environmental Studies programs."
