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In late 1999, the town of Browning, Montana, and the Blackfeet Indian Tribe
installed four Bergey Excel 10-kilowatt (kW) wind turbines adjacent to the town's sewage treatment plant. The turbines provided about one-quarter of the plant's electricity, displacing energy bought from the grid.
Location: Browning, Montana
Type of System: Grid-connected, distributed-generation
Project Status: The project formally extends through 2002.
Last Updated: 27 Feb 2001
PROJECT BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
The potential for wind
energy development on Native American Reservations in the Great Plains has
been discussed for the past 10-15 years. As part of the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) Field Verification Project, the Blackfeet Tribe and the Town of
Browning, Montana, received funding to install four Bergey Excel wind
turbines to displace some of the electricity used at the Browning Waste
Water Treatment Plant. To simplify matters, the project was so designed that
practically all the energy produced was consumed on site, although the
turbines were grid connected.
The potential for
replication of this project is high. Many Native American communities have
grid electrical loads that could be partially met with wind power. This
project is subsequent to the Blackfeet 100-kW Wind Turbine Demonstration
project. Currently, the Blackfeet have an agreement with SeaWest for a
developing an additional 22.8-megawatt (MW) wind farm on tribal land. This
project is part of an effort to encourage use of renewable energy resources
found on many reservations.
Goals and Objectives
Displace grid electricity
used at the Browning Waste Water Treatment Plant.
INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS
Participants: Siyeh
Development Corporation, Blackfeet Indian Housing, Town of Browning,
Montana, DOE, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Bergey WindPower
Company.
Organizational Structure:
Siyeh is in overall charge of the project. Responsibilities include
coordination of the construction of the civil works, installation of the
turbine, maintenance, and project documentation. Once the official 3-year
project is completed, the turbines will become the property of the town of
Browning.
Site Identification and Resource Assessment:
Browning has a good wind resource. The site is adjacent to the waste water
treatment plant. Because the project objective is to displace grid
electricity, the site had to be near the treatment plant.
Installation: Siyeh
coordinated the construction of the civil works. Bergey technician Peter
Hubner supervised installation of the turbines.
Community Involvement: Local manpower was used to construct the civil works and install the
turbine.
TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
System Description (Components/Size/Brand/Number): 4 Bergey Excel/S 10-kW
wind turbines on 100-ft towers
Technical Performance:
The turbines have operated reliably during this project. Their installation
involved a new type of inverter that initially had some teething problems.
These problems were overcome, leading to a successful installation.
Provisions for monitoring and evaluation:
A data acquisitions system (DAS) is in place for monitoring the turbines
during the 3-year project period.
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL PROFILE
Financing Arrangements (Financing/Type/Rate of Return): This project was funded
primarily with a DOE grant ($180,000 cash). Other project participants also made cash and
in-kind contributions (Blackfeet Housing Authority, $25,000 cash; Town of
Browning, $25,000 cash; Siyeh, $5,000 in-kind).
Cost recovery mechanisms and rates: All
the electricity produced by this project is consumed by the waste water
treatment plant. The system provides about one-quarter of the plant's
usage.
LESSONS LEARNED
When the project manager resigned in the summer of 2000, the
remaining project participants had difficulty keeping the project on track.
This project has shown the dangers of allowing a project to depend too heavily upon one
person. In the end, NREL technicians from Colorado had to be dispatched to assist
with the DAS system.
AVAILABLE DOCUMENTATION
Electronic Archives:
Field Verification Program Web site
Published Articles:
Field Verification Program Quarterly Reports
CONTACT
Dennis Fitzpatrick
Siyeh development organization
P.O. Box 1989
Browning, MT 59417
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