The met mast is owned by Wind Harvest International, which is helping develop the potential project as a Caribbean showcase for its Category 5 hurricane-rated Wind Harvester vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs). Leatherback, and potentially its neighbours in the William Roebuck Industrial Park, would be the user of the power generated from the project.
The met mast includes three anemometers and one wind vane. The anemometers are installed at two different heights to measure wind shear. With wind shear data, the project team can estimate wind speeds at approximately 66 feet above ground, which corresponds to the mid-rotor height of the Wind Harvester’s proposed for installation. The height to the top of the VAWTs aluminium blades would be 87 feet.
“We wanted real, site-specific data” said Aaron Hutchins, co-owner of Leatherback Brewing Company, who led the installation. “This met mast gives us a clear picture of the wind resource at our location. If the wind speeds are as strong as expected, we’ll be in a position to use wind power to lower our electricity costs and reduce our environmental footprint—while continuing to produce a high-quality product.”
Wind speed and direction data from the mast is being collected continuously and is now publicly available online.
“The energy available in wind increases with the cube of wind speed” added Kevin Wolf, CEO of Wind Harvest. “That means a difference of just one mile per hour in average annual wind speed can translate into tens of thousands of kilowatt-hours per year from each 50 kW Wind Harvester. Given how expensive electricity is on St. Croix and across much of the Caribbean, we expect the wind resource will be strong enough to justify investing in a project here.”
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