LIFE ON MARS
by Ed Winchester, AMC Outdoors Magazine
There may have been no ribbon-cutting ceremony, but the start of construction on Maine’s first large-scale wind power project wasn’t without fanfare. “For 10 days, we had a mini parade come through town around 2 o’clock every afternoon,” said Mars Hill town manager Raymond Mersereau. In mid-April, onlookers gathered as trucks carrying 120-foot long propeller blades began arriving in this small northern Maine town of 1,500. The procession marked the end of a long and winding journey for the Brazillian-made blades. With cargo heights exceeding clearance levels on interstate overpasses, the oversized-load vehicles were forced to travel through municipal downtowns as they made their way from Searsport to Aroostook County.
The wind turbines-28 in all-will reach a height of 380 feet when fully assembled atop 1,540-foot Mars Hill, the town’s namesake promontory. According to developer Evergreen Wind Power LLC, the 50-megawatt wind farm will provide enough electricity to power 25,000 homes when it goes on line in November. With construction of an access road on the mountain nearing completion, Mersereau said the next step is to begin excavating so tower sections can be anchored into the bedrock. Dr. Ken Kimball, AMC’s director of research, said the mountains prominence on the flat Aroostook County landscape creates near ideal wind speeds for power development. “They’re looking for winds in the 14-to 15 mile-an-hour bracket and Mars Hill provides that by how it sits on the land.”
Webmaster Note:
When this windfarm is completed in the late fall of 2006, the IAT/SIA route across the ridge of Mars Hill Mountain will be restored and will pass by several of these wind turbines. There will be kiosks along the trail explaining the benefits of wind power, offering hikers and the general public a great opportunity to learn about wind as a source of energy.
Forty-two megawatts of power will be generated by this windfarm. That is enough energy to power about 12,500 homes. It would take about 21,000 tons of coal, mined and burned, to produce that much energy.
We will keep you updated as this project proceeds towards completion. The next update with photographs will be in mid August.
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