Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Saturday, March 21, saw the newest addition to the Caribou viewshed, a 194-foot tall weather tower near Old Higgins Hill. Though it took a few hours to erect the structure which was placed on the site earlier that week, a crowd started gathering around 9:30 a.m. to watch the 4,000 to 5,000 pound tower being lifted skywards by a winch and some carefully monitored cables.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
The weather on Saturday morning was perfect for workers and spectators alike as the 194-foot tower was completed and erected. Some workers were shedding outer layers of clothing by the start of the sunny afternoon.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Being 194 feet long, it took close supervision to lift the new Meteorological Study Tower near Old Higgins Hill in Caribou.
“This is the start of measuring wind for a community wind project in this area that we’re very excited about,” said President of Comm-En Community Energy Partners Sue Jones. “Community wind means locally owned; it means local land owners receive benefits aside or in addition to lease payments,” she explained. “In most cases, it’s ownership that investors of land and cash come together in partnership and put together a wind project.”
“We call it a MET tower, but it is a Meteorological Study Tower,” explained Andrew Perkins, electrical engineer and president of Perkins Engineering. “It has instruments on it to collect the wind data — direction, speed, duration of the wind — for the next year or so.
“We believe we have a good wind resource here, but we won’t know exactly until we have this tower up and running,” said Jones. “We will know within a year or two what we’ve got here.”
“No wind today makes putting the tower up real easy,” said Perkins, “we can lift these towers in about a 20 mile per hour head wind, meaning that the wind is pushing against the direction that we’re lifting in. If winds get any higher than that, there’s too much stress on the winch and the cables that we have to wait.” Perkins explained, “today is a good day to do this because it’s a beautiful, warm day.”
One spectator that Saturday morning said it best: “Any warmer and you couldn’t drive up here; any colder and it wouldn’t be comfortable to stand around in.”
Aside from the new tower, not much about the area off of the Campground road will be that different this growing season.
“The tower is in a potato field,” said Jones. “Potato production is going to continue in this field. There will be designated locations around this tower where there won’t be planting, but the rest of the field is going to be used for farming,” she explained. “Overall, the tower has a very small footprint; the idea with community wind and farming is to be able to farm right up to that foot print and to be able to farm as much of the land as possible,” Jones added. “The temporary roads that are put in can be re-seeded so that the land can go back into the business of potato farming, and that’s what we intend to do.”
According to Jones, Comm-En is the first community wind developer in the state of Maine.
“Our business model is based on a Minnesota farmer-owned project where there are 400 to 500 mega watts of farmer-owned wind already being produced, so it’s a well tested business proposition,” Jones said, “It’s new to Maine, but well tested elsewhere and Aroostook County is a perfect place for it because there are good winds and open land.”
“Community wind is a natural fit for northern Maine,” she added. “Because we’re a small company, we’re very nimble and we can work around farmer’s needs, which I think is very helpful. Many of the larger corporations are so standard in their protocols that harvesting wind energy isn’t possible for many farmers,” Jones explained, “in contrast, we’re agile and can work around things like that.”
Well over 20 people made their way up the icy dirt road toward the site to watch the tower being raised.
“You never know how the turnout is going to be,” Jones said, “Community wind is growing in Maine, especially in northern Maine, and it’s reassuring that people are interested in community wind and finding out more information,” she added. “It’s great to have this much interest.”
Interested individuals can obtain more information about community wind by contacting Jones by phone at (207) 221-5639 or by e-mail at renewable@suscom-maine.net.
Some onlookers relaxed in the snow while they watched the tower being constructed on a warm Saturday morning.
A large crowd gathered to watch the Meteorological Study Tower being erected. The tower will monitor wind conditions for a year to determine if the area is a viable location for one or more wind turbines.
Greg Perkins, electrical engineer, explained some of the parts used in the new Meteorological Study Tower in Caribou. Pictured in his left hand is the 10-watt solar panel, which will power the data logger in his right hand.
