Great Rock Windpower
www.greatrockwindpower.com

In October 2006, the Vineyard Energy Project collaborated with Gary Harcourt to offer a hands-on workshop installation of a 2.5 kw ARE turbine on an 85 foot tower in Oak Bluffs. This turbine has since been replaced with a 5 kW Endurance Windpower turbine to provide a greater percentage of the power needed at Gary's woodworking shop, Against the Grain, Cabinetmakers Inc. The 2.5 kw ARE will be installed in West Tisbury pending Zoning Board of Appeals approval.

In 2008, two wind turbines have been installed at private residences in Chilmark. Both of those turbines are Endurance Windpower S250 5kW machines on 105' Tilt up towers. Two more turbines of the same height and model will be installed in West Tisbury at a private residences.

Great Rock Windpower is also currently working with two island farms on permitting and obtaining grants for larger wind turbines to reduce energy costs at those farms.

South Mountain Company
www.somoco.com/what/renewables.html

In 2004, South Mountain Company installed a Bergey Windpower Excel-S 10KW grid-tied wind turbine, at their business in West Tisbury, to collect wind energy and convert it into electricity. In the Summer of 2008, South Mountain will replace their Bergey wind turbine with an ARE442 10kW turbine, manufactured by Abundant Renewable Energy, in Oregon. The ARE442 turbine is the same size as the Bergey, but produces significantly more electricity, due to its more efficient rotor and generator. The new turbine, coupled with recent energy conservation measures and a new 6 KW solar electric system, is expected to produce 85-90% of the electrical needs for their woodworking shop and office facility. A public display at the site explains how the turbine works.

High School Turbine
An ARE442 turbine was installed at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in May 2007, as a donation by Nan Rheault and South Mountain Company. This installation produces electricity from a renewable source, reduces the school's electricity costs and provides a great resource for students to learn about wind energy.

Jarrell Turbine
Rex and Scarlet Jarrell have received a permit to install an ARE 442 10 kW turbine at their new yoga and massage facility in West Tisbury. When coupled with the existing 7.2 kW PV system, the Jarrells will have a seasonally balanced renewable energy plant, with high wind energy production in the winter and high PV production in the summer. South Mountain Company will install the turbine in the spring of 2008.

Town Projects

Tisbury Turbine
The Town of Tisbury, with help from Henry Stephenson and other members of Tisbury’s Renewable Energy Committee, has been working with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Community Wind project to site a 660 KW turbine at the Town's Department of Public Works property off Upper State Road.

The first step is to install an anemometer, 164 feet high, to collect data about the wind resource at that site and verify information generated by computer models. The anemometer is expected to be installed this Summer (2007) and will be up for a year.

Because of its proximity to residential areas and its being 3 miles from the airport, it is complex project, likely to be limited to 240 feet in height.

The West Tisbury School
The West Tisbury Energy Committee, augmented by new members from Chilmark and Aquinnah, and headed by Shelton Bank, has been working with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Community wind project to evaluate the feasibility of siting a turbine at the West Tisbury School. The sponsor is now the Up-Island Regional School District.

Other Wind Projects

Wind Testing at the Allen Farm
In January 2003, Kent Healy and Bill Austin installed a wind oedometer 57’ above ground at the top of the existing guyed pole on the Allen Farm in Chilmark to measure the average annual average wind speed there. As of October 15, 2005, the measured annual speed was 12 miles per hour, sufficient for a power factor of about 0.3 or $0.10/Kwh.

Farm Wind Project
In the Spring of 2007, the Vineyard Energy Project looked at 10 farm sites on the Vineyard: their wind resource and their electrical demand to determine what size turbine might meet their needs and what funding is available for wind generation on farms. The farms surveyed were: Allen Farm, Christiantown Farm, Mermaid Dairy, Northern Pines Farm, Morning Glory Farm, North Tabor Farm, Stoney Hill Farm, the Farm Institute, Whippoorwill Farm and Native Earth Teaching Farm. Some of the participants have expressed interest in pursuing the installation of a turbine at their site.