The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has completed a utility-scale, wind study of the U.S. Virgin Islands and made the report public this week.
Energy Office Director Karl Knight says data from the report can be used by the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority to guide the utility in its development of utility-scale wind farms.
Most of the $270,000 used to fund the project came from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds, but local money also contributed. The project fell under the Energy Development in Island Nations (EDIN) initiative. Its USVI Energy Road Map, Charting the Course to a Clean Energy Future, calls for the reduction of fossil fuel use in the Virgin Island by 60 percent by 2025.
The Roadmap, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Energy Office; had three scenarios which could produce from 12 MW to 33 MW of wind power for the Virgin Islands.
In releasing the report, the authors stated, “This report summarizes the data collected from two 60-meter meteorological towers and three sonic detection and ranging units on St. Thomas and St. Croix in 2012 and 2013. These results are an update to the previous feasibility study; the collected data are critical to the successful development of a wind project at either site.”
The report can be accessed online by clicking here.
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