By Alejandro Agudelo, Founder and CEO
I was invited by the Northwest Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) to attend a field trip to the Puget Sound Energy “Wild Horse” Wind Farm site in mid September 2009. I did not hesitate to accept on this rare opportunity, and I was excited to meet others from the council and see firsthand how a wind farm is currently being maintained in the USA. Much to my pleasant surprise the farm was spectacular (in scope, assembly, and upkeep). The day was sponsored by a well-known energy producer – enXco. EnXco is a company based in France and they are developing a new wind farm in Kittitas County, Washington. Their Project and Program Managers hosted the tour. I was excited to be there, and as we drove up to the farm I was amazed at how quiet the turbines were. The property is a perfect land location with rolling hills throughout the property, creating a constant flow of wind at different altitudes. As well, it was great to see all the turbines up close.
The tour had many small business owners, including the chairman and president of the local NMSDC.
Right away I noticed that not all the turbines were functioning, and from what we gathered this was by design - not because the turbines had issues. This methodology of remotely managing the turbines and controlling the rotations to control the wear and maintenance of the turbines (in my mind) prevents our society from moving forward with this technology. I understand why there are limitations and control limits due to the high cost of maintenance and replacement of parts on the turbines. I am disappointed that we are controlling costs, limiting our progress within this critical resource solution. It limits our progress and prevents lowering the costs of such activities.
I challenge us as a society to use more renewable energy, to request more wind power, to push power companies to leverage and maximize the usage of all turbines….we will not be able to drive costs into an appropriate level until there is widespread use of all aspects of a product.
As I stood there right next to one of the non-moving turbines there was an abundance of wind blowing and it didn’t stop – it was a constant strong wind right there at ground level and upward…to stand there and see a turbine not spinning due to controlling maintenance costs disappointed me because I see the revenue potential blowing away down the canyon…I see the vast amount of additional resources yet untapped.
