Massive Wind Turbines, Aruba

The wind turbine project continues here in Aruba. All the foundations have been built and now the towers, generating units, and blades have arrived. A team assembles them even as this post goes up. The first photo shows the truck that delivers the generating units arriving on site and being unloaded.

windturaTo grasp the scale of these units, consider them beside that Toyota Yaris parked along side the truck. The next photo shows the base into which fits the tower and the nacelle which houses the generating unit.

windturbFinally, you can now see one wind turbine completely assembled and the next one in progress.

windturcLet’s have one more look at that, shall we?

windturdReports indicate this facility will be producing energy in January 2010. I hope so. The wind blows strong in Aruba. No reason not to make some electricity. Why not built another ten or twenty or thirty?

Bon dia.

Published in: on September 27, 2009 at 9:55 am  Comments (1)  
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Aruba, Way Up Here

This is a shot of Aruba taken from a helicopter. The point of it was to show the new concrete road installed in the area known as San Fuego. I own two small lots there on which I will someday build a couple of houses. No big hurry, nor any great ambition. If you look back through my posts, you’ll find one called Day and Evening. The day shot was taken at ground level from this road.

This photo shows another thing I mentioned in that post, that from a second-floor balcony it is possible to have a view of the sea. Way up here, a place many people in Aruba think is far from everything, is only a few miles (as the crow flies) from the Caribbean. In this area, you’ll find the burrowing owls and plenty of birds. However, they’re skittish. You have to be still and never approach directly or they fly off. I leave them to their own as much as possible. Still, they’re cute as could be and fascinating to watch.

You’ll also note how much undeveloped space there is on the island. To the left of this frame is the Arikok National Park, which takes up more than 25% of the whole island. There are trails through the park on which you can drive to observe the wildlife or hike or ride your mountain bike. There won’t be any development in there, which is good news for the owls.

Now, if I could only talk the Arubans into building some big windmills on the east side of the island, they would be entering a low-emission zone and be able to add eco-tourism destination to their literature. Stay tuned, we’re working on that and more. I wouldn’t mind sitting on my second-floor balcony, looking out at the sea to the west and a row of tall windmills to the east. That’s just about perfect.

Published in: on June 23, 2008 at 8:06 pm  Comments (4)  
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Wind Power

With the price of oil what it is today, there are all kinds of people talking about alternative energy. In Spain there are windmills all over the place. The ones in the photo below happen to be the modern kind that make electricity but there are also the old ones that mill grain or pump water.

These magnificent machines go a long way to provide for Spain’s electricity needs. The amazing part is they make very little noise. From where I was standing in this photo, you could barely hear them. At another location, there were literally hundreds of windmills and barely a sound came from them. I thought this can’t be true; they have to make noise. I spoke with an engineer who specializes in windmills and he explained that the windmills are not “loud” per se. He added that the ambient noise produced by the wind itself also disguises the noise of the machine.

At the time of this writing, there are no commercial sized windmills on my beloved island of Aruba. This is unbelievable given that the trade winds, the prevailing westerly of yore, blow across the island day in and day out. There are very few times in Aruba when the wind is not blowing with enough force to turn a giant windmill. Naturally, energy prices on the island have gone into the stratosphere with the price of oil. A string of large windmills would go a long way to alleviate this problem, not to mention how it would help the environment. Similarly, it would benefit the Aruban economy by reducing the cost of energy, giving the island a competitive edge against less fortunate locales. I’ll be doing some politicking to bring this issue to the fore with my friends on the island. It makes economic sense, is good for the planet, and won’t hurt a bit. Why delay?

I decided not to delay by having a system designed for my home there. It incorporates a 1kW turbine and an 800 watt solar array. This is not very much generating capacity. However, given the constant winds and reliable sunshine it will produce enough power to generate more than 75% of my energy needs. From January through April it will most likely supply 100%. There is a battery bank which keeps the power on during times of low wind and/or sun. I’m working on a deal with my neighbor to use the power when I’m not there, which will make the system that much more affordable for both of us. As soon as these pieces are in place I’ll ship the parts to the island and start getting a nice return on the investment.

Published in: on June 16, 2008 at 12:01 pm  Comments (1)  
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