Nota: la Danimarca produce già il 20% della propria energia tramite generatori eolici. Vallo a spiegare all'ENEA o all'ENEL. Se lo fai in Italia, se ti produci energia da solo, ti fanno pagare lo stesso la bolletta dell'ENEL (lo sapevate?). Dove sono le politiche per l'ambiente di Chicco Testa, ennesimo traditore ambientalista?

The announcement was made during an environmental scoping meeting hosted by the Dept. of Energy the evening of Nov. 15 in the Pahrump Community Center. Sebastian "Bash" Nola of M&N Wind Power outlined his company's plans, which are supported by DOE and the Nevada Test Site Development Corp., whose chief goal at this point is to make the NTS and surrounding area the Western home of alternative energy sources.

Nola outlined plans for placing a series of turbines first on Shoshone Mountain, then Skull Mountain and Pahute Mesa. M&N is targeting Dec. 31, 2001, as the date the system becomes operational in Shoshone, with the other two sites fully developed within a year of that date.

With all three sites on line, Nola said M&N is projecting a maximum 260 megawatts could be generated.

The turbines are massive structures, each standing 180 feet tall and supported by a 15-foot base. Each turbine supports three 80-foot long blades. In ideal conditions - 35 mph winds - each turbine can generate 800 kilowatts. The machines automatically shut themselves down when gusts exceed 35 mph.

A minimum wind of 12 mph is needed to generate electricity.

M&N has turbine fields in a number of locations, Nola said, and as the technology has improved the energy source has become more competitive in the market. Another factor has been the increased costs of nonrenewable energy.

To illustrate the greater efficiency of the turbines, Nola said only one new machine is being erected at one site for every eight of the older machines that are being taken down. The end result, he said, was more than a doubling of energy production.

The three phases of construction over two years will require 200 workers. When the project is built out, Nola said 30 operations and maintenance employees would be working full time. The workers who maintain the turbines are known as "wind smiths."

M&N is part of the Western Renewable Energy Network (WREN), which also includes a division of Siemens, Duke Solar and the El Paso Energy Co., as well as the NTS Development Corp.

Tim Carlson, president of the nonprofit NTSDC, called progress to develop alternative energy on and around the test site "slow and tedious. We have not seen a lot of quick results - except for this one. We hope to have up to 100 wind turbines completed basically one year from now."

The project, with construction costs estimated at $80 million, is privately financed. M&N will take advantage of tax credits available to the renewable energy industry, Nola said, but other than the cooperation provided by DOE and the use of federal land for the turbines and the infrastructure already in place there is no government subsidy of the project.

VEA General Manager Lou Holveck attended the meeting, with about 30 others, and said at the conclusion the wind-generated power was, in fact, generally competitive in terms of price. VEA has no current plans to use the energy, Holveck said during the meeting, but will "wheel" it to a substation and make it available to any utility that wants to buy it.

The fee VEA will charge for wheeling the power has not yet been determined. Holveck said the federal Energy Regulatory Commission would set the rate after VEA submits the appropriate paperwork.

The commission regulates wholesale cost transactions.

At this point, Carlson pointed out, no buyer for the power has been found.

One spectator questioned why the turbines were being erected on the test site, rather than at the technology park that may be developed in the Lathrop Wells area of Amargosa Valley near the junction of U.S. 95 and Highway 373. M&N is going where the wind is, Carlson said. The Amargosa Valley might be better suited for solar energy production, and a site on the NTS to build a 250 mw solar field has been identified.

"The issue with solar technology developments is that the process is not quite there yet," Carlson said. "It has not quite matured enough to be cost effective."

For that reason, current plans for solar energy production are linked to other renewable energy projects.

Should underground nuclear testing resume at the test site, it would take precedence over the operation of renewable energy and the turbines could be shut down for several days, Carlson said. "Security is an issue," he said.

If the environmental assessment is completed as anticipated in early spring, work on the project could commence fairly quickly.