Wind turbine test targets Skidaway

Project to research renewable energy’s viability in Georgia.

Within the next few months, Georgia Power plans to install small-scale wind turbines on Skidaway Island southeast of Savannah to research the viability of this renewable energy in the Peach State.

The demonstration project calls for up to four turbines, three of them less than 100 feet high at the hub and a fourth about 140 feet at the hub to test higher altitude winds. There will also be a meteorological tower.

The siting of the project at Georgia Power’s preferred coastal site at the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography depends on approval by the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents, which heard about the project at a recent board meeting.

The idea of a wind demonstration project, though not a specific site, was approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission as part of the utility’s 2013 Integrated Resource Plan.

Georgia Power, which is joining forces with Georgia Southern University to study the environmental effect of the turbines, expects to build the turbines before July and remove them in about two years. One year of data collection, evaluation and reporting is anticipated.

The turbines are about 10 kilowatts each, big enough to power a typical home.

“Onshore wind has not been considered a great resource in Georgia, but we did want to conduct a small wind demonstration project to focus on mountain and coastal projects,” Kraft said.

Skidaway Institute of Oceanography was selected after six months of site evaluation. Siting will also occur at a mountain location.

Some neighbors, particularly in the nearby gated community on Modena Island, are concerned it’s not a great fit for them.

Ben Farmer said he’s worried about the noise and the effect on birds.

“There are bald eagles and wood storks less than 100 meters away,” he said. “There are a lot of smaller birds at nighttime.”

Wildlife biologist Tim Keyes of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said Georgia Power had requested a comment letter from him. He’s drafting that letter, which will recommend pre-installation monitoring for several years to look at bird and bat movement on the coast.