Sep 21 - Business Wire

Green Mountain Power this week celebrated the tenth anniversary of installing the first turbine in its Searsburg wind generating station, a plant that has contributed clean, emission-free energy to the New England grid since it began operation.

"People across the country have begun to recognize the serious implications of global climate change, and we believe that it is important to realize the very real benefits that wind generation offers," said Chris Dutton, Green Mountain Power president and chief executive officer. "We estimate that approximately 78,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions have been avoided due to the power generated at our Searsburg facility."

The 11 turbines at GMP's Searsburg plant have generated 110,000 megawatthours since they began operation in 1997, which is the equivalent of approximately 14,000 homes being powered by wind for a full year. Every kilowatthour generated by wind avoids a kilowatthour generated by another source, which on the New England grid is generally natural gas or oil fired during the peak periods when wind generation is at its height.

GMP Searsburg is still the largest wind plant in New England. Research conducted at GMP Searsburg in early years of operation provided valuable lessons to the industry about cold climate operations and helped advance the state-of-the-art turbines being built today in cold climates throughout the country.

"We are proud to have played an important leadership role in the development of cold climate wind technology," said Mr. Dutton. "Although new wind plant development has been slow in New England, we are hopeful that an expansion of GMP Searsburg will be possible in the near future. We believe that wind can and should be an important part of Vermont's power supply mix."