Let It Spin!

After more than a year of research and planning, Mountain View Grand is now reaping the fruits of its most visible “green” initiative, the installation of a 121-foot, power-generating wind turbine adjacent to the hotel.

Concrete was poured for the foundation for Mountain View’s new turbine at the end of August. Technicians returned on September 21-23, to erect the tower itself in three separate sections, then the rotor blades were attached and electrical wiring was completed. An official from Public Service of New Hampshire was on hand on Oct. 1 for their final testing procedures and the turbine was finally up and spinning.  

The turbine is located near the 128-foot water tower behind the hotel’s Crystal Ballroom, right next to the fifth green on the golf course. The Mountain View’s turbine is designed to generate 100 kilowatts of electricity, which will greatly reduce the resort's carbon footprint. The committment for this ambitious project was $500,000.

The tubular steel, single-pole design of the Northwind 100, from Northern Power Systems of Barre, Vt., features three fiberglass-reinforced polyester rotor blades that extend some 32 feet out from the hub, which is outfitted with a motor and yaw system that permits it to follow the direction of the wind for maximum efficiency. A key advantage of the Northwind 100, said the hotel’s managing director, Chris Diego, is that it is able to produce power even when the wind speed is a light breeze as low as 6.6 miles per hour.

Eliminating the gearbox simplifies the drive train by radically reducing the number of moving parts and wear items. This translates into higher reliability and lower operating costs.

The Northwind’s direct-drive design is a key technological development for the system because it eliminates the need for using heated oil to operate, an especially important price factor in cold climates such as northern New Hampshire.