Twenty Percent Wind by 2030: Overcoming the Challenges of West Virginia

摘要

Final Report for '20% Wind by 2030: Overcoming the Challenges in West Virginia'. The objective of this project was to examine the obstacles and constraints to the development of wind energy in West Virginia as well as the obstacles and constraints to the achievement of the national goal of 20% wind by 2030. For the portion contracted with WVU, there were four tasks in this examination of obstacles and constraints. Task 1 involved the establishment of a Wind Resource Council. Task 2 involved conducting limited research activities. These activities involved an ongoing review of wind energy documents including documents regarding the potential for wind farms being located on reclaimed surface mining sites as well as other brownfield sites. The Principal Investigator also examined the results of the Marshall University SODAR assessment of the potential for placing wind farms on reclaimed surface mining sites. Task 3 involved the conducting of outreach activities. These activities involved working with the members of the Wind Resource Council, the staff of the Regional Wind Energy Institute, and the staff of Penn Future. This task also involved the examination of the importance of transmission for wind energy development. The Principal Investigator kept informed as to transmission developments in the Eastern United States. The Principal Investigator coordinated outreach activities with the activities at the Center for Business and Economic Research at Marshall University. Task 4 involved providing technical assistance. This task involved the provision of information to various parties interested in wind energy development. The Principal Investigator was available to answer requests from interested parties regarding in formation regarding both utility scale as well as small wind development in West Virginia. Most of the information requested regarded either the permitting process for wind facilities of various sizes in the state or information regarding the wind potential in various parts of the state. This report describes four sub-categories of work done by the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at Marshall University under this contract. The four sub-projects are: (1) research on the impacts of wind turbines on residential property values; (2) research on the integration of wind energy in regional transmission systems; (3) review of state-based wind legislation in consideration of model new policy options for West Virginia; and (4) promotion of wind facilities on former surface mine sites through development of a database of potential sites.