AEDC, JBU partner in wind energy measuring program

The Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Energy Office and John Brown University have partnered to develop an anemometer loan program designed to allow land owners in Arkansas to measure wind energy potential.

Announced by the AEDC on Friday (May 15), the Renewable Energy Department at Siloam Springs-based JBU will provide selected landowners with wind measurement equipment to conduct a one-year study on their site. JBU faculty and students will install the equipment and monitor the data from their campus in Siloam Springs. They will also develop a wind resource analysis for each participant at the end of the measurement period.

Initially, the program will supply four 34-meter meteorological stations with the equipment necessary to measure and record wind speed and direction, according to the AEDC press release.
 
“We are very excited about our renewable energy program here at John Brown University,” said Fernando Vega, director of the university’s Renewable Energy Program. “Wind energy represents a big component of the program, and having an anemometer loan program to run will greatly enhance it. We would be creating a valuable workforce with good field experience by having our students become actively involved in all aspects of these wind instruments.”
 
Once the one-year measurement period is completed and the data is collected, the equipment will then be relocated to other selected participants.
 
The program will begin accepting applications June 1. The deadline to apply for the first program year is July 31. Installations are scheduled to begin in August 2009. Funding for the program comes from Arkansas and the Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America Program.