Pressroom Archives 2009
Norwin A/S Commissions Pateluma, California Wind Turbine

June 10, 2009 -- Norwin America LLC, Wind Turbine Manufacturer, with principal facilities in Roskilde, Denmark, has commissioned a 29-Stall-225 Kw Wind Turbine in Pateluma, California. Norwin’s pioneering client is the McEvoy Ranch, renowned for its award winning Tuscany Olive Oil and Nursery. The project was designed to replace all propane on the ranch with electricity. Tom Williard, of Sustainergy Systems, based in Inverness, California, and manager of the McEvoy Ranch wind project, notes the 148 feet tall and 225 kW Norwin turbine will meet the existing electricity demand of the ranch, including powering its olive oil mill. Construction support for the project was provided by enXco and Morita Construction, also California based companies.

Since its inception McEvoy Ranch has been focused on organic, sustainable agricultural practices. The windmill project is a logical extension of these practices, allowing McEvoy to cleanly generate the energy consumed in the production of their certified organic products while reducing the overall impact to the environment. The windmill will reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 218 tons each year – up to 10,920,000 lbs of CO2 during the life of the windmill. Switching to renewable energy has helped McEvoy Ranch to become a more sustainable operation. And by being an organic producer, McEvoy Ranch is taking responsibility for what happens beyond its borders.

The major design elements for this project included: Windmill Site Selection, Windmill Type & Size, Avian Impact, neighborhood consensus, net metering, and Acoustic Modeling. An analysis of the McEvoy project by County staff found no significant environmental impacts, and a 2006 Point Reyes Bird Observatory study concluded "negative impacts to raptor populations are unlikely."

The McEvoy windmill is the second agricultural wind turbine to be approved and operating in Marin County. A 50 kW windmill has been generating power at Devil's Gulch Ranch in Nicasio for a year.

A good portion of the turbine was paid for in part by the California Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). This is the first one of these mid-scale industrial wind turbines going up at a farm in Marin County. The growing interest in cleaner forms of energy for environmental, economic, or political reasons have more people exploring on-site wind power. By using ‘mid-scale’ wind turbines, farms, nurseries, ranches, cranberry bogs and many other agricultural and rural land owners will now be able to harvest a second crop - electricity - and economically feed it to hundreds of friends and neighbors. Existing operation doesn’t have to change at all. These wind turbines use very little actual land area, allowing continued farming to provide the other much needed local agricultural products.

Norwin A/S has two lines of mid-scale commercial turbines from 225 to 750Kw’s—with the smaller ones slightly less than 200-feet tall--rated at 225 kilowatts (Kw), aimed at organizations or communities that have an electricity bill of at least $100,000 a year. The larger Norwin 750 kW turbines are workhorses, which also provide plenty of power for industrial parks, shopping centers, neighborhood net-metering, Green Communities, wind parks and more. Tied to the grid, these turbines cut electricity bills and give the purchaser a predictable cost of electricity, which can be very attractive to an organization like a school, municipality, farm or ranch.

Community wind and distributed generation are the fastest growing segments of the wind industry today. Norwin is a leader in these markets with turbines designed specifically for schools, universities, businesses, farms, municipalities and remote villages. With its years of operating success, reliable and quiet operation, and optimal performance even in modest wind regimes, the Norwin turbines are well positioned to support the unique needs of community wind applications. Norwin in 2009 licensed its turbines for manufacture in the U.S. by Aeronautica Wind Power in Plymouth Massachusetts.

U.S. farms, industry, schools, and universities are looking for wind turbines. Norwin’s turbines are designed specifically for these mid-scale market applications for on-site needs. And with their low profile, ultra-low noise signatures and highly efficient output, they provide the perfect balance between economic output and acceptable size.

For schools, Norwin’s wind turbines are a chance for kids to learn that there is hope in their future for a green tomorrow. All of our turbines sold to schools come with a short wind energy curriculum that you may use, and the output of your turbine can be displayed on browser-based kiosks and in science labs.

We are using the funding provided thru the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the Federal Economic Stimulus Package, to provide a win-win situation for our schools and businesses with these Made in America turbines. There are also significant State and Local incentives for businesses that produce and sell renewable energy.  These include a tax free grant of 30% of the project cost, an 85% depreciation basis for the project (with 50% available the first year), the Renewable Energy Certificates (REC’s) and income from the sale of electricity to the school.

About Norwin A/S

Norwin is a wind turbine supplier and technology company with a high profile within; new technology applications, research and development - operating from its strong home base in Denmark. High profile projects include the World’s first wind powered Skyscraper the Bahrain World Trade Center Twin Towers. National Geographic documented this project this project in its Megastructures TV Series, and Popular Science Featured it in December as the 2008 Best of What’s New - Engineering Innovation.

Norwin’s R&D has resulted in its 750 Kw turbine being the first in the world featuring Active Stall Regulation – ASR – a system that later has been used by other major wind turbine manufactures. The Norwin brand has a pedigree, dating back to the early ’80s, when hundreds of Danwin turbines were placed in service. Many of these machines are still in active service in Altamont Pass, Tehachapi, and Palm Springs, CA with availability as high as 98%. Norwin currently licenses manufacture of its wind turbines in partnership with large rated companies in the USA, China, India, and Turkey. For more information: ( www.norwin.dk and www.norwinna.com)

About the NORWIN 29-Stall-225 Kw Wind Turbine

This is a fixed pitch stall regulated wind turbine where the basic design originates from the Danwin 180-225 Kw turbine family. The current model has a new modern rotor system and a new controller. At a site with an average annual wind speed of approximately 16mph, a 225Kw turbine will produce approximately 500,000 kilowatt hours annually. For further information; please see the “Norwin-at-a-Glance” document and the “Norwin-225Kw Summary Brochure” available at www.norwin.dk

About McEvoy Ranch

The ranch sits on 550 acres in the rolling hills west of Petaluma in Northern California. Once a dairy farm, it has now been reincarnated as an organic olive tree orchard owned by Nan McEvoy since 1997. Nan McEvoy was head of the board of the San Francisco Chronicle (1981-1995) which her grandfather, Michael De Young, founded in 1865. Always an activist with a spirit of adventure, she was an early member of the Peace Corps and active with John D. Rockefeller’s Population Council and continues with renewable energy.

The wind turbine provides this renewable energy to the farm, and surplus power back to the California grid. The turbine is nestled amongst the Tuscan olive trees and the traditional ranch-style home. Other facilities on the ranch include a Frantoio (Italian olive oil mill) and retail store, both of which are open to the public during tour season. There is also a large country kitchen, where under the direction of Head Chef Gerald Gass and his colleague, Mark Rohrmeier, all ranch hospitality and daily core staff lunches are planned and executed, with recipes inspired by ranch products.

McEvoy Ranch believes that we should give back to the earth in equal proportion to what we take and strives to create a self-sufficient ecosystem on the ranch.

For additional coverage see
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/north_bay&id=6859226
ABC North Bay Coverage
(http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090610/BUSINESS/906109871?Title=Blowin-in-the-wind)
PRESS DEMOCRAT, JUNE 10, 2009, SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.

For more information see (www.mcevoyranch.com)