Wind Electric Systems for Telecommunications

The rapidly expanding demand for communications services in remote areas of the world coupled to rising fuel costs has generated a critical need for a reliable alternative to fossil fuel based primary power supplies. Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) have been solving remote power needs since the turn of the century. However, until recently very little hardware was available which was designed and manufactured specifically to meet the severe reliability and environmental requirements of the telecommunications industry. Recognizing this deficiency, the U.S. Department of Energy in 1978 awarded a contract to North Wind Power Company to design, test, and deliver a small high reliability wind energy conversion system capable of producing economical power from the wind in the harshest of environments with a mean time between failures of no less than 10 years on a maintenance schedule of no more than one day per year. This paper describes the result of that effort, the North Wind Power HR2 wind electric system and discusses the feasibility and economics of such a wind system as a primary power source for remote telecommunications applications.