Maine Wind Farm In Doubt Because Site Is Too Windy

sprinkletown writes "A Boston-based wind energy company is facing an unusual problem for its proposed wind farm in Maine: the site is too windy for even the burliest of turbines. From the article: 'First Wind’s vice-president of business development Matthew Kearns said at a public meeting in Rumford that because of the strong, irregular wind resource on Black Mountain, the Longfellow Wind Farm project may no longer be viable. “The wind is very, very turbulent, so we don’t even know yet whether to proceed with the project at all,' Kearns told a packed house eager to learn about the company’s future plans in the area.'"

um

[Jakeva]

I would think that such heavy winds would produce enough energy to subsidize the cost of "more burly" turbines.

Vertical axis?

[MiniMike]

Is it too windy for vertical axis turbines? As they're lower than most horizontal axis turbines, maybe the wind velocity and turbulence would be within their range.