Hard to believe it was just a year ago...

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Portsmouth's wind turbine generator going online, and according to figures from the Planning Dept., it is running at 110% of estimated production, and has generated electricity worth more than $550,000 for the town.

"Needless to say, we are very pleased with annual production," said assistant town planner Gary Crosby. "February, 2010 was our fourth month in a row of 100% availability with zero down time. As you can see from the figures, we have really hit our stride."

Portsmouth Economic Development Committee (PEDC) Chair Rich Talipsky agreed. "As expected, the wind turbine had some adjustment issues and operational glitches in the first six months, but after the adjustments were made, the project has exceeded all expectations both in reliability and power output."

Total Production: 3,625,950 kWH Highest 24-hr production: 36,460 kWH on January 29, 2010 Longest period of continuous production: 206+ hours between Dec 15, 2009 and December 24, 2009 Highest 24-hr average wind speed: 31.41 mph on January 25, 2010 Highest 10-minute average wind speed: 39.5 mph at 5:10 pm on January 29, 2010 Highest Wind Gust: 57.3 mph at 2:50 am on January 29, 2010

Source: Town Planning Dept.

The wind turbine was approved by a 60% majority of Portsmouth voters in 2007, and the project was planned and managed by the citizen-volunteers of the PEDC Sustainable Energy Subcommittee: Talipsky, Gary Gump, Bob Hamilton, and Doug Smith.

Reflecting on the past year, Talipsky said, "The project team members often look up at the wind turbine and say, 'How did we do it?' And, when we thought about it, we came to the realization that we had developed the right chemistry between the citizens, the Town leadership and the project contractor that enabled an honest dialogue. It was the heart of a working relationship that brought potential problems and issues to the forefront early so that they could be resolved."

Now, when you drive along East Main Road, it just looks like part of the scenery. A year later, nobody remembers the delays as shipments were held up by load limits on highways, or the March snowstorm that brought construction to a halt, or the tense moments of watching the wind speed gauge for a break to hoist the final sections.

Talipsky admits that the PEDC does miss the drama, a little. "After laboring on the project for over four years, it was hard for our team to let go of our fledgling project and turn it over to the Town for continued management. But, that was the way we had planned for it to work. The wind turbine generator was to become a normal piece of Town infrastructure managed by Town personnel with an Enterprise Fund that would provide accountability on the costs and revenues of the project."

And with a half-million dollars of revenue already in the town's coffers (minus, of course, bond payments and maintenance), the team can feel good about what they've handed over. "We could not have hoped for a better first year," said Talipsky.

See a collection of all prior coverage here.