According to an e-mail from Economic Development Committee chair Rich Talipsky at 6pm this evening, the Portsmouth wind turbine has passed its checkout testing and is now operating in fully automatic mode, which means that as soon as there is sufficient wind, it comes on line to provide power to the grid. When the wind drops off, it automatically cuts out. Talipsky notes that the Town is currently reviewing the documentation prior to officially taking ownership:

There are three, three-inch binders of specifications and testing data, so we will take the weekend to do a thorough review. To allow sufficient time for review, and barring finding any discrepancies in the documentation, we plan to take ownership of the WTG on Monday March 23, 2009. However, even now, before formally accepting ownership, the town will be gaining full electric production credit from National Grid and accumulating Renewable Energy Certificates as the WTG makes power.

Don’t be concerning if you think the WTG is operating slower than the one at Portsmouth Abbey. The Portsmouth Town WTG is designed to operate at about half the RPM of the Portsmouth Abbey’s WTG, while producing over two and a half times the power.

You can see it from where we live, and from Park Ave, it really is an awesome site, spinning against the sunset.