Rogue River Wind, Ltd moved the V-LIM wind generator to a new location with 12’ rollup door in order to do the final assembly. We have three full time workers now, four if you add me, winding coils, rolling copper and buffing, drilling, tweaking, measuring and calibrating.
We also have a four-member capstone team at Portland State University working out the motor control circuitry and data collection sensors and parameters. Everyone is working feverishly now to make of for time lost awaiting one part delayed by, of all things, weather.
The WOW (Western Oregon Wind) Project is making its way through the House subcommittee on Energy and Water and has garnered a lot of support around the state. There are still hurdles to cross before we secure federal funding for the 40% cost of WOW but thus far we are clearing every one.
The smart/micro-grid proposed in the WOW project has some very high-powered technical brains working in the background to help make WOW a reality and provide alternative funding for our local schools. We have engineers in Portugal and Washington State along with experts in Brussels and Virginia all contributing to this unique concept.
Coos County is blessed to have such abundant renewable resources and so many willing and capable contributors to bring a wide scale renewable energy model to fruition here on the coast. Things are beyond busy for me right now hence the brevity of this week’s column but I can sure the excitement for those of us working on this project is reaching a fever pitch.
Brian McAndrew, a bright young journalism student from the University of Oregon, interviewed me today. We talked about the LIM and the WOW project and how important it is to invest in our youth as well as our infrastructure. For this reason, once again, I urge everyone to write or call Congressman Peter DeFazio and thank him for carrying the WOW project to committee. His contact information locally is
Congressman DeFazio
125 Central, Suite 350
Coos Bay, OR 97420
Phone: (541) 269-2609