“Santee Cooper is proceeding with our research into a potential offshore wind farm, and we are also looking onshore for opportunities to build demonstration wind energy projects and engage the public,” said Marc Tye, Santee Cooper vice president of conservation and renewable energy. “We think these projects offer a great learning opportunity for students, and they will help us all learn more about this important potential renewable energy resource.”

On Nov. 17, a Santee Cooper distribution operations crew will install an anemometer at the end of the Georgetown Fishing Pier. The instrument will be placed on a 30-foot fiberglass pole and mounted at the end of the pier. Engineers will monitor the data for three to six months and if the wind is sufficient, Santee Cooper could install a 2-kilowatt wind turbine at that location.

This would be the first wind turbine installed in Santee Cooper’s customer service territory and possibly the first in the state of South Carolina. It will have an Internet interface that will allow students and other interested residents to monitor real-time energy output from the turbine.

Santee Cooper has researched land-based wind speeds and determined they are not strong enough for industrial-scale wind turbines, which require wind speeds of at least 8 miles per hour to begin turning and  don’t generate at full capacity unless winds are moving at about 30 mph. The utility is looking for sites for small turbines that are capable of generating power from slower wind speeds – as slow as 5 mph.

In addition to the Georgetown Fishing Pier location, Santee Cooper plans to test winds at Morgan Park with an anemometer tower beginning in a few weeks and could install a second small turbine there.

Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, and the state’s largest power producer, supplying electricity to more than 163,000 retail customers in Berkeley, Georgetown, and Horry counties, as well as to 31 large industrial facilities, the cities of Bamberg and Georgetown, and the Charleston Air Force Base. Santee Cooper also generates the power distributed by the state’s 20 electric cooperatives to more than 700,000 customers in all 46 counties. Approximately 2 million South Carolinians receive their power directly or indirectly from Santee Cooper. The utility also provides water to 137,000 consumers in Berkeley and Dorchester counties, and the town of Santee. For more information, visit www.santeecooper.com. For information on how Santee Cooper lives green and how you can go green, visit www.SanteeCooperGreen.com.