The state of Maryland has installed an anemometer as the first step towards turning the Cobb Neck peninsula into the first wind-dependent community in the mid-Atlantic.Â
The digital device was installed on top of a 30-meter tower on the highest point on Cobb Neck. It will provide data over the next year to determine if the site produces enough wind to make a turbine feasible, according to Cobb Neck Community Wind.
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‘You need specific wind speed data before embarking on such an ambitious community-based initiative,’ says Andrew Gohn of the Maryland Energy Administration.
Located three miles northeast of the Windmill on the Potomac, which was the first residential wind turbine in southern Maryland, the Cobb Neck wind turbine – if constructed – will generate between 1 MW and 2.4 MW of electricity.
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Data from the anemometer will be read on a monthly basis over the next year. The anemometer was installed by the Maryland Environmental Service, which is charged by the state with providing communities with the ability to create sustainable and cost-effective solutions to energy problems.
The Cobb Neck peninsula is bordered by the Potomac River on the west and the Wicomico River on the east.
SOURCE: Cobb Neck Community Wind
