Wind power in New Hampshire

Wind power in New Hampshire began in 1980, with the installation of the world's first wind farm at Crotched Mountain, consisting of 20 30 kW wind turbines, although it closed decades ago.[1] As of 2020, five wind power projects are operating in the state of New Hampshire – Lempster Mountain, which opened in 2008, Granite Reliable Wind Farm, which opened in late 2011, Groton Wind, which opened in 2012, Jericho Mountain, which opened in 2015, and Antrim Wind, which opened in 2020.

Two turbines of Lempster Mountain wind farm
Crotched Mountain
Jericho
Antrim
Wind power projects in New Hampshire
  Operating
  Under construction
  Decommissioned

Granite Reliable has 33 Vestas three-megawatt wind turbines on mountains in the Phillips Brook area.[2][3][4]

Groton Wind consists of 24 Gamesa G87 2.0 MW turbines, and are located along two ridges west of Plymouth, in the town of Groton. Although there is a high voltage power line to the west of the wind farm, the power is transmitted to a new substation at the Campton–Holderness town line.[5][6] Turbines are 286 feet (87 m) tall and the blades are 139 feet (42 m) long.

A wind farm in Antrim opened in 2020.[7] It had been expected to begin construction in 2014, but on February 7, 2013, New Hampshire's Site Evaluation Committee rejected the proposal by a 6 to 3 vote, the first time the SEC has turned down a wind project.[8] The primary reason for the rejection was stated as the visual and aesthetic impact the proposed turbines would have had on the Audubon Society of New Hampshire's Willard Pond Sanctuary and the region in general. The project was eventually approved with 9 turbines, one fewer than originally proposed.

New Hampshire is a net power producer, generating more than is consumed. The output of Groton Wind is going to NStar, in Boston, and 55% of Granite is going to Vermont.[9] In 2010 New Hampshire produced 22 million MWh, and used 7.7 million MWh.[10]

A 2009 regulation requires state approval of any energy facility of over 30 MW, and transmission lines over 100 kV.[11]

NameCapacity
(MW)		Energy
(GW·hr/yr)		Location
(county)		Status
Lempster Mountain24  70[12] SullivanOperating
Granite99[13]224[14] CoosOperating[15]
Groton Wind48144-158[16]GraftonOperating[17][18][19]
Jericho Mountain514CoosOperating [20]
Antrim Wind929SullivanOperating[21]
New Hampshire Wind Generation Capacity by Year
Megawatts of Wind Capacity [22]

See also

References
  1. Historic Wind Development in New England
  2. Conaboy, Chelsea (September 17, 2008). "33 turbines would dot Coos ridges". Concord Monitor. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
  3. "Granite Reliable Power Windpark, NH". Our Windparks. Noble Environmental Power. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  4. Department of Energy Finalizes $169 Million Loan Guarantee to Granite Reliable Power: A Wind Powering America Success Story
  5. Groton Wind Farm
  6. Electric service lines in Plymouth area being upgraded
  7. Ledger Transcript: "Antrim wind project complete"
  8. Antrim Wind Farm Gets Thumbs Down From SEC
  9. Vermont utils to buy wind power from New Hampshire
  10. Retail Sales of Electricity by State
  11. Energy Facility Evaluation, Siting, Construction and Operation
  12. Fleisher, Chris (October 11, 2009). "Lempster's big blow: One year later". The Keene Sentinel. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  13. State to suspend action on wind farm application February 9, 2009, retrieved May 16, 2009
  14. "Granite Reliable". Loan Programs Office, DOE. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  15. "Coos County Wind Project Would Create 550 Jobs, Contribute $40.6M to Economy" (Press release). University of New Hampshire (UNH). April 15, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  16. Groton Wind
  17. Wind project gets deadline extension
  18. Wind farm makes presence known
  19. iberdrola renewables - groton wind
  21. Ledger Transcript 2 Feb. 2020 "Andrim wind project complete"
  22. WINDExchange: U.S. Installed and Potential Wind Power Capacity and Generation
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