Wind Project
With the financial assistance of the U.S. Department of Energy the Tribe has engaged since 2003 in assessing wind resources on the reservation and formulating appropriate implementation strategies. Wind monitoring with a meteorological tower on loan from NREL was completed in April 2009. Two Congressional Earmarks were awarded in November 2005 and late 2007. The Blandin Foundation is also providing $200,000 in funding. The Environmental Assessment for the initial wind turbine (750 kW) was completed in May 2009 and additional work was started in October 2009 regarding turbines at additional sites. On December 31, 2009 a contract was executed with Heron Wind Manufacturing, LLC for provision and installation of the 750 kW wind turbine at White Earth village adjacent to the RTC Building. Site work was completed in November and foundation work is now underway. The tower, nacelle and blades will be arriving in May or June and the turbine is expected to be producing and selling power in late June 2011. The Environmental Assessment for additional smaller wind turbines at several potential scattered sites will be done by mid-summer.
