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Energy Sources>Wind>
Windy Site for Wind Generators"Strewn there by the wind…" was the way Owen Wister described the town of Medicine Bow during the late 1800s. a hundred years later, the town demonstrated its tenacity and is the home of about 400 people--many connected with the coal and uranium mining in Wyoming.
Spawned as a fuel stop for the Union Pacific Railroad, Medicine Bow is located within a C-basin formed by the Laramie, Medicine Bow and Shirley Mountain ranges. It is this very basin that helps propel the howling westerly winds that have created so much interest among energy researchers.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation scientists spent a great deal of effort verifying Medicine Bow's windy reputation. Technicians analyzed many years of climatological data collected from southern Wyoming. Eventually, a 600-square-mile area surrounding Medicine Bow was designated for further study.
Using aerial photographs and data gathered by the University of Wyoming, five sites were identified as potential locations for wind generators. Instruments installed at the sites gathered wind data beginning in 1977.
A 200-foot tower (later raised to 360 feet) equipped to measure wind at three elevations was erected during 1978 at one of the sites, located five miles southwest of Medicine Bow.
That same year, Bureau officials selected two sites on which large-scale wind machines could be constructed. The site southwest of Medicine Bow was chosen for the first test units. This site eventually became Platte River Power Authority's Medicine Bow Wind Project in 1998. The second site, with the colorful name "Greasewood Flats," located 17 miles northeast of the town, was designated at the probable site for a larger wind field.
Data showed that average wind speed, back then, exceeded 20 miles per hour (at 200 feet above the ground) - more than enough for efficient wind generators. In addition, records show that the Medicine Bow wind blows more between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. than during other hours of the day. This is significant since this is the time of day when demand and use of electricity is greatest.
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