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.
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]
| Name | Capacity (MW) |
Energy (GW·hr/yr) |
Location (county) |
Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lempster Mountain | 24 | 70[12] | Sullivan | Operating |
| Granite | 99[13] | 224[14] | Coos | Operating[15] |
| Groton Wind | 48 | 144-158[16] | Grafton | Operating[17][18][19] |
| Jericho Mountain | 5 | 14 | Coos | Operating [20] |
| Antrim Wind | 9 | 29 | Sullivan | Operating[21] |
 |
| Megawatts of Wind Capacity [22] |
- ^ Historic Wind Development in New England
- ^ Conaboy, Chelsea (September 17, 2008). "33 turbines would dot Coos ridges". Concord Monitor. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
- ^ "Granite Reliable Power Windpark, NH". Our Windparks. Noble Environmental Power. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
- ^ Department of Energy Finalizes $169 Million Loan Guarantee to Granite Reliable Power: A Wind Powering America Success Story
- ^ Groton Wind Farm
- ^ Electric service lines in Plymouth area being upgraded
- ^ Ledger Transcript: "Antrim wind project complete"
- ^ Antrim Wind Farm Gets Thumbs Down From SEC
- ^ "Vermont utils to buy wind power from New Hampshire". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019.
- ^ Retail Sales of Electricity by State
- ^ Energy Facility Evaluation, Siting, Construction and Operation
- ^ Fleisher, Chris (October 11, 2009). "Lempster's big blow: One year later". The Keene Sentinel. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
- ^ State to suspend action on wind farm application February 9, 2009, retrieved May 16, 2009
- ^ "Granite Reliable". Loan Programs Office, DOE. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Groton Wind
- ^ Wind project gets deadline extension
- ^ Wind farm makes presence known
- ^ iberdrola renewables - groton wind
- ^ "Jericho Mountain (USA) - Wind farms - Online access - the Wind Power".
- ^ Ledger Transcript 2 Feb. 2020 "Andrim wind project complete"
- ^ WINDExchange: U.S. Installed and Potential Wind Power Capacity and Generation