Wind Energy
Kentucky homeowners and small businesses may find it economically advantageous to use wind power if they have a site where the average wind speeds are strong enough. An ideal site for a wind generator is 20 feet above any surrounding objects within a 250 foot radius, with average wind speeds of at least 9 miles per hour. Steady wind is better than gusty conditions because a small difference in wind speed has a major effect on the amount of wind power available.
In general, Kentucky has low wind speeds and therefore, limited wind energy potential. However, there may be specific sites and applications where wind is a cost-effective option.
AWS Truewind was contracted to complete a high resolution wind map of Kentucky in 2008 (Final Report, 249kB PDF). Wind speed values on a 2.5 km grid are available for free from the windNavigator website hosted by AWS Truewind. For GIS users, the raw data using 200 m spacing can be found at the Kentucky Geography Network; keyword search "mesomap".
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Education |
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Site Evaluation |
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Evaluating a Potential Small Wind Turbine Site Consumer information for home and business wind energy systems.
Wind Energy Siting Handbook  Developed by the American Wind Energy Association to inform wind energy developers about environmental siting issues relevant to land-based commercial-scale wind energy projects.
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Resources |
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American Wind Energy Association  AWEA is a national trade association that promotes wind energy as a clean source of electricity.
National Wind Technology Center NWTC, managed by the U.S. Department of Energy, works to advance wind power technologies and lower the cost of wind energy.
Green Energy Ohio  Learn more about successful wind projects and wind activities in our region at the GEO website.
Windustry  Don't Know Where to Start? Windustry is a non-profit organization working to increase wind energy opportunities for rural landowners and communities by providing technical support and creating tools for analysis.
Note: Some documents above are in Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) format. Please click on the following link to download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader. 
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