The new Bolton Valley wind turbine is at the top of the resort's Vista Quad Lift.

Vermont’s Bolton Valley ski resort has fully installed its new wind turbine, which will supply a chunk of its annual energy use.

The extra power will supply about 15 per cent of the resort’s annual energy needs, currently valued at $33,000 a year. I will be a major asset for the resort which has extensive power needs for snowmaking and lights for night skiing.  The turbine was installed at the top of the Vista Quad lift.

“It helps us in terms of our sustainability; it helps us in terms of our cost of power,” said resort spokesman Larry Williams, who hopes the resort will ultimately be 100 per cent wind powered.

The turbine cost about $750,000 and local experts think it may be the first of many at the region’s ski areas. They believe the resorts are a ‘natural’ location for the turbines, with power lines already reaching the hilltops above the slopes and objections to visual impact and development less likely. This is one of the first new turbines in the state in several years and the resort hopes it will be the first of three on site, with two larger, more powerful turbines planned.

Jiminy Peak in nearby Massachusetts was the first to install a turbine, the huge 253ft (84m) high Zephyr 1.5MW wind turbine which provides approximately 33 per cent of the electrical demands of the resort annually. During the winter months, when the wind resources are the strongest, it can provide as much as half of their electrical demand. The turbine generates approximately 4,600,000 kWh each year, of which Jiminy Peak uses about half directly. The rest is returned to the grid.

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