MAX terminus using mini wind turbines

TriMet banking on solar, wind to power site

By Jim Redden

Pamplin Media Group, Jan 15, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (6 Reader comments)

JONATHAN HOUSE / PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP

Brad Malsin, owner of Beam Development, has developed a prototype urban windmill, left, that could generate power for homes and businesses.

When the new MAX light-rail line through downtown Portland opens this fall, it not only will provide an efficient transportation link between Union Station and Portland State University. It also will include a renewable-energy demonstration project that could reshape urban developments in the future.

Plans call for an array of solar panels and small wind turbines at the South Terminus, the southern end of the line near PSU, between Southwest Fifth and Sixth avenues at Market Street. The panels and turbines will generate an estimated 50 kilowatts of electricity – about 75 percent of the power required to light and operate the site, not counting electricity used by the trains.

“It will not only reduce our energy costs, but give us hands-on experience with renewables that can help with future projects,” says TriMet project architect Bob Hastings.

Perhaps the most innovative parts of the project are the wind turbines, which stand just under four feet tall. They are being designed and built by Oregon Wind, a Portland company founded in 2002 by local developer Brad Malsin and inventor Toby Kinkaid, who came up with the design.

Compared to solar panels that have been installed for years on homes and other buildings, wind turbines in urban settings are a relatively new idea.

If the turbines prove successful, Malsin hopes to incorporate them into future projects, such as the Burnside Bridgehead, the proposed five-block development at the northeast end of the Burnside Bridge. The Portland Development Commission asked Malsin’s company to revive the stalled project when the original developer pulled out last year.

“I can see a time when urban wind turbines can help make buildings and developments energy self-sufficient, where such projects can generate more power than they use,” Malsin says.

A handful of companies already sell small wind turbines, but most are far larger than the prototype being developed by Oregon Wind. Most look like small versions of the turbines found on industrial wind farms. Kincaid’s turbine uses a vertical design with elongated sail-like wings instead of a traditional propeller. According to Malsin, this reduces vibrations and allows it to be more easily installed in confined urban areas. The design also eliminates the threat to birds, Malsin says.

The original prototype turbine generates a maximum of 40 watts when the wind blows at 28 miles per hour. An improved version is being finalized that will generate 80 watts, says Sattie Clark, an Oregon Wind partner who also co-owns Eleek, a local sustainability-oriented lighting company. Clark also is on the board of the PDX Lounge, the public-private partnership started by the city Office of Sustainable Development to promote local green businesses.

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