Saint Mary’s, Alaska is the largest village on the lower Yukon River and a high priority wind power project site for Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC). Two wind power sites in or near Saint Mary’s have been monitored: the “Pitka’s Point Site” adjacent to the rock quarry between the village and the airport, and the “Saint Mary’s Site” about one mile nearer Saint Mary’s from the Pitka’s site. The Pitka’s Point site measured as wind power class 6 and the Saint Mary’s site wind power class 5 (on a scale of 1 to 7), although both are prone to rime icing events during winter. Given the stronger wind resource at the Pitka’s Point site, it is the present planned location for wind turbines to serve the community.
In addition to the existing electrical intertie between Saint Mary’s and Pitka’s Point and Saint Mary’s and the airport, plans calls for continuation of the intertie west from the Saint Mary’s airport to Mountain Village, approximately 20 miles downriver.
V3 Energy LLC has written a number of reports and wind-diesel system analysis of wind power for Saint Mary’s; several are available below.
Download REF 8 Wind Diesel Project Analysis
Download REF 7 Wind Diesel Project Analysis
Download Conceptual Design Analysis
Download Wind Resource Report – Pitka’s Point