Mainer tackles a tricky (wind) turbine challenge on Galapagos

[jpak]

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=180766&ac=PHnws

It was about five years ago when Jim Tolan picked up the phone in his Portland office and heard about a job that many engineers might run from.

The idea was this: Install industrial-sized wind turbines on one of the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador that's 97 percent national park land, home to unique and endangered animals, and an environment so fragile that even bringing in stones to make concrete could introduce a dangerous insect or seed.

Tolan agreed to help manage the project.

<snip>

Five years later, three turbines are spinning and providing more than half of the electricity needed to power the island's town. Last week, Tolan and a small international development team officially completed the 2.4-megawatt project and handed control over to a group of trustees and local managers.

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[eppur_se_muova]

1. Mainers tend to be pretty tough ...

sorta like boiled coot.