Unalaska, AK – A combined project by Westward Seafoods' Unalaska processing plant and the Alaska Energy Authority is taking the first step to explore wind generation possibilities on the island.

Crews are installing two hundred-foot towers on a hill overlooking the plant, which will collect data on wind velocity and direction. Dick Peck, the energy consultant who's working with Westward on the project, says the goal is to figure out how best to supplement Westward's diesel generators with a cleaner, cheaper power.

The ultimate goal is to set up a type of wind turbine, built by a company in Wyoming, that's specially designed for the kind of high speed winds that whip along the Aleutian chain. Chris Spengler, Westward's assistant chief of engineering, says that his plant's interest in wind power is simple: it will save the company money in the long term.

Although the Aleutians are among the windiest places on earth, so far that resource has gone untapped in Unalaska. The wind is strong enough for steady power generation for 36 percent of the year there.

That's about standard for the blustery western part of the state, although it means that wind power wouldn't be able to singlehandedly shoulder Unalaska's energy needs alone, and installing wind turbines is expensive. But Peck, who used to be Unalaska's utilities manager, says that when it is available, wind is much cheaper in the long run than the diesel-generated power used by the city and its processing plants.

That's something that Brent Petrie, the manager of community development for the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, already understands. His cooperative currently operates 10 wind projects, which account for a total of 865 kilowatt hours of generation. He says that wind power is a natural fit for many remote Alaskan villages, which otherwise rely on increasingly expensive diesel fuel.

Most of the co-op's wind projects were only started recently, so Petrie can't say definitively how successful they are. He also cautions that it can be expensive to build and maintain the infrastructure necessary for wind generation in small, remote communities that don't have much heavy construction equipment on hand. But so far, he says, the results look promising.

Westward's wind study will last for a year, at which point the company will decide if it's worthwhile to pursue wind power in earnest on its property.