Wind farm excursion near Tripoli

A week and a half ago, one of our professors took us on a field trip to a wind farm near Tripoli (central Peloponnese). The featured wind farm was comprised of five 2-megawatt Enercon wind generators on one ridge top; there is also a similarly sized, second wind farm (with different owners) on a parallel adjacent ridge.

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This wasn’t the first wind farm we’ve visited – in fact, it was my third since starting the master’s program – but what made this visit special: we climbed. The Enercon maintenance staff provided full climbing gear for five of us (at a time) to climb, with guides in front and behind to help ensure safety. The tower was 65m (213 feet) tall, so it was no cakewalk… but it was doable, and all twelve of us "windies" (plus two visitors) made the climb. The entire climb took place on the inside of the tower, so we saw very little, except the very tall ladder and climbing compatriots above and below us, throughout our ascent.

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After what seemed like 15-20 minutes of climbing (although it must have been much less than this -- how long can it possibly take to climb 200'?), we finally reached the nacelle (i.e. the big chamber directly behind the blades). After a tour of the generator stator/rotor anatomy and the blade-pitching motor controls, we were allowed to enter through a small crawlspace into the “hub” (i.e. nose cone) to inspect the locations where the blades attach to the drive train. Lastly, the nacelle’s top hatch was opened, so we could stick our heads out of the top to check out the view – absolutely incredible! Some folks don’t like heights, but I’m of the opposite persuasion: I LOVE heights! The sights… the crisp, windy air… oh, and the dizzying rush – wow, really nice!

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Here are some pics from the journey:

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Pit stop at the Corinth Canal, which cuts through the Isthmus of Corinth and connects the Ionian and Aegean Seas
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The beast we climbed
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Getting suited up for the climb
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Starting the ascent
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Emmanuel in front of the Enercon generator in the nacelle
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Fernando & Filippo hanging out in the hub
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How ‘bout that view? (from top of the nacelle)
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From below
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Fil & Nora harness the wind
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That’s Filippo, Nora, & me at the base of the tower (to give a sense of scale)
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OK, now can you see us?
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Nice Greek taverna dinner after a hard day’s climb

European Wind Energy Convention

A couple of weeks ago, four classmates and I flew to Brussels, Belgium, to participate in the annual convention of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). Throughout the convention, there were wind energy presentations in everything from turbine rotor aerodynamics to policy and financing of large wind energy projects. There was also a large exhibit hall, where hundreds of companies, whose business relates directly to European wind energy, had booths to introduce their products/services. But the main reason I went to the convention was to participate in the job fair with prospective employers, since all of us in my program need to find a 5-6 month internship with a wind energy company, from mid-June through mid-December of this year.
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In addition to the convention, this was a nice opportunity to discover Brussels – someplace I’d never been before. Belgium is “divided” into several language/cultural regions: Wallonia (French), Flanders (Flemish/Dutch), and a small German part. Although Brussels lies in the Flanders region… it’s primarily a French-speaking city – an island, so to speak – due to historical and cultural elements that I didn’t delve into thoroughly. Throughout the city, you can hear French and Dutch being spoken, but French is slightly more common.
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Here are some photos from our trip:
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Convention center where exhibition took place
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Me and a “wind energy mascot” (companies will do just about anything to get people to stop by their booth and take note of their products/services)
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Pretty monument at sunset
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Sunset view along the canal
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Nifty wooden sculpture
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The (in)famous “Mannekin Pis”
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“La Grande Place”
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Another “Grande Place” view, by night
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Interesting building art
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Carlos, me, & Emma (from my program), along with Mario & Georgios (Greek guys we met at our hostel) drinking several of the 2000+ beers available at the Brussels bar, "Delirium"

Liberty or Death!

As well as resembling a line from a Patrick Henry speech during the American Revolutionary War, this phrase – "liberty or death" – also has particular historical significance to Greeks. In 1821, during a nearly four-century occupation of Greece by the Ottoman Turks, an Orthodox archbishop named Palaion Patron Germanos declared Greek independence by holding up a flag containing the text, "EΛEΥΘΕΡΙΑ ‘Η ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ" (pronounced eh-lef-theh-REE-ah ee THAH-nah-tos) – "liberty or death". This defiant act apparently helped launch the revolt which eventually led to Greek independence at the Treaty of Constantinople in 1832. (Note: There are historical sources which dispute this account of the start of the Greek War for Independence, so it may just be legend; but Greeks celebrate the date of Bishop Germanos' legendary action, March 17, as their "national day"… so whether truth or myth, this story is now embedded in Greek history and culture.) The modern Greek Flag has nine stripes (alternating blue and white), which apparently represent the nine syllables of the Greek "Liberty or Death" phrase (see below).
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Greek flag (with “Liberty or death” syllables added at right)
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Why the Greek history lesson? During our 5-day Catholic/Protestant Easter holiday weekend (Orthodox Easter is one month later this year), a classmate – Shiva Beharrysingh from Trinidad – and I took a two-day excursion to the region of the northern Peloponnese, where Bishop Germanos supposedly made his symbolic proclamation at Agia Lavra monastery.
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Although we chose a particularly appropriate time to visit the area – just a couple of days before national independence holiday – this wasn’t the main reason we chose to travel here. According to my Greek guidebook, there’s a nifty, old, rickety train (with a rack-and-pinion traction system), which makes a very steep ascent from Diakofto, passes through a dark tunnel, and provides spectacular views of the Vouraïkos Gorge along the “Diakofto-Kalavryta Railway”. The one-hour journey goes first to a tiny, remote mountain village called Zahlorou and then onward to a larger town called Kalavryta. I was looking forward to what sounded like a harrowing, rollercoaster-ish ride up the mountain with breathtaking views… but when we arrived in Diakofto and asked the railroad clerk where and when to catch the mountain train, he replied, in broken English: “Train closed. Come back October.”
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Now what? We’d taken a 3-hour train ride from Athens to Diakofto specifically to ride this special train. When we checked for trains going from Diakofto to other interesting destinations later that day (it was already around 3:30pm), there were very few options. After some deliberation at a local bar, we decided to hire a taxi to take us up the mountain. After 30 minutes of haggling with a cabbie to lower the price from €35 to €30, we finally headed up the mountain. Without any real knowledge of where we were going, we decided to have him drop us in Zahlorou (instead of the larger Kalavryta). Our impression from my guidebook was that this was sort of a “halfway point” on the train ride and that it was possible to hike back down the mountain to Diakofto from here. We figured we would stay the night in Zahlorou and then hike back down the hill in the morning before catching a train back to Athens.
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But nothing ever quite turns out like you expect… especially when you “wing it”, as we had, without any real plans, reservations, or prior contact with people at our final destination. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised by the quaint feel and small size (population: ~100) of Zahlorou. There were three inns/restaurants, 20-30 homes… and that was about it. The first inn had one available room – in marginal condition – that they offered for €40. Since this was €10 higher than the price listed in my guidebook (and since it’s the “low season”), I tried to bargain him down a bit. He was unwilling to bend, so we left. At the second place, the lady said she had only a room with one large bed for €50. Nope. Then we decided to try the nicer-looking place on the opposite hill. A guy named Maltos, who spoke English relatively well, told us that the rooms he had here on the hill were somewhat expensive (€100). But he had some other rooms 500 meters away (slightly outside the village limits) that he would rent for cheaper. We went to see the cheaper rooms and were pleasantly surprised – nice, clean, modern rooms for the same price (€40) that the first guy had asked for the cruddier room. We took Maltos’ offer.
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The village – dissected by a small creek and parallel railroad tracks – is surrounded by rocky, mountainous terrain, which is perfect for hiking and free-climbing. After some exploring in the adjacent hills until dusk, we headed to Maltos’ restaurant and had a nice Greek dinner. In the morning, we got up early-ish (7:30am) and did some more hiking of the countryside. We’d learned that the out-of-commission train still runs from Zahlorou to Kalavryta, so we went for breakfast and planned to catch the 11am train up the hill. At the restaurant, our waitress didn’t speak a word of English, so a mid-20s couple sitting at the adjacent table translated for us. Then we got into a conversation with the couple – Georgios and Maria – and they offered to give us a ride in their car to Kalavryta. We accepted. They were very friendly and generous and ended up taking us with them to visit not only Kalavryta but also the Agia Lavra monastery, a monument to Greek independence on a neighboring hill, and a site called “Cave of the Lakes” (actually, I didn’t go to the cave, but Shiva did; I was concerned about returning to Athens as quickly as possible, because two out-of-town friends, Phil & Linn, were returning to Athens that evening from their island getaway to Aegina). Thanks to Maltos, Georgios, Maria, and the beautiful natural setting of Zahlorou, I had a really enjoyable trip. Here are some photos from our adventure:
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Old locomotive engine display in Diakofto
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Late afternoon view of village Zahlorou
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From the mountainside near Zahlorou
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Overlooking Zahlorou from Maltos’ family restaurant
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Along the RR tracks between Zahlorou & Kalavryta
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Maria, Georgios, me, & Shiva at famous Agia Lavra monastery
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Statue of Archbishop Germanos with his legendary flag: “EΛEΥΘΕΡΙΑ ‘Η ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ”
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Monument to Greek independence near Agia Lavra
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Nice view from independence monument
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Kalavryta's main drag
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Kalavryta from on high
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Pretty Kalavryta church
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Fresh meat in Kalavryta

CRES Wind Farm & Cape Sounion

A couple of weeks ago, my classmates & I traveled to Lavrio (around 30 miles / 45 km SW of Athens) to visit a renewable energy research park. The site includes a wind farm comprised of wind generators from several manufacturers and is operated by CRES (Centre for Renewable Energy Sources, www.cres.gr/kape/index_eng.htm), the local research institute where we recently received two weeks of wind energy lectures. The wind farm allows CRES personnel to examine wind turbine performance in a "complex terrain" (i.e. hilly, non-uniform landscape). They also have other RE experimentation and demonstration equipment at the site, such as a large photovoltaic array, a wood pellet furnace, a hydrogen fuel station, a solar cooling demo building, and wind-powered desalination equipment.
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N-E-G Micon turbine (with blade tips turned for braking)
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Enercon wind turbine
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Wider view of the CRES wind farm
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Checking out one of the PV arrays
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After the research park visit, we ate a late lunch at a seafood restaurant overlooking the Aegean Sea. Finally, we visited the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion on the southern-most tip of Attica (the prefecture in which Athens resides). It's a place that Lord Byron wrote about in Don Juan: "Place me on Sunium's marbled steep, where nothing save the waves and I, may hear our mutual murmurs sweep..." It's a really beautiful spot, and thankfully this was a nice, sunny afternoon. It's supposedly quite a nice place to watch the sunset, although I didn't stay late enough to witness this.
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Poseidon's Temple
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Temple from another view
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Not a bad view from Poseidon's place
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The Windies