Harnessing wind power2 turbines

going up near

Redwood Falls

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

REDWOOD FALLS -- The ground gradually rises as you head southwest of town towards the two towers that will hold two wind turbines with 131-foot long blades.

Looking west and southwest, you can see for several miles. If there is any wind blowing, you can feel it here.

Aided by calm winds Wednesday, contractors working for the publicly owned Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Association (SMMPA) hoisted a huge blade with a large crane and attached it to the tower.

Each 1.65 mW turbine will generate enough energy to power 700 homes for a year. The Danish-made, 95 percent-efficient Vestes turbines are designed to provide 25 years of service with twice-yearly maintenance.

The first turbine could be spinning and producing electricity as soon as Wednesday, Dec. 29, according to SMMPA spokesman Dan Hayes. A second turbine a few hundred yards south of the existing turbine will be placed on line later this winter.

The $1.8 million turbines are expected to be spinning 90 percent of the time, producing different levels of power, depending upon wind speed.

Wind power will be transmitted back to Redwood Falls and sold to SMMPA members. The association already has wind turbines near Fairmont and Wells.

Turbines turn more often during the winter months than in summer, according to SMMPA.

Each turbine has an electronic "weather station" and computer control system that provides real-time information on wind speed and direction. A computer controls the machine so it captures the maximum amount of energy from the wind, aka "chasing the wind."

Turbines produce electricity when wind velocity reaches 7.8 mph and the blades turn at 15 rpm. They produce full power when the wind speed reaches 38 mph.

Excess power is produced at wind speeds up to 55.9 mph. If the wind exceeds that speed, blade tips turn into the wind and a disc brake prevents turbine damage.

Wind power costs 3 to 5 cents/kWh compared to 40 cents/kWh in 1979, according to SMMPA. Production costs are projected to drop further.

Currently, electricity in Minnesota and surrounding states comes from large coal-burning power plants, natural gas-fueled turbines and nuclear power. Wind turbines lessen the need for non-renewable power sources.

Buying 100 kWh of wind-generated power per month for a year has the same environmental impact as planting a half-acre of trees or not driving your car 2,400 miles. Buying 600 kWh each month for a year equals taking a car off the road for a year.

More than 90 percent of SMMPA's current energy comes from Sherburne County plant that burns western coal with low sulfur content.

Currently, 92 percent of Minnesota electricity comes from coal-fired and nuclear generation. Two percent comes from renewable energy.

Minnesota law 216B.169 requires that utilities offer green power to their customers.

The Minnesota Legislature set a statutory goal that 10 percent of the state's electricity be provided by renewable energy by 2015, in addition to the 950 megawatts of renewable energy being developed under the 1994 Prairie Island compromise.

Minnesota has 75,000 megawatts of wind energy potential, according to the American Wind Energy Association. North and South Dakota have another 255,600 megawatts of wind energy potential.

This September, the Union of Concerned Scientists said a 20 percent national renewable electricity standard by 2020 would produce more than 5,000 Minnesota jobs. Wind, biomass and solar energy sources would create 1.4 times more Minnesota jobs than fossil fuel electricity generation.

A national renewable electricity standard (RES) would require electric utilities to supply a set percentage of their electricity from renewable sources like wind, geothermal and bioenergy.

A national 20 percent RES would provide Minnesota with $1.7 billion in new capital investment, $342 million in payments to farmers and rural areas producing biomass energy, $126 million in new property tax revenues for local communities and $41 million in wind power lease payments to farmers and rural landowners.

A 10 percent National RES would provide important but fewer benefits.

Similar programs have been implemented in 16 states, including Minnesota, where a minimum renewable electricity requirement has been established for just one utility, covering about half the state's electricity use.

Over the past four years, an unprecedented surge in natural gas power plant construction has contributed to rising natural gas and electricity prices. Consumer natural gas prices have more than doubled.

High gas prices forced industrial users like the petrochemical industry to move operations overseas. U.S. chemical workers lost about 78,000 jobs since natural gas prices began to rise in 2000.

Farmers are feeling the pain since natural gas accounts for 90 percent of fertilizer costs. These prices show no signs of falling.

(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).