Colorado Park to get wind turbine

The Colorado Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation (OEMC) will team up with a Department of Energy "Windpowering America" program to install a 65-kilowatt wind turbine at Colorado Park, just southwest of Lamar this fall. Ed Lewis of the OEMC said yesterday the turbine will operate in conjunction with an existing generator which produces power from methane gas, a by-product of animal waste from the swine production facility.

Lewis said one of the drawbacks of a wind turbine is that it only produces electric power part of the time, not necessarily when the power is needed. By combining the wind turbine with the methane power produced by the digester, however, the facility may produce a far more dependable source of power, both from renewable energy sources. The decision to install the wind turbine comes after the energy office collected wind data at the site for one year, part of a statewide anemometer program it currently operates. Lewis said the data will be shared in a series of workshops with other locations around the state. The energy management office has purchased a refurbished Jacobs Model E-15 wind turbine which is mounted atop an 80-foot tower. It produces a maximum of 65 kilowatts of power. Installed cost of the turbine is $80,000, and Lewis said current estimates are that it would pay for itself in about eight years. Preliminary figures include the benefit of a 1.8 cent per kilowatt hour tax credit.

The turbine will come from Energy Maintenance Services (EMS) of Gary, South Dakota. The firm specializes in wind industry consulting, installation of commercial and residential projects, and turbine remanufacturing. The Jacobs E-15 65-KW model has a 49-foot blade diameter, and its 7,700 pound nacelle is mounted on top of an 80-foot tower. The 65-KW model produces power at 480 volts in three phases. EMS says the turbine is capable of producing between 50,000 and 180,000 kilowatt hours of electrical power per year.