11-17-2003, 11:30 AM
BG's mighty windmills
The amount of electricity they're generating is relatively small in commercial terms, but two towering windmills near Bowling Green represent a signal achievement in the field of municipal power.
Churning away like giant pinwheels in Wood County's near-constant breeze, they are the first utility-scale wind turbines in Ohio and the largest of their type east of the Mississippi River.
In a state where more than three-quarters of all electric power is generated from the burning of coal, these majestic devices represent a revolution in clean, renewable energy. They require no fuel and, most important, produce no collateral damage from air pollution.
Plus, they're among the tallest manmade structures in the region, and far more interesting than any radio or television antenna. In fact, the structures are visible for miles around in any direction.
Each generating unit has three blades 132 feet long and sits atop a tower 257 feet above the countryside near the county landfill along U.S. 6, three miles west of the city. When one of the blades is at its apex, its tip is 387 feet above the ground.
It turns out that Wood County - notable for its flatness - is one of the few places in Ohio where the wind blows steadily enough to make the turbines twirl at an economical pace.
The budding wind farm - two more turbines are planned - was the brainchild of Daryl Stockburger, Bowling Green's director of utilities. The $4.5 million project is a cooperative venture of the city, American Municipal Power-Ohio, the nonprofit municipal utilities group of which Bowling Green is a member, and Green Mountain Energy Co., a Texas outfit specializing in power from renewable sources.
Mr. Stockburger has plenty of enthusiasm for his windmills, but no illusions that they will be more than a supplementary source of power. Over a year's time, they are expected to generate enough electricity consistently to power 780 homes. That's only about 5 percent of the demand from Bowling Green's 13,500 residential and commercial electric customers.
The cost of electricity from the windmills is about twice that of coal-generated power, but Mr. Stockburger says the economics will improve with the addition of two more units. So far, seven other area communities have signed up to share in the project.
Bowling Green's wind farm won't make much more than a dent in Ohio's insatiable demand for power. It is, however, encouraging proof that electricity can be generated on an economical scale without the burning of fossil fuels that produce acid rain and other harmful pollutants.
The amount of electricity they're generating is relatively small in commercial terms, but two towering windmills near Bowling Green represent a signal achievement in the field of municipal power.
Churning away like giant pinwheels in Wood County's near-constant breeze, they are the first utility-scale wind turbines in Ohio and the largest of their type east of the Mississippi River.
In a state where more than three-quarters of all electric power is generated from the burning of coal, these majestic devices represent a revolution in clean, renewable energy. They require no fuel and, most important, produce no collateral damage from air pollution.
Plus, they're among the tallest manmade structures in the region, and far more interesting than any radio or television antenna. In fact, the structures are visible for miles around in any direction.
Each generating unit has three blades 132 feet long and sits atop a tower 257 feet above the countryside near the county landfill along U.S. 6, three miles west of the city. When one of the blades is at its apex, its tip is 387 feet above the ground.
It turns out that Wood County - notable for its flatness - is one of the few places in Ohio where the wind blows steadily enough to make the turbines twirl at an economical pace.
The budding wind farm - two more turbines are planned - was the brainchild of Daryl Stockburger, Bowling Green's director of utilities. The $4.5 million project is a cooperative venture of the city, American Municipal Power-Ohio, the nonprofit municipal utilities group of which Bowling Green is a member, and Green Mountain Energy Co., a Texas outfit specializing in power from renewable sources.
Mr. Stockburger has plenty of enthusiasm for his windmills, but no illusions that they will be more than a supplementary source of power. Over a year's time, they are expected to generate enough electricity consistently to power 780 homes. That's only about 5 percent of the demand from Bowling Green's 13,500 residential and commercial electric customers.
The cost of electricity from the windmills is about twice that of coal-generated power, but Mr. Stockburger says the economics will improve with the addition of two more units. So far, seven other area communities have signed up to share in the project.
Bowling Green's wind farm won't make much more than a dent in Ohio's insatiable demand for power. It is, however, encouraging proof that electricity can be generated on an economical scale without the burning of fossil fuels that produce acid rain and other harmful pollutants.