Prairie Wanderings: Wind farming in Kansas
By Paul Jantzen
Contributing writer
For late May, the wheat plants are very short here in western Kansas this year, presumably due to the very dry summer, winter, and spring. But it is also very windy. And it is "the wind that is blowing new life into this rural area" near Montezuma.
The 170 newly erected wind turbines cover nearly 20 square miles of Gray County. Each turbine is capable of producing 660 kilowatts, all 170 harnessing enough wind energy to power 32,000 homes.
Wind farming is already providing a second income for farmers in southwestern Minnesota where energy developers pay them $2,000 to $3,000 per year for each turbine on their land. Each turbine requires about one-eighth acre which would yield about $18.75 per year in corn, according to Melanie McManus in the current issue of National Wildlife.
Human attempts to harness hazardous lightning have developed into a major energy industry. Now, harnessing some-times destructive winds has evolved from powering sailing vessels, pumping underground water, and grinding grain, to generating electricity. So here in Gray County, the wind not only erodes precious soil, but now reaps the positive benefit of generating electricity.
While individuals have erected wind generators for decades (as a boy I remember single "Wind-Chargers" on a few farms), these turbines in Gray County arranged as wind farms are the first to be so organized in Kansas.
At first, the people in Minnesota feared that the turbines would be too expensive to operate and, with their rapidly turning blades, would be noisy and would kill birds.
Early attempts at turbine technology supported their fears. But rapid advances in the technology have increased cost efficiency so they can now compete with new coal-fired power plants. Modern rotors have longer blades and turn more slowly, therefore, more quietly — slowly enough so birds can avoid them.
Figures from Minnesota's Lincoln and Pipestone counties indicate that their costs are 3.2 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to the national average of 8 cents when generated with fossil fuels.
In Gray County, each turbine reaches 207 feet up into the wind with three 77-foot blades. Rotors turn 28.5 rotations per minute with tip speeds approaching 155 miles per hour.
The turbines are arranged 520 feet apart in each east-west row, with rows a half mile apart.
Kansas ranks third in the United States for potential wind energy conversion, exceeded only by Texas and North Dakota. The average wind speed in Gray County is 20 miles per hour. The turbines can produce electricity with wind speeds as low as 9 miles per hour, with peak production at 33 mph. When the wind exceeds 56 mph, the turbines shut down.
Using wind energy not only reduces our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels, it does not produce the carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming or the dangers associated with nuclear power plants. And wind farms can be built in a few months, less than the nearly five years required for gas-fired plants.
A Minnesota farmer who sold wind rights on his land enjoys the turbines he sees.
"They're almost mesmerizing as they turn gently in the wind," he says. "I always stop in the field and just watch them."
I have the same feeling in Gray County.
