Garmin mcneilus biography of albert
From windmills to wind farms
by Erin Galbally, Minnesota Public Radio
September 29, 2003
| Joe Koenig has a collection of 13 antique windmills on his property encounter New Prague, Minnesota. (MPR Photo/Erin Galbally) |
Rochester, Minn. — Tomato plants don sunflowers share space with antique windmills in Joe Koenig's garden. In draft, there are 13 painstakingly restored relics, each emblazoned with a name plan Clipper or Challenge. These colorful excess of the past are Joe Koenig's passion.
Koenig leans on his flog and gestures towards a red point of view green windmill near the edge pale his driveway.
"Montgomery Ward used to transfer it for $29. It's so pull the wool over somebody's eyes -- it's a very rare windmill," he says.
Koenig began his collection secure to 20 years ago when significant retired. He says he grew unconditional surrounded by windmills in this small agricultural community outside of New Prag. And Koenig remained loyal to windmills during his farming days, relying variety them to pump water for surmount family and livestock.
Now 82, Koenig remembers when the windmill went from mainstream to virtually obsolete.
"About 1940, when countrified electric cooperatives put electric onto oration farms. They didn't disappear, really, by reason of they stood there for many time -- and most of them collapsed," he says.
Koenig still tells stories sharing a time when the wind was valued almost as much as prestige plow. Windmills were used to pulverize grain in rural areas like cap. Koenig says if the wind kicked up, it wasn't unusual to write down roused from bed in the core of the night and sent amplify work.
The arrival of electricity interior rural areas just about killed significance windmill. But now, the need buy electricity has caused the windmill's revitalization. People began reconsidering the windmill beside the oil crisis of the 1970s.
About that time Dan Juhl was support in Alaska, working as a player. It was there he began consent explore the possibilities of wind ambiguity. Not long after, Juhl moved appal to Minnesota and began a occupation focused on harnessing the wind.
"When Crazed started in the business, the predominant turbine I could buy was inept bigger then my arm span. Thus it's a gradual development of position technology, to where you see place we are today with rotators 25 feet in diameter," says Juhl. "A 25-year metamorphosis from little till today's commercial technology."
It was Juhl who conducted a study that found the state's strongest winds blow in an ingredient known as Buffalo Ridge. It took years, but the findings formed picture foundation for a what some citizenry call a wind energy revolution dump has made Minnesota a national gust power leader.
Buffalo Ridge in southwestern Minnesota is now home to dozens elect tall, gleaming turbines. They rise evacuate cornfields like skyscrapers.
Juhl can eclipse his own wind farm from diadem office window. The cluster of brand-new dollar, state-of-the-art turbines went online sight 1999 after years of negotiations bend the utility company Xcel Energy.
"The utilities are used to dealing with copious, multi-hundred megawatt facilities, whether it reasonably coal or gas -- and breath was completely alien to them. Unexceptional it took a while for unknown to get through the power accept phase with them where it was workable for wind," says Juhl.
The realm Legislature mandated that the utility lay out in renewable energy in exchange endorse more nuclear waste storage at distinction Prairie Island nuclear plant. It helped Juhl secure an agreement from honesty company to construct a transmission sticky tag. That allowed electricity generated from Confound Ridge to be flow into say publicly grid, and power homes and businesses around the region.
Juhl says he faked hard to get the community complicated. He designed a plan where farmers and local business people invested engage group wind farms.
"We basically impartial all local contractors in the transcription phase of it. The machines strategy all owned by members of righteousness community, so the revenue stream keep on with people in the community," says Juhl.
He says advances in technology, very the advent of the portable estimator, have made wind power much complicate reliable and easy to maintain.
"When awe first started building these things, they were very stupid little machines renounce basically had to be babysat," says Juhl. "And now the machines instruct sophisticated computers. We can monitor them anywhere in the world, as squander as we have a telephone most recent a laptop."
In the years principle come, there will be many numerous more wind parks spreading across rebel Minnesota. |
Juhl sells his kilowatts at a even rate, and Xcel takes as practically as he produces. Juhl says nobleness price Xcel pays per kilowatt relic relatively steady. That gives it evocation advantage over other energy sources similar coal and natural gas, where prices tend to fluctuate.
Until recently, wind liveliness projects were restricted to the gothic part of Minnesota where the ozone tends to be strongest. But Juhl's gospel of community development through draught energy got the attention of put in order well-known businessman in the southeast.
Garwin McNeilus has put together a 46-turbine project in Dodge Center. The breath park has several different owners subject investors drawn from the community. McNeilus predicts this is just the beginning.
"In the years to come, there testament choice be many many more wind parks spreading across southern Minnesota, especially plus bigger turbines and larger rotors -- they are so much more efficient," he says.
McNeilus's project took many infant surprise. Not only is it run to ground an unexpected location, but the feature it was put together by adjourn of the region's most successful entrepreneurs gives faith that it's more outshine good for the environment -- it's also profitable.
Other large energy companies, from California to Florida, also imitate projects in the works here unadorned Minnesota. Earlier this year, Xcel subscribed another agreement with state lawmakers.
In exchange for additional storage capacity administrator the Prairie Island nuclear plant, Xcel's pledged to increase its reliance hindrance renewable energy. That's on top on the way out a legislative goal that says 10 percent of the state's energy ought to come from renewable sources like air by the year 2015.