WINDFALL for Montezuma

The first commercial wind-energy project in Kansas is rapidly taking shape a few miles east of town, bringing an infusion of money into the community.

It's also bringing hope for a new kind of renewable cash crop that harvests electricity out of thin air.

No one knows that better than one Montezuma farmer, who has eight of the wind farm's 170 huge turbines on his property.

"I think this deal is going to be beneficial for everyone in Gray County," He said. "It's providing an income for a lot of us. And we're utilizing something we've got a lot of out here - wind."

The first massive wind tower rotor - with a diameter of 154 feet - has been assembled on the ground and is nearly ready to be hoisted into place. The 16,900-pound rotor assembly will sit atop a 207-foot-tall steel tower.

Barring delays, all 170 wind turbines will be completed and churning out power by Dec. 31, said Rusty Hurt, project construction manager with FPL Energy, a Florida-based energy company that's developing the Gray County project.

The $100 million Gray County Wind Farm will cover about 20 square miles and produce enough electrical energy to power 33,000 homes.

The white towers, rising above corn and wheat fields, will be the most visible landmarks in the Montezuma area, easily viewed from either side of U.S. 56.

The two dozen landowners who leased small plots of ground to the wind farm can expect a windfall of about $2,000 a year for each turbine on their land for the next 20 years.

"The construction workers who are here, they're definitely helping the welding shops and the cafes around here," one farmer said. "The company's putting money into the school, which is the town's livelihood. These guys are as professional an outfit as anything I've ever seen." and said he appreciates the lease revenue he'll receive.

"I'd rather not say how much it is, but let's just say it's better than farming," he said.


For the county

Landowners aren't the only ones who will benefit.

Because federal and state governments want to encourage alternative energy production, wind-power companies are exempt from sales and property taxes.

However, Hurt said FPL Energy wanted to be recognized as a good neighbor. The company has promised to give Gray County $305,000 a year for 10 years to use wherever it's needed.

Gray County commissioners decided to apportion the money as if it were tax revenue.

One of the biggest winners will be the Montezuma School District, which can expect about $118,000 a year for the next 10 years, beginning in February 2003.

"We've had all kinds of recommendations from our patrons on how to spend it," Superintendent Robert Minchew said. "Some want to help pay off the $3.6 million bond issue we passed last November. Some want it to go toward a new football field, since we can't use the one we have because of the new elementary school that extends out onto the old field."

A Gray County Commissioner said the wind farm's "gift" goes beyond the school district.

Other taxing units also will get a share, such as the hospital district, which will get about $5,300 a year; the rural fire district, $6,100 a year; and the Montezuma township, $5,100 a year.

The county's general fund will get about $160,500 a year.

It's going to be pretty impressive," the Commissioner said. "We're thrilled to death with it out here."


Spoiled view?

But not everyone is that thrilled.

One person said his home will be surrounded by wind towers on at least three sides that he said will mar the view and may cause noise pollution.

"We moved to the rural area for the peace and wide-open view we have out here," He said. "It's going to break up the countryside."

Then added that he fears that the wind farm towers may lower his property value. Although the towers were placed at least 2,000 feet from his home, he said the company asked him to sign a noise and shadow easement. He declined.

"When the sun is in the east or west, you'll have these shadows from the blades flashing across your property," he said. "It's almost like a strobe effect. They say there won't be any noise, but I don't know if I believe it. I'm not against the wind project. It's renewable energy that we need. But you just don't want it in your back yard."

He said he asked the company to buy his home, but the request was rejected.


Cutting-edge technology

Everything about the Gray County Wind Farm is big.

Each tower and rotor assembly weighs 208,000 pounds - excluding the 600,000-pound concrete base that extends 28 feet into the earth.

The hollow fiberglass propeller blades attach to a cast iron hub and spin in a 154-foot-diameter circle. At full operating speed, the blade tips slice through the air at 155 mph.

The rotors start turning in 7 mph wind and producing electricity when the wind speed reached 9 mph.

The wind averages 21 mph in the region at the 200-foot height of the blades.

The tower reaches its maximum power output at 33 mph and automatically turns the blades sideways to the wind at 56 mph.

The towers are designed to withstand gales up to 134 mph.

Stefan Salomonsson, a technical adviser from the Danish company that makes the towers and turbines, said a computer inside each tower controls each tower's blades.

It's the key to producing efficient electrical power from the wind, he said.

"The computer constantly reads the wind speed and direction," Salomonsson said. "This is a pitch-controlled turbine, which means the computer controls the angle of the blades to for the best speed and electrical output. These newer turbines also spin a lot slower than the old ones, but they still put out good power."

The blades spinning at 28.5 rpm turn a drive shaft that's geared to a 660-kilowatt generator. As the generator produces electricity, the power is routed through cables to an electrical substation.

From there it's fed into the region's electrical grid, where it's distributed by UtiliCorp United, which is buying the energy the wind farm will produce.

Salomonsson said the spinning blades and generator will produce about as much noise as a home air conditioner.

As large as they are, the Gray County Wind Farm towers are the smallest units that Salomonsson's company - Vestas Wind Systems - makes.

The company also builds several larger models, including a massive 2 megawatt turbine that has a three-bladed rotor 236 feet in diameter.

"Wind power is increasing all over the world, especially for the bigger turbines," Salomonsson said. "With the bigger ones you don't need as many. Kansas is an ideal place for wind turbines. It's finding enough transmission lines that's the problem."

More farms possible

Hurt said the Gray County Wind Farm will employ eight people, including seven from the local community. Most of their work will be to maintain the equipment and monitor the computers.

FPL Energy already is looking for other sites in Kansas to build more wind farms. According to U.S. Department of Energy wind velocity maps of the United States, Kansas ranks third in the nation for wind energy potential - 107 trillion kilowatts.

Only Texas and North Dakota have greater wind power potential at 121 trillion kilowatts.

"The wind is here, but you've got to have the transmission capacity to move it," Hurt said. "The majority of areas around here don't."

Hurt said it's generally too costly for wind energy companies to string additional power lines to handle what wind farms produce. Although the cost of generating electricity from the wind has dropped significantly in recent years, it still relies on a federal tax credit of a little more than a penny per kilowatt-hour to survive.

"The industry now is producing power at 21/2 cents to 4 cents per kilowatt-hour," Hurt said. "We're producing it at the low end of that cost. But to take advantage of the production tax credit, we have to be done here by Dec. 31. That's what makes the wind-power world go round right now - production tax credits."

Despite the wind farm's economics, many in Gray County believe that the rows of towers will produce more then electricity. It will also produce tourists.

A construction superintendent at the Gray County site, said he recently worked at a huge wind farm project in Wisconsin.

"People are fascinated with them," he said. "In Wisconsin there were cars pulling over on the side of the highway to look at them."

He also said the company plans to build a scenic turnout off U.S. 56 with a kiosk that gives passers-by details about the wind farm.