Wind Turbine on a farm north of Lindsbord generates about half of the farm's electricity.

Farmer Mike Patrick with his daughter as she shows him a kitten.

Mike Patrick can see the meter going backwards in a strong wind.

Published in the Grass and Grain

Wind power energy increasingly affordable

By Paula Glover

The next time you’re outside in a brisk breeze, don’t curse the wind – harness it.
Recent energy legislation brings Kansas in line with the nation in making wind turbines for electric generation more feasible through something called net metering, which allows these who generate their own electricity to receive retail prices for the excess electricity they generate.
Even for members of co-ops, where the rules are sometimes slightly different, it is possible to install a wind turbine on a budget. Co-ops follow a cogeneration and small power production rate schedule, which returns 150 percent of the utility’s monthly system average cost of purchased energy to the individual who produces the electricity.
Mike Patrick, who farms just north of Lindsborg, is one of a new wave of farmers who are installing wind turbines to generate some or all of their farm’s electricity.
“I just like building things,” Patrick said.
With plans from Prairie Turbines, www.prairieturbines.com , he mainly used items “bought off the shelf” and two years ago, he built a turbine on the farm.
He estimated he has $7,000 in the turbine, which he painted to look like a sunflower. At current electric rates, he figures it will take around 10 years to get a pay for itself. It is a 5.5 KW turbine, and if he did it again, he’d put up a 10 KW turbine, he said. It took him about six months of off-and-on work to build it.
The blades are 2x12’s that are more than 9 feet long and the tail is 20 feet long, he said. It is 80 feet tall to the top. One feature of the design is it allows for the structure to be lowered for routine maintenance. He hasn’t had to shut wind generator down due to high wind, which can be a concern to people considering building a turbine.
WIND GENERATION WAVE OF FUTURE
Bruce Graham teaches in the head of the wind energy technology department at Cloud City Community College in Concordia.
“Wind turbines are good for everybody because they help save on the coal that it takes to produce electricity and results in lower carbon dioxide emissions,” Graham said. In the past, people have undersized their turbine, so as not to generate more electricity than needed; but now, with the net metering law, there is an incentive to put back onto the electric grid.
“If you can show it will pay back, is reliable, you can show it is worth looking into,” he added. “If co-ops would join in with net metering, you’d see wind generators all over the state.”
The school has several instructors and teaches instillation and maintenance of turbines.
Cloud College’s web site notes several encouraging facts about Kansas’ potential for wind generation. Kansas is third in the nation for potential energy from wind. There are eight existing large-scale wind “farms” and 51 proposed wind projects. Kansas now has over 1,000 megawatts (MW) of wind-powered energy generation.
Wind energy in Kansas is a growing enterprise. Early in September, state legislators approved $5 million in bonds to help build a wind turbine manufacturing plant in Hutchinson. German-based Siemans Energy chose Hutchinson as the site of it first U.S. factory to produce the electricity generating parts of the turbine.
For the individual interested in wind turbines, there are several sites on the internet, Graham said.
BEGINNING THE PROCESS
Information on wind energy is available through the American Wind Energy Association at www.awea.org and North American Wind Power a www.nawindpower.com
There are companies such as Bergey Wind Power, at www.bergey.com that will sell a landowner full package and come an install it, but the cost is between $45,000 and $58,000. It is also possible to purchase a system and install it as an individual.
There are several issues a landowner must consider when determining the type of system, including whether or not the farm is subject to frequent power outages and would need its own generators and a transfer switch so the landowner doesn’t send electricity down the power grid when maintenance is being done to repair the outage. There are also more expensive alternatives for those who are completely off the power grid and would require a generator and batteries.
There are many possibilities, particularly for a person who just likes to build things, but doesn’t want to scramble for parts.
Don Lott, who farms and operates a sawmill southeast of Minneapolis, recently put in a wind turbine from Prairie Turbines. He bought the entire kit and said it took about a month to build and he’s been hooked up for about three months.
“It seemed like a good idea, with the cost of electricity going up,” he said. “Besides, I like to build things.” He estimated the 10 KW turbine cost about $13,000 and would pay off in about 5 years. Because of the sawmill, it will produce about half of his needs. Normally a 10 KW would produce close to what is needed for a home or small farm.
Prairie Turbines is an independent operation started by two brothers-in-law, Tim McCall and Alan Plunkett. They challenged each other to create a simple, cost-effective homebuilt wind turbine fully capable of completely offsetting the average electric bill. It had to be simple, reliable, low cost, and easy to build and maintain.
“Plunket, who had several years experience with his own large 25 KW wind turbines, challenged that he could build the turbine and structure if I could build an electronic control to manage it. Well, it sounded simple enough,” McCall said on the company’s web site.
“Drawing on experience with his other turbines Alan knew that the cost of rotor blades and other essentials would leave him no option. He would have to build his own rotor blades, mounting structure, and find competitively priced off-the-shelf components if the cost were to remain within reach of a do-it-yourselfer.” The result was the Breezy 5.5. Connected in parallel with the electric utility it produces 5.5 KW with wind speeds of 21-23 mph.
PRACTICAL STEPS TO TAKE
There are steps an individual should go through when considering an individual wind turbine project.
Ken Maginley, general manager of Bluestem Electric Cooperative said the co-op will work the members who want to do wind turbines. Because each unit has different characteristics, the co-op requires an application, which has a fee, from members to make sure it will not impact the system.
“We’ve had very little problems,” he said. In terms of buying the power back, they follow the state of Kansas rules.
“The true payback is avoiding that they would buy in electricity,” he noted.
While net metering sounds like a good deal, many co-ops have concerns. Shana Holsteen, director of communications for the state electric co-op organization, Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. has raised several issues about net metering. The main issue of the co-ops revolves around paying retail prices back to consumers, rather than wholesale prices. This does not allow the co-ops to recover costs for the transmission lines and other fixed costs.
Co-op representatives are careful to note they don’t oppose alternative electrical generation.
Patrick said Don Helwig at DS&O electric was extremely helpful and encouraging during the planning process for his wind turbine. Helwig said that the co-op is glad to work with customers who seek to generate their own power.
Another consideration for landowners would be to contact their local zoning department, said Greg Webster, Pottawatomie County zoning administrator.
“We allow wind generators for personal use, but there are considerations in height limits and property-line setbacks,” he said. A wind farm, however, would require a conditional use permit.
“We want to allow and encourage all types of alternative energy,” he said, “but at the same time, lessen the impacts on neighbors.”
“We’ve had more inquires lately about wind turbines for farm use,” he said.