|
History
of Wind Energy in Miner County
|
When
the pioneers first settled in South Dakota, they quickly came to
understand the unlimited power
of the wind, and they began to erect wind mills to pump water out of the
ground and later wind generators to provide electricity. As the
Rural Electric Administration (REA) built power lines to rural homes, the
need for wind power diminished until few working turbines existed. In
1999, however, the residents of Miner County saw an opportunity
to bring these innovative machines of the past back. Today,
four wind turbines can be found spread throughout the county.
|
Old wind
chargers like the one above once provided electricity to rural
homes across Miner County.
|
|
E
xploration
of the project began when MCCR hired a consultant to perform a wind energy
study. After collecting wind speed data for one year, the consultant
reported that Miner County had a good, but not excellent, wind
resource. Although there would be only minor cost savings in the
short run, the City of Howard and MCCR decided to go ahead with the
project because they saw it as a good investment in the future. Not
only would wind energy provide a good hedge against rising energy costs,
but it would also help produce jobs in the local economy.
|
|
Energy
Maintenance Service (EMS), owned by former Howard resident Joe Kolbach,
won the bid for the project. In October 2001, two 108 kW Micon
Turbines were commissioned in Howard. These turbines provide
electricity for the Howard Municipal Electric Department, and were
estimated to provide approximately 10% of the total electricity for the
city's residents. The turbines have met
their production predictions since they started operating. With these turbines, the City of Howard became the first
municipality in South Dakota to own and operate wind turbines.
|
 Click to view
Energy Output
|
Like the other
turbines in Miner County, the Canova Turbine is a 108 kW Micon
turbine. |
The project took another step forward in the
October 2001 when MCCR was awarded a grant from the Fund for Rural
America. This grant helped erect two additional turbines near Carthage
and Canova, as well as incorporate additional training opportunities in
renewable energy fields. The third wind turbine in the county was
commissioned in July 2002 with the Canova Turbine. Owned by the City
of Canova, the energy from the turbine is purchased by Xcel Energy, but the
City maintains the rights to the "green tags" from the
electricity. |
|
In March 2002, Energy
Maintenance Service (EMS) moved a branch of their operation into a
building in the Howard Industrial Park. EMS uses the facility to
remanufacture smaller turbines which were originally commissioned in
California during the 1980s. In May 2003, the American Wind Energy
Association awarded EMS their commercial Award for successfully developing a
new start-up wind turbine O&M services company that has provided
valuable services to wind farms in the Mid-west and throughout North
America. EMS is headquartered in Gary, SD.
|
| The fourth wind
turbine, located one-half mile west of Carthage, became operational in May
2003. As in Canova, electricity from the turbine is sold to Xcel
Energy, the local energy provider. Energy
Maintenance Service provides the maintenance for all four of Miner County's
wind turbines.
|
|
|
