A reason to howl

Company installs wind turbine northeast of FF

By Lauren Radomski | The Daily Journal

Published 12:00 p.m., August 1, 2007

Thursday marks the dedication of the biggest wind-driven electric turbine in Otter Tail County, with more on the way, said Jim Pederson of Vinco, Inc., the company overseeing the project.

The 39.5 kilowatt turbine, located on Vinco, Inc. property across from Meadow Farm Foods on County Road 1, is a German model that stood in a California desert for 19 years, Pederson said. As California has started erecting larger turbines, the smaller ones — often in near-perfect condition — are no longer needed.

“For every big turbine they put in, they shut down about 25 smaller ones,” Pederson said. Out West, “The monster machines are taking over the smaller ones.”

The electricity generated by the turbine on Highway 1 will flow directly to the power grid, enough to supply the electrical needs of three to four houses, Pederson said.

Vinco, Inc., is an electrical systems and telecommunications company with offices around Minnesota. The company began to look at ways to diversify its business in 2001, but only recently discovered the supply of wind turbines from California.

“The wind industry was a pretty easy choice in terms of our capabilities and our workforce,” Pederson said.

The Fergus Falls turbine is Vinco, Inc.’s first but most likely not its last. Working with groups such as Wind Song Energy, LLC., the company led by ShoreMaster founder Dennis Tuel, Vinco is bringing new life to California’s smaller turbines. Wind Song Energy secures turbines and re-manufactures them at sites in Minnesota, South Dakota and California, rebuilding the blades and hydraulic systems. Vinco installs the turbines and provides annual maintenance throughout their 20-year life spans. A 75-foot turbine will be dedicated on Tuel’s property near Big Chief Truck Stop later this month.

As the turbine project gets under way, Pederson said, it could be possible to get a turbine up nearly every week of the year.

“I think it would be feasible to quite easily see 50 dot our landscape,” he said. The best sites for building turbines are at high, tree-less points near power lines.

Minnesota is ideal geographically for wind turbines, Pederson said. The area benefits from wind gusts near the continental divide and Lake Agassiz, a glacial lake that covered parts of Minnesota, North Dakota and Canada.

“It’s a good time to be in Minnesota and be thankful we have the resource of wind,” Pederson said. “It gives you a reason to get excited about a windy day.”

“We’re very excited to have the turbine,” said Harold Stanislawski, executive director of the Fergus Falls Economic Improvement Commission. “A lot of communities are getting greener and greener all the time” and the turbine is “a good progressive sign for our community.”

While area residents may not directly feel the turbine’s effects, its benefits will be evident over the long term.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Stanislawski said. “It’s just another way of reducing our dependence on nonrenewable sources.”

Thursday’s dedication and ribbon cutting is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will feature remarks by Sen. Dan Skogen and Mayor Russ Anderson.

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