MOUNT VERNON — As traditional energy costs escalate, alternative energy sources have become more valued. As recent storms in central Ohio have demonstrated, wind is a plentiful source of power, particularly during the windier half of the year in winter and spring.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the prime land range for wind power in Ohio extends across the northwestern part of the state, all the way into the western part of Knox County. In this area, wind speeds average between 12 and 14 mph at approximately 150 feet in the atmosphere, the typical height for a wind turbine tower.
A few wind turbines are beginning to appear in the area, including one recently installed at James Gabriel’s property along Ohio 229 west of Mount Vernon. Gabriel recognized that it was the time and place to try an alternative energy source.
“It’s pretty windy here, and we’re interested in energy conservation and environmental issues,” Gabriel said.
According to Erika Weliczko of Cleveland’s REpower Solutions, who installed the turbine, this turbine is a 10-kilowatt model, erected on a 100-foot latticework tower, which provides maximum self-support.
Although Weliczko cautions that it can be inaccurate to make predictions about fixed costs versus a volatile energy market, she said it is typical for a turbine to pay for itself within a 10-year period. This can happen in terms of energy savings, or, in situations where some producers are able to generate more electricity than they use, by selling it to the power companies by discharging excess directly into the power grid.
A smaller wind turbine has been in place at Malabar Farm State Park for almost a year now. It was installed to demonstrate the value of renewable energy resources, featuring wind power for winter and solar power cells to collect sunlight in summer. Park manager Louis Andres said he is delighted with the “green” power provided.
“If I had it to do over again, I would have liked to have gone with a larger turbine,” Andres said, pointing out that he was limited by budget constraints.
Even with the smallest residential model available, a one-kilowatt turbine on a 90-foot tower, during a recent power outage, the park’s Visitors Center was able to operate for seven hours solely off battery backup. Depending on wind/sun availability, the combination wind and solar energy system provides anywhere from 10 to 50 percent of the building’s energy use, including office functions, retail shop with refrigerators, conference room and educational displays. A larger turbine would have allowed for even more energy production.
According to Weliczko, the Malabar model has blades that are only 3 1/2 feet long, while the larger one on Ohio 229 has 11-foot long blades. The model at Malabar has a switch which only turns it on when winds reach 17 miles per hour, and automatically shuts the blades off if winds exceed 39 miles per hour. The tower is also grounded to protect it from lightning.
Unlike the turbine on Ohio 229, the Malabar turbine is on a monopole tower.
“There was some concern about birds nesting in a latticework tower, so we opted for a monopole,” Andres said.
Andres said that although he has seen a killdeer which likes to perch on the blades when the turbine is not in motion, a study recently completed by park naturalists found no evidence of any birds being killed by the blades, a drawback which sometimes happens with wind power.
Andres said he is delighted with the park’s foray into alternative energy, just the sort of thing that Malabar Farm founder, novelist and agrarian conservationist Louis Bromfield, would have encouraged. He noted that due to the relatively few moving parts, relatively little maintenance is required.
Weliczko said that for a turbine, she would recommend once-yearly maintenance, which she likened to car care.
“Just like you need to change your oil every so often on your vehicle, you should have turbine and tower maintenance once every year,” Weliczko said.
Residents in some areas of Morrow County have expressed zoning concerns about wind turbines, but Knox County Commissioner Allen Stockberger said that, to the best of his knowledge, Knox County does not have any regulations restricting windmills. He said energy-producing wind turbines are exempt from township regulations because they are classified as utilities, while water-pumping turbines are exempt due to their classification as agricultural structures.
Stockberger said wind power fascinates him, and that he was very interested to observe the wind turbines he recently saw on his mission trip to the Galapagos Islands. He said wind energy is definitely a part of future energy solutions for Knox County.
