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| Wind turbines located west of Bowling Green, Ohio, in Wood County |
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by the numbers / the bright idea
back to tours |
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SIZE |
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WEIGHT |
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Base diameter |
15 feet |
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Each blade |
22,000 lbs. |
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Tower height |
256 feet |
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Enter rotor
(blade and nose cone) |
77,175 lbs. |
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Blade length |
134 feet |
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Nacell (box at top of tower) |
138,915 lbs |
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Total height as standing |
391 feet |
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Below ground |
32 feet |
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Distance apart |
800 feet |
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BLADE SPEED |
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WIND SPEED |
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Blade speed |
16.0 rotations / minute |
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Begins energy production |
9 mph |
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Speed at tip of blade |
178 mph |
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Peak energy production |
32 mph |
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Blades slowed |
55 mph |
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Design tolerance |
150 mph |
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- The Bowling Green Wind Farm Project began as a joint venture between the City of Bowling Green Public Utilities, American Municipal Power - Ohio, and Green Mountain Energy Corporation. After a year of wind speed testing, two 1.8 megawatt size units were purchased from Vestas American Wind Technology, the largest manufacturer of megawatt size wind turbines in the world.
- After considering several sites, land west on US Route 6 was selected. The property is owned by Wood County and sits next to the Wood County Landfill - prompting more than one person to comment that with all the visitors, the landfill is now a tourist attraction! The Wind Farm Project rents the land for the turbines from the county.
- The blades and nacelle (the big box on top of the tower) of each turbine were produced in Denmark, while the tower was produced in the United States. In order to assemble it, a crane had to be brought in that was capable of lifting the 138,915 pound nacelle to a height of 256 feet! In addition to constructing the turbines themselves, three phase energy lines had to be run from the Public Utilities sub-station on Poe Road. These allow the electricity produced by the turbines to flow back into the city grid.
- At a cost of $4.8 million, these first two units were dedicated on November 7, 2003 and the project officially became the only utility-size wind farm in the State of Ohio. It was estimated that they would produce 6,981 megawatt hours per year but during the first year they performed well above that, actually producing 7,245 megawatt hours! During the first year, eight other municipalities joined the project: Cuyahoga Falls, Edgerton, Monroeville, Napoleon, Oberlin, Pioneer, Montpelier, and Wadsworth.
- Turbines three and four were dedicated just over a year later on November 19, 2004. At an additional cost of $4 million, they brought the total project cost to $8.8 million. Currently, due to low interest rates, the project will begin to see a return on it's investment in just 13 years.
- The Bowling Green Wind Farm Project has ignited interest in wind power across the State of Ohio. The majestic white towers and lazily spinning turbines may someday be a common site in Ohio; one that all began in Bowling Green!
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