PIGEON - Courtney Siewert, 13, was building a windmill on Wednesday.
The tiny turbine, with balsa wood blades, can power one Christmas tree light.
Down the road, ironworker Bob Dortman was getting ready to build a much larger windmill made of fiberglass and steel, towering almost 400 feet and capable of generating up to 1.65 megawatts, or enough to power more than 400 homes. Siewert is an eighth-grader at Laker Junior High School near Pigeon, next door to Laker Elementary School, where three state-funded, 65-kilowatt windmills are helping offset energy costs and educating kids about renewable energy.
Dortman is a ''raising gang'' foreman with Ironworkers Local 25 in Detroit, who is helping build the 32-turbine Harvest Wind Farm on 3,200 acres of farmland in nearby Chandler and Oliver townships.
Laker students are learning about wind energy at their school, and designing their own small windmills in science classes, using kits paid for by a state grant.
Out their window, they can see Dortman and other construction crews in action, raising massive towers and blades to construct the Harvest project, the first commercial wind farm in Michigan.
Since construction on the Harvest project began July 1, crews have erected 29 of the 32 windmills. The $90 million project, owned by John Deere Wind Energy, will sell power to Wolverine Power Cooperative, a wholesale power supplier in Cadillac.
Siewert and other students say the school and Harvest windmills are inspiring.
''It's kind of cool, seeing us getting away from fossil fuels,'' said Courtney.
She was building the balsa windmill with classmates Paige Murphy and Kacy Shetler, both 13.
''It's really interesting,'' Murphy said. ''I never used to be into science before this. I used to just sit and draw.''
''It's exciting,'' Shetler added. ''It's cool to know that if you make these and they work really well, you can change the world.''
Pat Ringler, project manager for Harvest general contractor Alliant Energy, thinks it's pretty cool, too.
His crews expect to finish the last of the 32 windmills this week.
Ringler expects to see the blades begin turning in December, after underground power cables are installed and an electrical substation is complete.
The Harvest turbines are made in Denmark by Vestas, and designed to operate year-round in the Thumb.
Dortman said crews can assemble about one windmill per day, as long as it's not too windy, which was holding up some of the work on Wednesday. Each windmill consists of four steel tower sections, three fiberglass blades, a hub and a nacelle, or generating unit.
It takes nine semitrailers to bring in the parts for one windmill. The parts are put into place with two cranes, including a 440-ton, 295-foot-tall Manitowoc behemoth, one of only seven or eight in the country, Dortman said.
John Deere has signed leases with numerous landowners to locate the turbines on their property, and will pass along some of the power proceeds.
One of those is Tom Ziel, who has four turbines on his family farm, stretched over 360 acres.
He expects to make about $12,000 a year on the deal.
''It's going to pay the taxes,'' said Ziel, 37.
He hopes to see more windmills in the Thumb in coming years.
''They ain't hurting nothing,'' Ziel quipped.
On Wednesday morning, the three Laker windmills were pumping out 85 kilowatts of power in 13 mph winds, offsetting a load of 224 kilowatts for the elementary school.
Since December, the Laker turbines have produced 110 megawatts, or about $11,000 worth of electricity, said Kathy Dickens, junior high school principal.
The school numbers are expected to climb now that all three windmills are operating; two turbines had been idled by parts problems up until earlier this month.
Ringler said his 32 windmills can generate almost 53 megawatts with at least 7.5 mph winds.
Dickens said 10-15 mph winds are normal for the Thumb.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
By JEFF KART
TIMES WRITER
