Turbines harness Ohio’s wind power

By Bob Downing

Akron Beacon Journal

VAN WERT

The 411-ton turbines reach to the skies to catch the best winds high above the soybean and cornfields that dominate the flatlands of western Ohio.

They are taller than anything in northwest Ohio: five times taller than the biggest farm silos in Van Wert and Paulding counties and taller than any buildings 80 miles away in Toledo.

The towers rise 328 feet from the bases to the hubs where three blades, each 148 feet long, attach. With blades upright, the turbines’ height reaches 476 feet. That’s another 14 stories higher than Akron’s tallest building, the 330-foot FirstMerit Tower.

Welcome to Van Wert County, which is becoming the Wind Capital of Ohio.

In all, 210 wind turbines are dotting the rural landscape along U.S. Route 30 near the city of Van Wert, and at least 550 more are planned here and in surrounding counties.

Each one costs about $2 million and can supply enough energy to power 500 typical Ohio homes.

Before the recent construction, the only utility-scale turbines were the four near Bowling Green.

Customers of Akron’s FirstEnergy Corp. and Columbus-based American Electric Power will be among the beneficiaries of what’s happening around Van Wert.

Now, you can stand in some townships and see ghostly white turbines stretching to the horizon in all directions. It is a surreal and futuristic sight, yet it is becoming more real by the day.

Giant cranes are lifting parts into place, completing as many as two a day, and some have started to spin.

The giant turbines are everywhere, rising about a half mile apart in some areas. One township is getting 76 turbines.

Van Wert and Paulding counties lie within a southwest-to-northeast wind corridor, and that’s why wind developers are so interested in the area, Van Wert County Commissioner Clair Dudgeon said.

At the moment, the key players here are Iberdrola Renewables, the U.S. unit of a Spanish utility, and Horizon Wind Energy, controlled by a Portuguese energy company. But others are interested in the Van Wert area, including BP Wind Energy.

“Ohio has become one of the best places in the country to make investments in wind,” Horizon spokeswoman Erin Bowser said.

Ohio has approved plans for 571 turbines that will produce 1,051 megawatts, and pending are 419 more turbines capable of generating 784 megawatts, said spokesman Matt Butler of the Ohio Power Siting Board.

In addition to Van Wert and Paulding counties, wind developers have plans for turbines in Ashtabula, Hardin, Champaign, Richland, Crawford, Logan, Putnam and Seneca counties. There are also proposals for turbines in Lake Erie near Cleveland.