YSU turbine triplets are situated in a clearing near Melnick Hall

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

One of the newest science experiments on Youngstown State University campus is hard to miss.

Construction of a third – and final – wind turbine on campus finished two weeks ago. The turbine triplets are situated in a clearing near Melnick Hall adjacent to the intersection of Wick Avenue and the Madison Avenue Expressway service road.

The new turbine is the largest and most identifiable of the three. Standing at more than 100 feet tall, the turbine was built with a large, shrouded windmill, a feature its smaller counterparts lack.

The shroud – a large circular hood surrounding the windmill blades – was shown in lab simulations to increase wind speed through the turbine.

The veracity of those simulations will be tested using the turbine.

The turbines were funded through research grants totaling more than $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The research focuses on wind-power extraction in areas with low wind speeds.

The grant money also will go in part to funding research into solar power and general energy efficiency.

Engineering-technology students will use data collected from the turbines in research projects.

The project faced delays due to its location in a historic district.

The Wick Avenue neighborhood – added to the National Register of Historic Places in the mid-1970s – has a historic district designation.

A review by the Ohio Historic Preservation Office must be completed before any state or federal money can be spent on projects in the district.

Though the turbines were initially deemed “adverse” to the district by the Ohio History Connection – a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving Ohio history – YSU, the DOE and the Ohio History Connection reached an agreement to allow the project to continue.

To mitigate the disruption of the historic district skyline, YSU agreed to create a walking tour of the Wick Avenue Historic District as well as assign history students to create historical exhibits and prepare documents for use in a hardcover book documenting the buildings in the district.

The turbines will be in place for five years.