Wind Energy Information: Spirit Lake
Wind Project
By Jeanette Joy Fisher
If you think wind energy is just a passing fad, or
worse yet, just an anachronistic relic from out of the
past, you may want to talk to the folks at the Spirit
Lake School District in central Iowa--because they know
different, and they'll be happy to set you straight.
In 1993, with the help of a low-interest loan from the
Energy Council of the Iowa Department of Natural
Resources and a grant from the U.S. Department of
Energy, the Spirit Lake School District installed a 250
kW Wind World turbine. That wind generator paid for
itself in just five years through savings on electrical
costs to the school district, and by 1998, the loan was
paid back in full--a full three and a half years ahead
of schedule.
Building upon the success of their first wind generator,
the school district then moved up to a 750-kW Micon
generator in 2001, which will produces five times as
much energy as their first one, due in part to major
advances in turbine efficiency. The school district has
saved nearly a half million dollars in energy costs in
the five years since the generator was first installed.
Those savings have been used to increase the quality of
education for the children in the school district, as
well as to completely power the district’s middle
school, high school, vocational tech building, district
offices, maintenance buildings, and all the district’s
sports fields. The district expects their newest wind
turbine to be paid off by the year 2008, after which all
their will be free for the expected 30-year life of the
turbine.
All of that power, and the money the wind turbine has
saved, has come at no expense to the environment. No
coal, oil, hydropower, or nuclear resources were
required to generate the energy for the school
district--and there's no chance that the wind will ever
stop blowing in Spirit Lake, on the edge of Iowa's
prairie. As for safety, elementary students play only
yards away from the wind turbine while on the playground
at recess. There is virtually no noise, and no
pollution. It’s a win-win situation for everyone
involved.
Iowa is a national leader in wind power energy
production, and much of what is taking place is at the
grassroots level. Just ask the folks who live, work, and
go to school in the Spirit Lake School District.
Return to Environment Articles
