MPR: Wind Power Gets a Lift

Wind Power Gets a Lift
By Bob Reha
Minnesota Public Radio
May 1, 2001

The McKnight Foundation announced plans Tuesday to spend $2.5 million over the next two years on developing what it calls "clean energy." The money will fund in part the Wind on the Wires program, which is studying how to improve transmission line capacity to maximize use of wind power generated in the upper Midwest.

The McKnight Foundation has awarded a $2.5 million dollar grant to help develop wind energy on a larger scale.
Learn more about wind power in Minnesota at the Sustainable Minnesota Web site.

FOR YEARS, ADVOCATES HAVE TOUTED THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL of wind power in the upper Midwest. They point to the air moving across North and South Dakota as a wasted resource.

"The real barrier there is existing transmission infrastructure - in other words - the poles and wires to actually move this power around the region," says Bill Grant, director of the Midwest office of the Isaak Walton League.

With concern about power shortages such those causing rolling blackouts in California, wind advocates say the time is ripe for wind power. They compare the present situation to when rural areas were first settled. The Midwest offered a huge agricultural bounty, and roads were built to accomodate the need for transportation. The same, they say, is true now for wind power. The region has a valuable resource in demand in much of the country, but no way to deliver it. Bill Grant will chair a steering committee guiding the Wind on the Wires project.

"Our first objective is to see where it's going to be possible to use existing transmission facilities, or upgrade existing facilities," he says.

Grant is quick to point out the study is not about finding ways to build new transmission lines, but making more efficient use of the current system to deliver power to where it is needed, including the Twin Cities. Grant says another goal of the program is to change the way transmisson lines are regulated. He says the grid was built to accomodate coal-fired plants, federal hydroelectric dams and nuclear plants, which can provide a constant energy flow. Wind power is dependant on when the wind blows, and Grant says as a result it's penalized by the grid system.

"It's difficult for those resources to schedule space on the transmission line without pay large penalities for the time they're not generating and providing electrons to the grid," says Grant.

A welder at the DMI plant in West Fargo pieces together a wind generator tower.
(MPR Photo/Bob Reha)

Using the wind for power is nothing new in rural areas. Wind mills have long dotted the prairies. Even though there's an extensive history of using the wind here, education will play a key part of the Wind on the Wires program. Brian Lammers is general manager of Northern Alternative Energy, which has developed several wind farms in Minnesota. He says part of the education process must include broadening consumers' understanding. He says people must go beyond thinking of individual wind farms, and look at the entire region as a potential source of power.

"If you have a large enough service territory where you have many different wind resources, you can mitigate some of the intermittency, knowing that different generator sources will be generating at different times," says Lammers.

The study will include Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. It will also look at the wind industry's economic potential. One example of that potential is DMI, a manufacturing company in West Fargo, N.D.

"This business has probably been a lifesaver for us," says DMI president Mike Hohl.

Two years ago, DMI was manufacturing farm equipment used by sugar producers and processors. But as the sugar industry soured, the impact trickled down to his business. Hohl searched for a way to save his business, and saw potential in making wind power equipment.

"It's been a transition over the past two years. In 2001, it will probably occupy in excess of 95 percent of our business," says Hohl. "We are currently in an expansion mode. We're trying to increase our capacity because in 2001 there are more towers being sought after than there is capacity to build them in the United States."

Hohl says his company is doing well, adding jobs paying up to $16 an hour. He says he believes the time is right for wind power. Hohl says the McKnight-funded study could serve as a wakeup call that wind power is not only a viable power source, but it could be the new economic engine for the region. Money for the grant will be used for the materials and support staff necessary to conduct the survey.

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