Russia - School in Moscow turns to wind energy

There's something new on the horizon in Moscow, and USD 209 staff say it benefits the community financially, environmentally and educationally.

As students left class to watch, Entegrity Wind Systems Inc., of Boulder, Colo., erected a 102-foot-tall wind turbine just east of the USD 209 track last week that is intended to make the school district less dependent on traditional forms of energy.

The district is planning to install a transformer today so that the turbine can start generating electricity for Moscow Junior/Senior High School next week.

Entegrity estimates that in an average year, the turbine will generate about 40 percent of the energy the school needs, according to Superintendent Larry Philippi. The junior/senior high currently uses about 33,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month.

The up-front cost of the project, including installation, was about $187,000, but Philippi said he thinks it's money well spent, since the district will save 6 cents for every kilowatt hour it can generate itself instead of buying from the grid.

"That's money off the tax roll," said Ruth Douglas Miller, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Kansas State University. She runs the Wind Applications Center, based at K-State and intended to become the state's center for expertise on wind energy.

Philippi said that if the turbine generates more power than the school can use, it can sell the energy to the grid at a rate of 3 cents per kilowatt hour. It helps even though Miller said she and other advocates are pushing for "net metering" policies, which would require utilities to buy back power at the same rates that they sell it.

Based on today's electricity rates and usage, he estimates the turbine will pay for itself in 10 to 12 years -- less if rates increase and the school saves more per kilowatt hour.

The turbine, with a rotator diameter of 50 feet, is designed to withstand a maximum wind speed of 135 mph without damage. It shuts down in high winds, considered to be 50 mph and above.

Estimates from the Kansas Energy Office put most of Moscow's Stevens County in Class 5 in terms of wind speed, which means winds at a height of 50 meters blow an average of 16.8 to 17.9 mph.

The turbine is expected to go online during the area's peak wind season, which runs from January through May.

Besides the cost savings, school staff and board of education members say they appreciate the environmental benefits at a time when alternative energy is a hot topic everywhere from the Kansas Legislature to the television airwaves.

"When I see Al Gore on TV talking about alternative energy, I think, 'Well, we're doing our share out here,'" Philippi said.

It's a good example for students, who already learn in their science curriculum about energy conservation and reduced dependence on fossil fuels, he said.

Cory Bixler, a science teacher at the high school, said he sees educational benefits to having the wind turbine on school grounds.

All classes have talked about the basics of how the turbine works, its cost savings and its environmental ramifications, he said, but a few will explore the topic in greater depth.

Study of a wind turbine can fit into various subject areas, with applications in math, engineering and meteorology, said Dan Nagengast, director of the Kansas Rural Center and coordinator for the Wind for Schools program.

The program, done in partnership between the rural center and the Wind Applications Center, provides five rural Kansas schools a year with a much smaller turbine and accompanying curriculum. The turbine typically generates about $400 worth of electricity per year, Nagengast said.

Study of the turbines opens up career opportunities that could keep students close to their windy western Kansas home towns, according to Miller.

She said that when they acquire some background knowledge in high school or before, they'll be more ready to enter a wind technician degree program at a community college or an engineering program at a university. Graduates of K-State's program would be ready to work in a wind farm like the one in Gray County, she said.