Tue, May 28, 2002
Wind turbine powers
area farm
By Hilde Henkel
For the Journal
High above the other farm buildings, Jim Coenen's wind turbine catches the eye. The
flashing white blades and tail vane with what might be the highest U.S. flag in the area
causes passers-by to slow down, stop to take pictures or even drive into the Rudolph
farmyard to ask questions.
| The facts on the system: The 120-foot tower consists of 12,000 pounds of
heavy angle-iron, bolted together in sections like an erector set. It is built to
withstand winds of up to 120 mph, with three legs set ten foot deep in more than two
truckloads of reinforced concrete. The three blades on top are made of a
fiberglass/plastic combination, weighing 50 pounds each and reaching out 15.5 feet for a
31-foot rotation diameter.
The Jacobs wind turbine just below the blades is rated at 20 kilowatts, meaning it can
produce 20,000 watts in a 25 mph wind. With the average 12-14 mph wind in this area, the
annual output is estimated to be enough to supply four average homes.
In winds above 25 mph, a spring tension setup allows the blades to twist up to 60 degrees
to reduce wind resistance and avoid over-speeding the rotor. When winds might reach 70
mph, a hand-cranked disc brake at the bottom of the tower can be set.
No batteries are needed with this setup: the turbine is connected directly through an
inverter in a shed to the electric lines. Any excess electricity produced is fed back into
the utility lines, with the meter running in reverse. In effect, the power company
(Alliant Energy) functions as the battery, using the excess and supplying any deficiency.
The whole system was manufactured by Wind Turbine Industries of Prior Lake Minnesota, and
purchased from Bay Winds in Green Bay. The flag painted on the tail vane was not standard.
That touch was added by Jim's brother Dale Coenen.
More information on wind turbines and other alternative power sources can be found at http://www.ecw.org or http://www.baywinds.com.
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Coenen knows all the answers, and the installation, from the ground up. He did most of
the construction work himself, even picking up the system in pieces from Minnesota only a
few months after buying the farm from his parents, Roger and Dee Coenen. He poured the
concrete foundation in September and then spent October and November assembling the
120-foot tower like a huge Erector set. The work was done in his spare time while he
harvested 310 acres and milking 60 cows.
The whole system cost Coenen $21,000 plus $6,000 for excavation, wiring, concrete and the
crane to lift it all to an upright position. That's about the price of a new pickup, said
Coenen, not counting the time and labor spent on the installation. Coenen thinks the
project was well worth the time and money.
"It feels good to be producing the majority of my own power and be less dependent on
coal and oil," said Coenen. "It's clean energy, it makes sense and is the right
thing to do. I think any kind of renewable energy is a good idea." After four
months of operation, the wind-powered generator has provided around 80 percent of the
power needed on the farm, reducing an average monthly electrical bill from $250 a month to
$50.
Coenen points out that the wind is free and operational costs are very low. He will do the
maintenance work himself, climbing the tower once or twice a year to grease the blades and
bearings and change the oil in the gearbox. That's not a task for the fainthearted.
"It's pretty lonely way up there," Coenen admits, "but it's a great
view." The system's minimal maintenance is one of the attractions for the busy
32-year-old dairy farmer, who also day trades stocks online, hauls milk for Dairy State
Cheese in Rudolph and drives for Dean Altmann Trucking and Excavating of Junction City.
"It doesn't need to be fed, milked, cleaned or driven like everything else on the
farm," Coenen said. "Instead, it is out there working for me 24 hours a day and
seven days a week all by itself."
The swishing sound of the
wind-driven blades whirling is not loud, but similar to the sound of the wind in the
trees. Coenen has no complaints about the noise of the system and has had no static or
spikes in the power supply.
When Coenen bought the farm last year, he became the third generation of Coenens on the
farm since 1945. He sees the tall tower and whirling blades of his wind turbine as a tie
to the past and a link to the future.
"The older traditional farms years ago almost all had some type of windmill in the
background," said Coenen. "My turbine is just a modern day version that produces
electricity instead of pumping water."
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