ASU wind turbine

gets on the grid
By Scott Nicholson

The new wind turbine on the Appalachian State University campus is already contributing to the local power grid, and it promises to be a showcase for the university’s research and educational efforts.

Dennis Scanlin, a technology professor who oversees the university’s small-wind research facility on Beech Mountain, said the addition of the local turbine will provide a different model for renewable energy. It is larger and runs more slowly than the other research turbines, and also will become a “lightning rod” of sorts for those concerned about visual and noise impacts from wind energy.

Construction was finished on June 23 and the turbine began operation immediately at its location near the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center.

It is prominently visible from many areas of Boone, but Scanlin said he hasn’t heard any complaints about it yet.

Alteris out of Connecticut constructed the wind turbine, and Scanlin noted that several local contractors were involved, with input from ASU technology students and technology staff.

“So far, it’s run almost continuously,” Scanlin said. “It should produce around 150,000 kilowatt-hours per year, which should be enough to power 15 average-sized homes.”

Scanlin acknowledged the turbine helped cement ASU’s reputation as a leader in renewable energy and appropriate technology.

“It’s the largest wind turbine in the Southeast,” he said. “It’s a great demonstration to the region about this technology, to show people what they look like and sound like. This is a community-scale turbine, but it has the same basic look as a commercial-scale turbine. We have the opportunity to monitor its construction and impact and measure noise issues. It will be a great learning tool for the students that come here and study renewable energy.”

The blades are about 30 feet long and the tower is 120 feet high. The blades rotate about 59 times a minute, much more slowly than the small wind turbines on Beech Mountain that rotate as much as 1,000 times per minute. It also has the advantage of producing power even on relatively still days.

“It starts producing power at 7.8 miles per hour (of wind speed),” Scanlin said. “It should be very reliable. It has a 20-year life expectancy.”

The turbine cost about $530,000, with half the money coming from the Renewable Energy Initiative, with students contributing a small fee each year for renewable resources. The other half of the funding was supplied by New River Light & Power. All electricity produced will go into the grid and be used by the closest available building, which will usually be the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center.

“ASU made a statement about renewable energy and a cleaner environment,” Scanlin said. “It is also gratifying that a lot of my students were involved, A lot of the key players were from the Appropriate Technology program that I coordinate.”

In 2004, ASU students voted for a $5 annual fee on themselves to fund renewable-energy projects on the campus.