Encore Extra: Wind turbines graduating to college campuses

Of all the places to spend a sunny afternoon, a farm field in Northfield may seem odd. But Bonnie Murphy and company just had to catch a glimpse of what the wind blew into town.

They were captivated by the construction of a giant wind turbine at St. Olaf College in 2006.

"We don't have a life," Murphy said with a hearty laugh.

They were certainly not alone. Many stopped by to watch the massive construction project. Some brought lawn chairs because they were staying so long.

Graham Frear, a St. Olaf alumnus, preferred sitting in his car.

"I was behind those blades when they came down 35W, so I knew what was coming," Frear said.

Those blades are 132-feet long and weigh more than 7 tons each. The crew from Boldt Construction used a 300-ton crane to lift each part of the turbine, which would eventually stretch 350 feet into the sky.

To the college, it's worth every ounce of energy.

"This unit will ultimately produce about one third of the electricity that St. Olaf consumes in any given year," said college administrator Pete Sandberg.

The turbine is connected directly to the campus and could save the college between $200,000 and $300,000 a year in energy costs.

But it's not just saving money. It's helping save the planet. The turbine should reduce campus carbon emissions by about 20 percent.

"The most important thing to know about St. Olaf College is we're a college of the church," said St. Olaf's new president David Anderson. "And we do believe that the earth we inhabit has been entrusted to our care and that we're stewards of it."

St. Olaf is one of a few colleges in the country to build a commercial wind turbine. Many of them are in Minnesota. The first was Carleton College, St. Olaf's Northfield neighbor.

Carleton built its megawatt windmill two years ago for nearly $2 million.

"We expect this to be paid back in about ten years, and then there's another ten to 15 years of life expectancy within the turbine," said Robert Lamppa, Carleton's senior project manager.

Carleton sells its electricity to Xcel Energy, then uses that money to pay the bills. That's different from St. Olaf's turbine, which will power the campus directly. Beyond that, the two turbines are basically identical.

"We'll be comparing notes and maybe give each other tips on how it runs," Lamppa said.

A similar turbine also sits at the University of Minnesota-Morris. It produces about 60 percent of that college's electricity.

Even Macalester College in St. Paul has its own smaller turbine, which is primarily educational but strong enough to power a home. It helps power the school's science building.

Back in Northfield, St. Olaf's new turbine was standing tall in late August and the blades started spinning in September. It was a welcome sight to students working in its shadow.

"I love that it'll be the first thing that anyone will see when they come into the college, kind-of as a big symbol of what we stand for," said Dayna Burtness, a student and co-founder of STOGROW, an organic farm run by St. Olaf students.

The farm sells all its food to the campus cafeteria, and all of it makes its way onto the college's award-winning menu. Even the school's food is turned into compost, which will eventually make its way back to the farm.

It's a cycle of conservation that now, thanks to the turbine, has the perfect landscape to complete the picture.

St. Olaf did leave space to add additional turbines in the future, but no such plans are in the works right now.

Meanwhile, Carleton College hopes to add a second, smaller tower by the fall of 2009.

By Joe Fryer, KARE 11 News

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