Western Indiana Wind Turbines

November 30, 2009

 

Wind Capital Group is evaluating Wells County, Indiana, where my brother and I own farmland, for wind energy development. On November 30, 2009, we drove to White County, north of Lafayette, to get an up-close look at an operating development. Here are a few photos. Driving west on Indiana 18, across the level countryside we got our first glimpse of the turbines from a few miles away.

 

All photos Copyright © 2009 by Robert E Pence

 

 

 

Typical turbines installed in this area have a rated output of 1.5 megawatts, equivalent to slightly more than 2,000 horsepower. They stand 260 feet (79 meters) to the hub, and the blades are 130 feet (39 meters) long. The top of the arc swept by the blades is 390 feet (118 meters) above the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am working on a comp. plan for a small town out there in Benton County and we are pushing agri-tourism and marketing the wind farms for economic development.  The people in our town LOVE them. 

Those wide shots are pretty spectacular.  I can't believe how big those things are.  I bet they seem even more massive in person.  Great shots!!

 

    The still shots of course don't show the motion. It is mesmerizing to see something that big moving, and all of the turbines rotate at the same speed, as if they were connected.

Amazing!

I want to go see them!

God damn that is some flat land!

I love wind turbines :)

 

These are seemingly much smaller than the ones I spotted here. They are almost like tourist attractions. A large gravel lot was full of people poking out and being mesmerized by these towering giants.

God damn that is some flat land!

 

It's similar to parts of Northwest Ohio, except perhaps more expansive and with fewer trees. That windswept prairie extends from Western Indiana across much of Illinois; try driving US 24 from about Monticello, IN almost to Peoria, IL if you want to see flat and treeless.

 

I want to go see them!

 

As ColDay mentioned, you can see them from I-65 between Chicago and Indianapolis. It's an amazing sight when you first encounter it; it gave me goosebumps - still does, sometimes, just to think of it.

 

There are four similar turbines on the property of the Wood County landfill, just west of Bowling Green (OH) on US 6. You can get right up to them. From a distance they may seem to be turning lazily, but when you get up close it's startling to hear the sound the blades make as they rip through the air.

 

Those wide shots are pretty spectacular.  I can't believe how big those things are.  I bet they seem even more massive in person.  Great shots!!

 

The combination of motion and sound up close is, to borrow a very descriptive word from Eigth and State, mesmerizing. The wide shots are crops from a single wide-angle shot. I thought about shooting a pano, but the motion of the turbines ruled that out. A gif animation might have been fun, but it was cold standing out in that wind and I didn't want to mess around.

 

I shot those with the 24-120 VR zoom for convenience, so I wouldn't have to mess around changing lenses in the wind and get my camera full of dirt. Compared with most Nikon glass it's actually a rather crappy lens for prints, but in a pinch it will get by for on-screen viewing.

Sweet shots!  Thanks for sharing.

 

My sister and her husband mentioned how spectacular these wind turbines looked when they drove from Chicago to Columbus for the thanksgiving holiday.  I'm not sure if it was these particular wind turbines they saw, but it certainly fits their description.

very cool rob. im glad to be seeing more and more of these. it seems to be a real growth technology worth grabbing on to.

 

if you've ever flown over west texas to el paso you go right over "the west texas wind farms" and its an amazing sight because in bigger than life texas style they seem to go on and on forever:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Texas

 

^That's kind of like the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm in the Coachella Valley.  I think it took us about a half hour to drive through while driving to LA.  It was a crazy sight.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gorgonio_Pass_Wind_Farm