Alliant Energy is using the rail yard as a staging point for moving the large wind-tower components from rail to truck for the final leg of a trip that started in Europe.

The parts are manufactured by Vestas Wind Systems, which has its headquarters in Denmark. The components are shipped to ports in Beaumont, Texas, and Stockton, Calif., and brought to Green Bay by train, where they are stored before being taken by truck to the town of Eden.

Wisconsin Power & Light, a subsidiary of Alliant, is building a 41-tower wind farm in the towns of Eden and Empire, southeast of Fond du Lac. Scott Reigstad, a spokesman for Alliant, said it will be the company's first fully owned and operated wind farm.

The 41 wind generators have capacity to produce 68 megawatts of electricity, or enough for 17,000 houses, Reigstad said.

Cedar Ridge Wind Farm will cover a 12.2 square mile area in the two townships.

Reigstad said the first turbine will be assembled later this month with a goal of having the wind farm operational by the end of 2008, or sooner if all goes well. Construction started in October 2007.

Alliant said it plans to add 400 megawatts of wind power to its portfolio by the end of 2010.

The components fill the rail yard between Sixth and Seventh streets and west of Ashland Avenue. They can be seen from the Ashland Avenue overpass. Reigstad said the towers come in two parts and the turbine blades are 135-feet long.