Dust in the wind: Nebraska’s oldest operating wind turbines to be removed
Nebraska Examiner|Aaron Sanderford|Jun 17, 2024
The oldest continuously operating wind turbines in Nebraska are coming down in July, changing a landmark seen while driving into northeast Lincoln along Interstate 80. Lincoln Electric System’s two 290-foot-tall turbines north of I-80 near North 70th Street have reached the end of their productive runs and will be removed, LES announced Monday.
The oldest continuously operating wind turbines in Nebraska are coming down in July, changing a landmark seen while driving into northeast Lincoln along Interstate 80. Lincoln Electric System’s two 290-foot-tall turbines north of I-80 near North 70th Street have reached the end of their productive runs and will be removed, LES announced Monday.
LINCOLN — The oldest continuously operating wind turbines in Nebraska are coming down in July, changing a landmark seen while driving into northeast Lincoln along Interstate 80.
Lincoln Electric System’s two 290-foot-tall turbines north of I-80 near North 70th Street have reached the end of their productive runs and will be removed, LES announced Monday.
They were two of the earliest examples of what utility-class wind production in Nebraska might require when they were installed in late 1998 and 1999.
The only other utility in the state operating wind turbines at the time was the Nebraska Public Power District, which operated two near Springview from 1998 to 2007, NPPD confirmed.
Scott Benson, who helps LES plan for future power …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]LINCOLN — The oldest continuously operating wind turbines in Nebraska are coming down in July, changing a landmark seen while driving into northeast Lincoln along Interstate 80.
Lincoln Electric System’s two 290-foot-tall turbines north of I-80 near North 70th Street have reached the end of their productive runs and will be removed, LES announced Monday.
They were two of the earliest examples of what utility-class wind production in Nebraska might require when they were installed in late 1998 and 1999.
The only other utility in the state operating wind turbines at the time was the Nebraska Public Power District, which operated two near Springview from 1998 to 2007, NPPD confirmed.
Scott Benson, who helps LES plan for future power generation, said the Lincoln turbines helped the utility learn enough about wind power to enter its first small contracts for wind farms.
“We learned a lot from them,” he said.
The utility now has contracts for 100 megawatts each of wind power from wind farms in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska, including spots near Broken Bow and Petersburg in Nebraska.
Combined, the two turbines produced about 1.3 megawatts of electricity. That’s enough to power about 300 average homes in the Lincoln area, LES estimates.
They will be taken down in early to mid-July, with cleanup done by the end of the month. Both turbines could have lasted a little longer, but LES said it saved $100,000 by taking both down now.
The first was being removed because the city swapped the land it is on to build a new state prison. LES estimated the cost of decommissioning and deconstructing the turbines at $600,000.