University to hold wind turbine celebration

Ohio Northern University is holding a wind turbine celebration on Friday, May 21, at 1 p.m.

The event will take place at the base of the newly constructed trio of wind turbines off Klingler Road. This project is one of the largest on-site wind electricity projects in the country and the largest in the state of Ohio.

Dr. Kendall L. Baker, Ohio Northern president, Robert Smith, president of the ONU Board of Trustees, and Dave Retterer, mayor of Ada, will speak at the event.

Matt Pierce, a senior civil engineering major from Grove City, Ohio, who initiated the development of the turbines as part of a senior capstone project focusing on wind speed, and Ted Rose, vice president of business development and public affairs for NexGen Energy Partners LLC, will also offer comments.

Each three-blade wind turbine is 220 feet tall and generates 400 kilowatts of power. The University will use the collective 1.2 megawatts of power generated by the three wind turbines on the ONU campus. The three turbines will meet five to 10 percent of the University’s electricity needs.

Published: Tue, 05/18/2010 - 2:58pm