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St. Olaf wind turbine project back on track

By David Gonnerman '90
February 22, 2005

Construction of the St. Olaf wind turbine -- a project approved last year with a grant from the Xcel Renewable Development Fund -- will take place early in 2006, says St. Olaf Director of Facilities Peter Sandberg. Originally slated to be in place this spring, the delay is due to a decision by the development fund's board to refine the grant evaluation process before the selected projects (including the college's turbine) could be approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. All projects originally selected last year were finally confirmed this month.

"During this process, the federal renewable energy tax incentive was reauthorized and hundreds of projects that had been on hold broke loose, explains Sandberg. St. Olaf had been unable to place its turbine order until the grant award was finalized. "At this time we are at the end of a long line of projects waiting for equipment," he says. "This summer we plan to do all of the work necessary to put the turbine in place so that the tower and turbine can be erected as soon as they are available.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.