The landscape is changing in the Reading, Rushmore and Wilmont areas, as the Nobles Wind Project is starting construction.

Built by enXco, the 201 megawatt project will consist of 134 wind turbines. Last week, the turbines were beginning to be assembled north of Nobles County 14, west of Reading.

General Electric (GE) has provided 134 wind turbines for the Nobles Wind Project. These turbines will sit on top of footing concrete foundations. Each of the wind turbines needs a 15’ gravel road that will lead to the turbine, and also electrical cable to bring the power from the turbine to the substation. The owner of this project is NSP, the developer is enXco Development Corp and General Contractor is Mortenson Construction.

The big concern with wind projects is to control the dust. They have a plan that will minimize the dust that is caused by construction vehicles. In front of each house, they will place 1000 feet of Calcium Chloride. This will limit the amount of dust kicked up into the air. They will place this at the beginning of construction and will touch it up whenever needed throughout the project.

Crops are getting damaged also during the project. Their plan is to do everything they can to minimize the impact of the damage by construction.

The top priority of this project is to protect the community and the crews during the construction process. They will notify the crew of any additional people that may be present on site. Safety equipment is a major thing that will be used during the construction process.

The foundations of the turbines is underway. Each turbine will get it’s own foundation of concrete, steel, bolts, and a ring. Each foundation takes about 2.5 weeks to complete.

The local traffic gets the right of the way on the road during the construction time. However, it is hard sometimes to pull the huge equipment over without going into a ditch. They will do their best to stay off the road when you are on it. Their goal is not to delay your drive.

For more information about the Nobles Wind Project, contact Melissa Peterson at (612) 508-6023 or at mpeterson@enxco.com.

Construction will continue throughout the coming months to complete the project, which will aid enXco in their commitment for creating renewable energy projects. It is anticipated that the turbines will be fully commissioned by the end of 2010.