WIndiana

As 2008 dawned on a snowy Indiana, zero megawatts of utility scale wind power were in place, but the year could end with 630 megawatts cranking away, all in Benton County. That is enough power to run 190,000 homes. The first 1.5 Megawatt GE turbines started spinning up in April.

According to Ryan Brown, Project Manager with Horizon Wind Energy, "Indiana is going to see a lot of wind power built in the coming 5 years as all of the top wind industry development companies are working in the state."

More than 2000 Megawatts of wind power are in some stage of development which would lease over 100,000 acres of farmland, which remains farmland after the giant turbines go up. A great web site with photos and more information can be found at http://www.earlparkindiana.com/.

If you want to get in on the action or learn more about it, check out the WIndiana 2008 Conference coming to Indianapolis June 17 and 18. This conference is a project of the Indiana

Wind Working Group and will offer an opportunity for Indiana manufacturers and other businesses to explore the potential to profit from this new cleantech industry. Day two of the conference will also have a track to explore small wind energy systems for small-scale wind development for businesses, communities, farms and homes.