Luther College signs land lease for wind turbine

Luther College has taken a significant step in its plans to build a wind turbine near its campus.

The college has signed the land lease agreement for the parcel of property on which the wind turbine is to be constructed.  The lease is a cooperative agreement among the college, private land owner Janelle Pavlovec and Wiltgen Construction, which operates a rock quarry on a portion of the tract of land. 

The proposed wind turbine site is on the west side of U.S. Highway 52, north of the Madison Road intersection. The lease agreement will allow Luther to go forward with plans to secure a turbine supply agreement and then install one 1.5 MW or 1.65 MW turbine that will generate approximately 5 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, about one third of Luther's electricity consumption 

The school hopes to complete the project within the next 6 to 12 months.