The area of central Illinois where we live is very windy. Actually, it's very, very, VERY windy!! That is probably about the only thing that annoys us about living where we do. We walk out our back door and are literally blown away on a typical windy day around here! BUT, because of this, something very interesting is happening all around us right now. The world's largest wind farm is being built in our immediate area! When it is finished we will be able to look out our windows and see HUGE windmills turning to generate power for Chicago. Some of them will be incredibly near our house--as in a few hundred yards away! Here are a few random interesting facts about the project:
- The project is expected to cost about $600 million!
- There are over 260 wind turbine generators being built for this particular wind farm.
- The windmill towers are 300 feet tall!
- The diameter of the rotor and blades are more than 250 feet!
- Lying on the ground, a 3-blade rotor can almost cover a football field!
- The box of the windmill that holds the generator (which transforms the motion of the wind into electricity) is the size of a small school bus!
The process is very interesting to watch! The roads around the sites have had to be widened just to bring in the huge parts of the windmills. Today, I was driving into town and saw extra-big semis bringing in parts. I could not believe how huge one blade is!! It is wild! I know there is at least one windmill somewhat near us that is nearly complete. I will try to post a photo soon if I can get near enough to take one!
Here is a link to the website of the company building the wind farm:
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