Randy D. Rigg Memorial Wind Turbine

Adams Electric’s Second Wind Turbine

East of Mt. Sterling and south of Highway 24, Adams Electric Cooperative has erected a 1.5 MW wind turbine.

The site is located south of the Cooperative’s Mt. Sterling substation. The location is being leased from Joseph Ray, a member of Adams Electric Cooperative.

Like the Pigeon Creek wind turbine, the Co-op’s Randy D. Rigg Memorial Wind Turbine (formerly named the Brown County Wind Turbine) is a direct drive unit, meaning the three blades drive the generator. The blades start producing electricity in winds as light as 6.7 miles per hour and reach full capacity in winds starting at 24.6 miles per hour. The tips of the blades at full capacity turn at 149.1 miles per hour.

This direct drive unit will create an annual generation of 4 million kWhs of energy per year, enough for about 300-400 homes.

The Randy D. Rigg Memorial Wind Turbine was manufactured by Vensys, located in Germany. The blades were made in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The tower was made in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The generator, nacelle and convertor were made in Germany. The parts arrived in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, by semis and were assembled on site using two massive cranes.

Each blade weighs about 6 tons and attaches to a 16 ton hub. The hub is attached to a generator weighing 45 tons. The new landmark stands 279 feet tall to the hub and 403 feet tall to the tip of the blade.

Each blade on the Randy D. Rigg Memorial Wind Turbine is 122 feet long. The entire assembly including the tower, blades, generator and rotor contains 986 (1 ½ inch dia.) bolts.

The Cooperative received a $450,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help fund these project. Financing is secured through Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) which are low-interest loans (2.1%) for financing renewable energy projects.

For photos of the construction process of Randy D. Rigg Memorial Wind Turbine, visit Adams Outlet on Facebook!

 

2016
Production
2017
Production
2018
Production
2019
Production
Jan 353,880 346,680 404,640 252,000
Feb 239,040 356,400 287,280 288,720
Mar 322,200 371,520 378,720 365,040
Apr 351,720 300,600 296,640 343,440
May 217,080 197,280 192,240 216,000
Jun 167,040 200,160 162,000 198,000
Jul 142,920 150,840 138,240 136,080
Aug 105,120 111,240 149,760 107,640
Sep 199,640 123,120 139,320 210,600
Oct 269,640 280,440 282,240 288,720
Nov  311,400 337,680 290,880 312,480
Dec 302,760 352,080 327,960