Macomb, IL – A survey of wind speeds around Illinois is attracting interest from developers.
Roger Brown of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs is supervising the study.
Four 165-foot meteorology towers remain in one location for a year, then they're moved. Brown says the survey will have checked 12 sites by the end of the three-year project.
He says results from the first year attracted the interest of two wind developers, who have signed leases for land near where the towers were.
Brown says the developer at one site made arrangements to buy the tower so he could get a second year's worth of wind speeds for the site.
The towers record wind speed and direction at 30, 60 and 90 meters high. Brown says trees near the site have greatly cut down on the amount of wind power that can be generated.
Data from the first year of the survey is available on the web at www.illinoiswind.org
Brown says the four towers will be moved to a new location next month to gather another year's worth of information.
The Illinois Clean Energy Foundation funded project through a grant. The towers were rented for the period.