AKRON – Today may be the first day that the wind turbine at Tippecanoe Valley starts producing energy.
Monday night at the Tippecanoe Valley School Board meeting, Tony Kuykendall, of Performance Services Inc., said the wind turbine project is coming along and is installed. Right now, it’s going through the commissioning stage, but is 99 percent done.
“We hope to be producing power tomorrow,” he said.
There are some connectivity issues to be resolved, but Kuykendall expected those to be resolved today.
The wind turbine will control and operate on its own, but also will be remotely monitored.
He said there isn’t much clean up left to do at the site, but it will get done soon.
Bryan Murphy, school board member, asked, “When do we get to go up it?”
Kuykendall said the turbine can’t be climbed while in production. It has to be shut down. He said there will be opportunities for board members to go up it, but they have to go through a safety training course and sign waivers.
Kuykendall said they are working with Kosciusko REMC on the rate structure. KREMC has spent a lot of time on getting a rate structure for Valley for the energy it produces, and are just waiting for the signal to start, Kuykendall said.
He also spoke on the education curriculum that Performance Services is providing to the school to go along with the wind turbine. He said the curriculum can be rolled out to teachers in grades kindergarten through 12th grade today. It was developed when Performance Services did its project in Randolph County.
The second part of the curriculum, he said, will be available in eight to 12 weeks. It will be web-based interface.
“You’ll be able to log in and see what the wind turbine is doing live and what the weather is doing,” he said.
Kuykendall said it’s being designed specifically for Valley’s wind turbine.
“It will be really cool,” he said. “I can’t wait to do that.”
He said, “This is that critical time when I want it to be producing energy and saving money. This has gone quicker than I thought it would be for commissioning.”
The wind turbine first was proposed to the Tippecanoe Valley School Board by Performance Services Inc. in 2009 as a way for the school corporation to save money. In June, a groundbreaking event was held for the wind energy project.
The 321-foot-high 900 kW PowerWind turbine is expected to generate more than 2.3 million kWh annually, equivalent to powering 250 homes in a single year, according to information previously provided by Performance Services.
Valley is the first school corporation in Indiana to install a wind turbine with behind-the-meter technology, providing about 70 percent of all electrical power used on the campus. The campus includes the high school, middle school, athletic fields, transportation department and administration office.
In 2009, the federal government awarded Valley a $2.3 million in Clean Renewable Energy Bonds. Total cost of the project was not to exceed $2.63 million.
Superintendent Brett Boggs informed the board that the alternative education committee recommends that all students in the alternative education program at Burket Educational Center be a part of the pool for random drug testing. If the board approves the addition to the school board policy in December, it would take effect at the start of the second semester.
Dave O’Brien, board member, said if a student driver tests positive, they lose driving privileges. An athlete gets suspended from games. If a Burket student tests positive, what penalty do they get?
Boggs said he would have to look into that.
In other business, the school board: – Approved hiring Teresa Weaver as an ISTEP remediation teacher at the middle school.
– Approved an Advanced Placement United States History Course at the high school for the 2012-13 school year.
– Accepted a $500 donation from Newman Construction for the Building Trades program. The funds are to be used to purchase equipment for the program.
– Heard that the school board was honored as a Master Board at the fall meeting of the Indiana School Board Association in Plymouth. Murphy was recognized for acquiring the number of points for being a Level 3 board member.
– Announced upcoming board meetings will be Dec. 12 at Mentone Elementary; Jan. 16 at Burket Educational Center; Feb. 13 at the middle school; and March 12 at the high school. All meetings are at 7:30 p.m.
