New port skyline

New port skyline       Crane booms, grain elevators and smoke stacks typify the skylines of today's U.S. ports. However, this industrial composition may be about to change as some ports become prime sites for erecting giant electric-generating wind turbines.
      Since 2006, wind project developer Revolution Energy has been testing the winds within the port complex of Corpus Christi in Texas for the potential of building a series of turbines.
      The company could start building the first of nine turbines by the end of the year, making Corpus Christi the first U.S. port to have a wind project on its property. The practice is already common in a number of Northern European ports, such as Belgium's Zeebrugge, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Copenhagen, Denmark.
      Ports, with their locations along the water, provide access to an unobstructed air flow necessary for turbine efficiency. Turbines also have small base footprints ' 18 feet in diameter on average ' and can be easily set up on sites where they won't obstruct future development opportunities in the port, said Tibor Hegedus, general manager of Revolution Energy, based in Colorado Springs, Colo.
      The company's work with the local Federal Aviation Administration office determined that the 450-foot-tall turbines would not interfere with the approach and departure of planes at Corpus Christi International Airport, or negatively impact Coast Guard and military aviation activities.
      A study performed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas indicated that the wind power project could be easily interconnected to the electric grid from the port. In addition, the turbines would be built upon the perimeter of the dredge material placement areas in Corpus Christi's inner harbor.
      'The support we've received from the Port of Corpus Christi's commissioners and staff has been outstanding,' Hegedus said. 'We couldn't have gotten this far if folks like them didn't believe in this project.'
      The wind turbines at Corpus Christi, each with a power output of 2 megawatts, are expected to generate enough electricity annually to supply about 6,000 households in the neighboring community, once fully built by the end of 2010, he said.