By Laurie Stradling, Navajo County Public Information Officer

Gazing up at the 300-foot towers, Board Chairman Jerry Brownlow was impressed.

"What an amazing project," he said. "I've never seen anything like this-the wind towers are enormous. This is a tremendous asset for the residents of Navajo County."

Guided by Rancher and Wind Farm landowner Billy Elkins, the tour included a drive along the line of wind towers currently being constructed and a close-up look at one of the towers.  Participants included Board Chairman Brownlow, Supervisors Thompson, DeSpain, and Nez, as well as Assessor Cammy Darris and Clerk of the Court Juanita Mann.

Elkins, whose ranch is in the Pink Cliffs area, reported to the County elected officials that he got the idea of starting a wind farm on his property six years ago. He erected 30-meter wind towers on his property to conduct round-the-clock tests of the wind and sent them to a renewable energy company in Portland (now Iberdrola Renewables, Inc.). Within three years, they had collected certifiable data that his property could sustain a wind farm. Iberdrola and Blattner Construction are now about halfway through completing phase one of the project.

"Phase one began on Jan. 4," Elkins said. "They built 15 miles of road, poured all the footings for the turbines, and have half of them erected in this short of time. It really is amazing."

Iberdrola and Blattner worked closely with Navajo County to fulfill permitting requirements for the site.

"They (Iberdrola) say they've never had so much ease on a project than working with Navajo County," Elkins said.  "It's the easiest they've ever done anywhere in the world."

"The county's been more than helpful to get this project through the works," Elkins said. "It's exciting for us, it's exciting for the county, it's a financial benefit to everyone." 

Chairman Brownlow agreed.

"This wind farm not only brings employment to the area, it's the start of an era," he said. "The completion of one wind farm will spur others to consider our county for their renewable energy projects."

Phase one of the project will get 30 turbines on the ground and could power 15,000 homes at full capacity. The current power purchase agreement exists between Iberdrola and SRP. Another power purchase agreement will push the project into phase two, adding another 30 turbines to the site.

Elkins described the super cranes-a 400 ton machine that reaches heights up to 400 feet-that were shipped to the site in pieces to help erect the turbines, which have blades 143 feet long.

"It took 12 truckloads of material for each tower, and phase one is the construction of 30 towers," Elkins said. "The super crane itself took 30 truckloads to piece together there. When I first came on site and saw a crane there, I thought that was it. They said, 'No, that's the crane to put the other crane together.' "

In the last four months, the turbines have been completed on an average of 1.5 blades per day. However, with spring winds reaching higher than 35 mph, construction has been slowed in the last several weeks. 

Officials toured the completed turbines, which sit on foundations that measure 50 feet square and eight feet deep.

"This is really something amazing," said Supervisor J.R. DeSpain.

Elkins said the company used local contractors for the concrete work, and currently approximately 30% of the construction crew was hired locally. Assessor Cammy Darris asked about the jobs the wind farm would bring to the area, to which Elkins replied that they expected to employ 10 to 12 people full-time.

Supervisor DeSpain thanked Elkins for the tour.

"We are thrilled by the progress we're seeing on the Wind Farm and glad they've had such a great experience working with Navajo County," he said.