Metro Airport to install 5 new wind turbines

The sustainable options are starting to multiply at Metro Airport. Five large wind turbines are scheduled to be built at the facility.

Michigan-based Southern Exposure Renewable Energy Company will install the wind turbines at the airport entrance on Rogell Drive and at the South Cell Phone Lot on Eureka Road.

"They're not your traditional three blade giant things," says Michael Conway, a spokesman for Metro Airport. "They're more like spirals."

The Windspire turbines, built by MasTech Manufacturing in Manistee, are cylindrical, vertical-axis wind turbines. They stand 30 feet tall and produce energy no matter the wind direction. Airport officials expect the two turbines by the South Cell Phone Lot will generate between 60-70 percent of the power needed for the lot's overhead lights and to illuminate the sign on an average day. It could even dial back the meter on windy days.

This is far from the first environmentally friendly project to be undertaken at Metro Airport. It is a world leader in recycling aircraft de-icing fluid. The North Terminal is programmed to harvest daylight and to automatically reduce lighting and cooling in terminal areas not in use. There is also a solar panel and LED lighting prototype at the North Cell Phone Lot and efficient electrical fixtures in the parking areas.

"The more things we can experiment with, the more we can be ahead of the game instead of playing catch up," Conway says.

Source: Michael Conway, spokesman for Metro Airport
Writer: Jon Zemke

Metro Airport to install 5 new wind turbines

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