Partusch Plumbing and Heating installed some of Anchorage's first wind turbines today. The two turbines -- the first to tie into the municipality's electrical grid -- will provide about 10 percent of the power needs for the company's headquarters. Any extra electricity they generate will be sold back to Chugach Electric Association.
The turbines will begin spinning when winds reach six miles per hour and will produce their maximum 2.4 kilowatts per hour when the wind reaches 20 miles per hour. The 60-foot-tall turbines are twice as tall as the building they'll power and are expected to last 10 to 15 years.
Contact Thomas Levine at thomas(at)alaskadispatch.com.