Andrew E. Bruno

Eight windmills now line up the shore of Lake Erie at the site which was once home to the old Bethlehem Steel plant. It’s exciting to see Buffalo on the forefront of renewable energy and this new wind farm dubbed “Steel Winds” is the first urban wind farm in the country. It’s also the world’s first commercial project to use Clipper Windpower’s Liberty series turbines.

Here’s some quick stats about the turbines:

• Stand approximately 255 feet tall (410 feet with blades extended)
• Can potentially produce 20 megawatts of pollution-free electric power
• Could provide the annual electrical needs of more than 6,000 homes
• Total project cost around $40 million

There’s also talk about expanding the project to include as many as 19 additional windmills.