Governor Quinn salutes GobNob Wind Turbine during Earth Week 2009

>FARMERSVILLE - April 20, 2009.  During Earth Week, Governor Pat Quinn saluted the Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative (RECC) for creating the innovative GobNob Wind Turbine project.  The 230-foot energy-producing wind turbine is the first ever to be built on state-owned property in Illinois. 

 

"The Rural Electric Convenience Co-op turned a state-owned site that once produced coal into a one-of-a-kind green initiative," said Governor Quinn.  "Together we are taking another step to using clean and renewable energy sources such as wind power in Illinois."

 

The wind turbine sits on top of a 60-foot gob pile, located east of the Farmersville.  The site used to be home to the Freeman Crown 1 Coal Mine, which closed in 1980.  The land was later donated to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and developed into a wildlife habitat area.

 

The RECC recognized the gob pile as a potential power source and contacted DNR about placing a wind turbine on the state-owned property.  Through that partnership and grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the GobNob Wind Turbine project has become a reality.

 

The GobNob Wind Turbine is one of the best wind power sources in the region because it sits on top of a gob pile where it can catch higher wind currents. The structure has generated 260,000 kilowatt hours of electricity since it began production on March 5, 2009.  Energy generated from the wind turbine will be placed on the RECC's distribution grid, which gives power to local customers in Christian, Montgomery, Macoupin, Morgan and Sangamon Counties.