Burke Wind Tower (Updated)

There are lots of projects going on at Burke this summer. In addition to the HSQ lift, there are also new lift served mountain bike being constructed on the lower mountain and a medium size wind turbine has also been built near the summit.
The new turbine is a Northern Power 100 Arctic ( Northernpower.com ) and is sited at the top of Upper Dipper between the trail and the power line. The turbine is estimated to produce around 300,000 kWh/year which will fill 15-20% of Burke's electrical needs. However, this % is figured on a "typical" 2,000,000 kWh annual usage rate. Adding the new High Speed Quad chairlift (which are typically big electricity consumers) to the equation will likely cause that % rate to decrease. However, I commend Burke for trying to save money by generating some of its own power.

Google Earth renderings (the wind tower is the grey column):

Located right at the top of the Dippers. This photo was taken from where the traverse from the Willoughby chair crosses the the last corner on toll road.

Close-up:

From the Summit parking lot:

The wind tower is a roughly the same height as the big TV/Radio antenna at the summit. Roughly 190' tall to the tip of the blade high point. Since the wind tower is a bit off of the summit it isn't visible from downtown Lyndonville. While I can see it from my house, it isn't prominent. The blades are black and the column is white. If they had painted the pole dark grey it would have been even less visible. The white really stands out when the sun hits it.

From Pudding Hill (Sutton end):

From the Mtn Road in front of Burke Mountain Academy:

Equipment used to transport components to the summit:

Meanwhile across the Passumpsic River Valley, an industrial wind farm is being constructed on Sheffield Heights. There will be 16 turbines built here at a height of roughly 450 feet from base to the tip of the top blade. Currently five have been erected.

From the Mid-Lodge

From the Summit (note that the next ridge line visible behind this one is the Lowell Mtn range which is set to have 21 such towers installed next year):