The wind farm tour has a limit of 40 people. Reservations will be accepted until the deadline stated below, but only the first 40 individuals will be permitted to participate. For tours, the IEEE PES Chicago Chapter uses a simple policy that "your check is your reservation". Without your check, we cannot reserve a seat for you. However, to ease the chore of collecting participant data, we use the online form linked below under "Tour Reservations".
October is Wind Power Month at the Chicago Chapter of the IEEE Power Engineering Society. The topic of the October 10 lunch meeting will be "Wind Farm Collector Systems". And, on October 13, the IEEE PES Chicago Chapter will be sponsoring a trip to view the Twin Groves Wind Farm a few miles east of Bloomington, Illinois. YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND. IEEE PES Chicago has chartered a coach bus for the trip. Sign up on the PES Chicago website at http://www.peschicago.org . This will be an all-day trip, including travel to and from the wind farm. Cost for this trip is $15 members / $35 non-members / $10 students. A box lunch will be provided.
The Twin Groves Wind Farm currently consists of 120 Vestas V82 1.65 MW wind turbines. The rotor diameter of the V82 is 82 m. The ladder to the nacelle is roughly the height of a 20-story building. It is a long and strenuous climb, but unfortunately, you won't be given the opportunity to test your strength and endurance. Currently, the wind farm has a maximum output of 198 MW, with an additional 120 wind turbines under construction. This is an opportunity to see a wind turbine up close. We will also stop at the ComEd-owned transmission substation built to support the wind farm along with the separate customer-owned interconnection substation and view the substation equipment from outside the fence. We will not go into the substations.
The PES Chicago Chapter has chartered an air-conditioned bus for the trip. The bus will depart the ComEd Commercial Center in Oak Brook at 8:30 AM on Saturday, October 13 to leave for the wind farm near Bloomington, IL. Bloomington is approximately 2.5 hours from Chicago. This will be an all-day trip (approximately 7 to 8 hours) including travel to and from the wind farm. A box lunch will be provided.
Hard hats will be required for the visit. Please bring extra hard hats if you have them, and tell us via the reservation form how many hard hats you intend to bring.
There will be some walking involved to get from the bus to the wind turbines and substations on dirt and gravel roads, so wear serviceable shoes. Walking distances may be up to 1/4 mile each way.
Unattended minors will not be allowed on the bus. Minors 12 years of age and older may attend if accompanied by a responsible adult. Space is limited, so if you make a reservation and have to cancel, please let us know so that we can free up the space for others who would like to attend.
Due to limits on tour group size and to prevent scheduling problems, all tour participants must ride the bus. Persons traveling in separate vehicles will not be able to participate in the tour.
| Location | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ComEd Commercial Center - Parking Lot | 8:30 AM | Departure | |
| 1919 Swift Drive (park behind building) | 11:00 AM | Tour | |
| Oak Brook, IL 60523-1850 | 12:30 PM | Lunch | |
| (near I-290 & I-294 interchange) | 4:00 PM | Return | |
| 630-684-3200 |
The cost to go on the tour is $15 members / $35 non-members / $10 students. Please make checks payable to "IEEE-PES Chicago Chapter". Following the tour, a box lunch will be provided. Please note any dietary restrictions in the "Comments" textbox on the tour registration form.