Twin Groves

As we drove through Illinois on our vacation, we saw the giant wind turbines in the distance. The spinning blades continued on over the horizon and I told Cari that on our way home I wanted to drive out and see them up close.

On the last day of our vacation, Amanda told us that she knew where they were. It seemed like the place we had seen them on the interstate was about an hour away but she said it would only be a fifteen minute drive from her place.

I followed her directions and, sure enough, we approached a field of towers. This is the Twin Groves wind field in central Illinois. It is the largest wind farm in the United States that is East of the Mississippi.

240 turbines, each standing at 221 feet into the air, stretch over 22,000 acres of farm land. Each blade is 128 feet in length. Only 200 acres were removed from farming to construct the field and the benefit is enough electricity for 120,000 homes per year.

The quality of my above video isn't great but I wanted to post it to show you how large these towers are as well as how far into the distance they stretch. Most of the audio in the clip is wind, but I will tell you that these turbines make very little noise.

This was my first opportunity to see one of these in person and I was very impressed. It was somewhat peaceful to stand below these quiet pinwheels. They seemed to be gently spinning as far as the eye can see. With such little impact on the overall farm land, it seemed like the perfect place for this.