Continued: Wind power is pushing Duluth port to a new age

DULUTH -- In 2005, a ship called the Bavaria arrived in Duluth-Superior from Europe with a visually stunning cargo the gritty taconite and coal port had never seen: gargantuan yet somehow slender blades, hubs and shafts meant for towering wind turbines.

Since then, America's increasing embrace of wind power has brought the port a windfall, with shipments surging to make the head of the Great Lakes a major funnel for turbines destined for the Upper Midwest and parts of Canada. Jason Paulson, operations manager for Lake Superior Warehousing Co., which transfers turbines from ships to specially designed semitrailer truck caravans, said the port is on track to handle a record 2,000 windmill components this year for several manufacturers, most bound for wind farms in Montana, Oklahoma, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Shipments of wind turbines through the port shot from 34,080 freight tons in 2005 to 307,000 freight tons last year.

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority reported this year that transportation of wind turbines was the single largest factor in making fiscal year 2007 its most profitable.

"The growth is explosive," Paulson said. "There were times this season when we were moving 12 windmills a day. It's become the major portion of our heavy-lift business."

Most components are imports from large manufacturers such as Siemens AG, a German conglomerate that this year shipped 76 turbines from its factory in Denmark through Duluth to a wind farm under construction in Adair, Iowa, west of Des Moines. The delivery required six ships and more than 500 semitrailer trucks.

But the port also is seeing growth in exports of windmill components from companies such as LM Glasfiber, a Danish firm that shipped a load of turbine blades this year from its Grand Forks, N.D., factory to a wind farm in Brazil.

Logistical challenge

The U.S. wind energy industry is expected this year to increase its capacity a record 7,500 megawatts -- enough to power 2.2 million homes, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Much of that capacity, up from a record 5,249 megawatts in 2007, is being installed in the Midwest and Great Plains.

That gives Duluth-Superior, the world's most inland seaport, a distinct advantage.

"We're blessed with being close to the wind fields," Paulson said. "But we're also building a reputation for handling these components. Montana and Oklahoma are getting into the sandbox of other ports, but developers are finding it more efficient to use this one."

One reason for that, he said, is a "giant team effort" by the port, trucking companies and the state to get the ungainly turbine components to their destinations.

Anderson Trucking Service of St. Cloud has been a key member of that team and, like the port, has capitalized on being in the right place at the right time.

The already large firm added a division -- ATS Wind Energy Services -- just to handle turbine component deliveries. The company says it has carried 35,000 loads of wind energy components so far.

Delivering the windmills also requires a lot of help and cooperation from the state, because state troopers are needed to escort loads, and the Department of Transportation [MnDOT] must issue permits and devise routes.

A typical semitrailer truck is 75 feet long and has five axles. In comparison, the specially designed semitrailer set required to carry a windmill's nacelle -- the tubular generator made to mount horizontally on top of the tower -- is 200 feet long, with up to 21 axles.

"It's not like you're going to go straight down I-35 to get to Iowa; our overpasses aren't high enough," said Ted Coulianos, MnDOT's supervisor of permitting oversize and overweight loads. The Siemens generators that went from Duluth to Iowa were routed through St. Cloud and then south through New Ulm, to avoid troublesome overpasses, bridges and Twin Cities traffic.

Paulson said the convoys leaving Duluth all summer had at least six trucks, at least one state trooper vehicle, and escort or "pilot" vehicles at the front and rear, all in radio contact to coordinate stopping traffic at intersections and other tricky maneuvers.

Coulianos said that through the end of October, MnDOT issued a record 5,163 permits this year for oversize or overweight loads of wind tower components. The department had to create a three-person "wind team" just to handle the permits and plan the routes.

"Economically, it's a boon, but it makes for a crazy quilt of shipments," Coulianos said. "The growth this year has been staggering, and we expect to have as much or more projects next year."

New slogan needed?

The deliveries have been made safely, with one exception: On Sept. 17, a minivan driven by a 90-year-old South Haven, Minn., man made a left turn in front of an oncoming convoy as it drove through St. Cloud on Hwy. 15.

A semitrailer in the convoy, which had two pilot vehicles and a state trooper for an escort, struck the minivan broadside, killing the driver's 85-year-old wife in the front passenger seat.

Lt. Mark Peterson of the State Patrol said the accident investigation has yet to be completed.

Coulianos said everyone involved with transporting wind turbines felt awful about the accident, and he urged motorists to be cautious.

"After decades of hearing, 'Don't crowd the plow,' people have been conditioned to that hazard," Coulianos said. "Likewise, they need to get used to these things, because we're only going to see more of them."

Larry Oakes • 1-800-266-9648