Front Generator Wind Turbine

The Mississippi Rapids Rest Area on Interstate 80 near Hampton will become the first in the state of Illinois to have a wind turbine providing its electricity.

“Almost all of the power needed to run the rest area will come from the turbine,” said Dave Blanchette, a spokesman at the Illinois Governor’s Press Office, said Thursday.

“The reason we chose that location is that it is ideally situated on a bluff and can take full advantage of the wind,” Blanchette said. “Assuming that this works as we think it will, we’ll put more wind turbines at other rest areas in the state.”

The Hampton site was chosen after studies showed there should be enough wind throughout the year to power the turbine, he said. When the wind is down, the rest area will be able to draw from batteries charged by the turbine. If the batteries are not enough, the rest area can draw from the power grid.

The turbine will produce 40,000 kilowatts per year, which should provide all of the energy needed for the rest area’s 2,700 square-foot two-story building.

Laverdiere Construction Inc. of Macomb has been awarded the $195,682 project. The turbine should be operational in the spring.

“As chairman of the Senate Energy Commission, I am proud that we are able to manufacture wind turbines and also put them to use on a local project where they will provide self-sustaining power to a Rock Island County rest area,” Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said in a news release.

The project is part of the $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! program. The goal of the program is to support 439,000 jobs in the state over the next six years, and is the largest capital construction program in the state's history.