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Marine base breaks ground on windmill project

The newest addition to the Marine Corps’ desert logistics base is expected to be a welcomed resident.

Officials broke ground last week on a 1.5-megawatt wind turbine that is projected to save $515,000 a year in electricity costs at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow, Calif. The wind turbine is expected to go online by December, said base spokesman Rob Jackson.

Commandant Gen. James Conway joined in the July 10 ceremony at the base, located in the Mojave Desert two hours northeast of Los Angeles.

The wind generation project is the first of its kind to be installed on a Marine Corps base and could lay the foundation for similar energy-conservation projects, which already include increased recycling, construction of energy-efficient buildings and tapping into solar power with photovoltaic cell arrays.

The single wind A1500 turbine, constructed by Aaer, Inc., a Canadian turbine manufacturer, will produce more than 3.6 million kilowatts a year, base officials said. That’s enough to power about 334 residential homes a year, according to federal energy calculations.

“We’ll see how well it works, and then they’re going to look at putting more in,” Jackson said.

There are no current plans, however, to add another turbine at the base, which includes two installations and provides the Corps’ West Coast warehousing, maintenance and repair services. It is home to 300 Marines and 1,400 civilian workers.