Partners in the new Winnebago Wind Power Project officially dedicated the 10-turbine wind farm Wednesday, which will light nearly 6,000 homes across Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois with renewable energy.

Though it was a cold, windy, rainy day, cooperative members, renewable energy leaders, local landowners and elected officials came out to witness the dedication and to take a tour at the farm beforehand.

The 20-megawatt farm was developed by Iberdrola Renewables, and Dairyland Power Cooperative of La Crosse, Wis., is purchasing the renewable energy output that will come from it.

Attendants met at the Branding Iron Restaurant in Thompson and were shuttled over to the wind farm on two school buses for a quick tour. Because of the weather, the tour was limited to a short presentation of statistics on the bus and then people were given the opportunity to see the inside of a turbine if they chose to.

Inside the turbine, technician Eddie Barela pointed out features of the machine, including a ladder that goes to the hub of the structure and an elevator-of-sorts as well.

Barela said crews monitor the wind farm from Portland, and turbines are automatically shut off when winds go above 55 mph. They run at a minimum wind velocity of 9 mph wind.

There are always at least two people working as a team to monitor the turbines locally, he said.

“We’re happy this project is one Iberdrola has been able to do in Iowa,” said Kevin Helmich, Iberdrola’s senior power originator.

William Berg, Dairyland president and CEO, said he, too, was excited at the partnership, which will light thousands of homes in the company’s four-state service territory, including many served by local member cooperative Heartland Power.

He thanked all of the people who braved the weather to come to the dedication and joked that at wind farm dedications it’s always important that there’s enough wind so the blades on the turbines are moving.

“At least we got that part right today,” he said.

In Iowa, Berg said, people are used to growing corn and beans, “but now we’re growing a new crop.” It will help the company widen its renewable energy portfolio to better serve its customers.

There are 10 Gamesa G83 turbines in the farm. Each turbine produces an output of 2 million watts.

Each turbine is approximately 260 feet from the ground to its hub.

Each blade is about 130 feet long and weighs around 15,000 pounds.

The blades revolve at 14 revolutions per minute or 22 revolutions per minute depending on wind speeds.

The blade tip speed is 175 mph.

There are 1.8 million pounds of concrete in the base of each turbine. Each base also has 55,000 pounds of reinforcing steel.

Each turbine averages a half to three-quarters of an acre taken out of crop production.

Each turbine can electrify between 400 and 800 homes.

The purchase agreement for the Winnebago Wind Power Project doubles Dairyland’s investment in wind power. The company also generates renewable energy from hydroelectricity, biomass, landfill gas and methane digesters.

The Winnebago Wind Power Project used local resources and continues to hire locally.

“We are committed to growing green color jobs in Iowa and throughout the nation,” Helmich said.

Iberdrola Renewables is currently the world’s leading provider of wind power with 8,500 megawatts of wind power in operation globally. The company plans to install 1,000 megawatts of wind power each year in the United States.