Sep. 5--As the wind picked up, the blades started to hum, akin to a table fan set on oscillate.

Perched at the top of a 45-foot metal pole was a three-blade wind turbine. It was installed last week at Bismarck State College, behind the BSC Armory. Since it was turned on Tuesday, it has generated 2.5 kilowatt hours of electricity.

"Fortunately, it is a windy day, so you can see it working," Vice President Kari Knudson said.

During a press conference Friday morning near the turbine, it generated between 300 to 400 watts of electricity on up to 1,200 watts when the wind picked up. Representatives from BSC, Montana-Dakota Utilities and the North Dakota Department of Commerce spoke about the purpose of the turbine and the partnership that made it possible.

MDU approached BSC about installing the wind turbine. The college received a grant from the department of renewable energy and efficiency in the North Dakota Department of Commerce. The $1,300 grant covered half the cost of the turbine, which was installed by Gr-8 Country Wind Power.

The residential-size turbine isn't meant to power the whole campus, but it does provide electricity to a maintenance building behind the armory. It is meant as a demonstration project for MDU and an educational tool for BSC students.

The turbine can generate up to 2.4 kilowatts of electricity and accommodate wind speeds up to 60 mph, at which point the turbine stops working.

Zachery Allen, the project manager at the National Energy Center of Excellence, supplied the electrical generation of the turbine, which is being transmitted to a laptop. Eventually, the data from the turbine will be displayed in the National Energy Center of Excellence.

Students will not work on the turbine, but will use the turbine and the data that is collected to learn about wind energy. The curriculum for energy program students will be expanded to include information on wind generation. The college is not starting a wind turbine program, Knudson said.

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