By JOHN HENDERSON

Staff Writer

(ENLARGE)

(ENLARGE)

CAMDEN — The world’s largest private security firm now also owns the tallest electric-power generating turbine in North Carolina.

Blackwater USA erected the 120-foot tower on its property in Camden County Wednesday.

The company is spending up to $175,000 to install the tower, but believes its electrical savings in the coming decades will far exceed the investment.

Blackwater officials estimate the turbine will save $9,000 to $11,000 a year on energy costs, resulting in $400,000 or more in electricity savings over the 40-year life of the turbine.

“If we’d have invested the same money we have put into the wind turbine into a bank account, the account would gradually bleed out,” said Ted Vogel, alternative energy officer for Blackwater. “There would be no way for the interest to keep up with increasing costs of electricity, and the decreasing value of money.”

Wind turbines convert wind energy into electricity for energy distribution.

In Blackwater’s case, the company is using the turbine primarily to generate electricity to power a manufacturing plant 250 yards from the turbine. The plant is Blackwater’s biggest electricity user, and manufactures The Grizzly armored personnel carrier.

Vogel said senior management at Blackwater realized that a turbine might work well in Camden, considering how windy it has been since the company opened there.

“We started investigating in June of this year,” he said. “That led us in a couple of directions. We looked at a couple manufacturers of turbines. We had to go and talk to Camden County about legislation. They worked with us to get a zoning that was workable for us.”

Vogel said company officials have also spoken with Currituck officials about what it would take to erect a turbine on Blackwater property in that county. But he said there are no immediate plans to put one up.

Currituck is in the process of developing its own rules for turbines. It currently lacks a county ordinance controlling turbines’ placement, installation and use.

Several companies have expressed interest in selling wind turbines in Currituck, including one headquartered in Spain.

Even though Blackwater’s turbine is the largest erected in the state, there is a potential for much larger ones to crop up soon, Vogel said.

Blackwater’s 50 kilowatt turbine could power a dozen or more homes. Vogel said a 1.5-megawatt turbine — which can be found in places like the Texas panhandle and areas of Iowa and Illinois — might power 120 homes.

Vogel said the average wind speeds in Camden dictated the size of the turbine.

The triangular-shaped Blackwater turbine, topped off with a huge propeller, can withstand winds of 133 miles an hour.

Blackwater employees on Wednesday morning handled much of the electrical work and installation as technical turbine experts looked on.

Erecting the turbine might result in the company starting up a side business, Vogel said.

“We also have opportunity in which we can do installations like this for other people if a business model presents itself,” he said. “We are investigating that.”