Port of Sacramento Manager Mike Luken has been hearing people talk all summer about the unusual shipments arriving at his docks.
Typical comments: " 'What the heck do you have over there?' " he reports. Or, " 'It looks like you're shipping missiles through the port.' "
Not missiles. Wind turbine parts.
In a boon for the port's summer business, Escondido-based enXco has used the port as delivery destination for 11 ships full of massive components destined for the Shiloh II wind farm near Rio Vista.
About half of the parts -- made in Denmark and Korea -- are sitting on the ground at the port's West Sacramento facility. The rest are due in coming weeks.
Once all the parts have arrived, they'll be transported and assembled at the Shiloh site, where 75 turbines are expected to be producing electricity for PG&E by year's end, says enXco spokeswoman Sandi Briner.
These are big turbines, standing 271 feet high. Each one has a base, middle, top, generator section and three blades. A complete unit weighs about 277 tons.
Multiply that by 75 and you've got better than 20,700 tons coming through the port. It's a "huge" piece of business, Luken says, one likely to grow because of federal tax credits being offered to wind farmers.
Huge enough to help the always-struggling port return to profitability?
That answer may be blowin' in the wind.
For the rest of Bob Shallit's column, see Saturday's "Our Region" section.
Call The Bee's Bob Shallit, (916) 321-1049. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit
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