Left to right: Pat Herzog, general manager of Michels Wind Energy, Greg Wyman, GVEA Eva Creek project manager, Cory Borgeson, GVEA interim president & CEO and Steve Dayney, CEO of REpower USA prepare to cut the ribbon at the Eva Creek Wind Dedication Ceremony held August 29.

Gene Therriault, deputy director for statewide energy policy development for the Alaska Energy Authority and Karen Lidster, legislative aide for Senator Coghill, exit the tower of a wind turbine on the Eva Creek Wind tour. It was a windy day!

More than 75 people attended the Dedication Ceremony.

Pat Herzog, General Manager of Michels Wind Energy, talks at the Dedication Ceremony.

Left to right: John Sloan, GVEA board member, Ron Woolf, GVEA employee and Aren Gunderson, GVEA board member give some perspective to the base of a turbine tower.

Eva Creek Wind as viewed from above on August 12, 2012.

Photo by Sam Brice

The blades and hub are lifted at the same time.

A nacelle is lifted to the top of a tower. This houses the generator, gearbox, drive train, etc.

This 25 MVA 138/35.5 kilovolt transformer is installed at the Eva Creek Wind substation. Smaller transformers (2.5 MVA) will be installed at the base of each wind turbine. The purpose of these transformers is to step up or down the voltage. For example, before entering our transmission lines, the voltage is stepped up. Having power transferred at a higher voltage helps reduce line loss.

The Eva Creek Wind transformer is trucked up to the project site.

The turbine hub and blades are assembled on the ground and then lifted to the top of the tower.

A wind turbine nacelle crosses the bridge at Ferry. Greg Wyman, Eva Creek Project Manager, is pictured in the foreground.

Several of the 72 substation equipment foundations are pictured.

These small compactors are operated by remotes. This area beside the road is being compacted and will be hydroseeded.

The Northern Intertie crosses through the Eva Creek Wind project.

Tar sealant is applied to minor surface cracks in the turbine foundation prior to backfill.

The second part of the turbine tower is set. Three sections make up the tower.

GVEA employee Andy Croan explains some of the logistical issues associated with the Eva Creek project as a tower goes up in the background.

Setting the mid-section of the tower.

A stair section is installed on the outside of the tower.

Crews pour a very fluid concrete grout to support the tower.

Crews make sure the bolts line up as the tower section is lowered.

The crane sets the base.

A tower section makes its way up Ferry Road to the turbine site on July 8. The Northen Intertie is pictured in the background.

As of July 2, all of the blades are on site; 30 are being stored in the laydown area (pictured) and six have been delivered to their respective turbine pads.

Photo courtesy of PDC Inc. Engineers

The rear axles are remotely controlled by a person in the pickup, which follows closely behind the trailer. The person in charge of the controls can also get out of the truck and steer it with a small remote control unit.

Photo courtesy of PDC Inc. Engineers

Photo courtesy of PDC Inc. Engineers.

A crane offloads a turbine blade in Ferry. Notice the hatch in the bottom which makes it possible for a maintenance person to enter the actual blade.

Photo courtesy of PDC Inc. Engineers

Turbine blades are pictured on train cars as they make their way to Ferry.

The blades arrived in Whittier by ship and were transferred to railcar for the journey to Ferry. Here they are pictured getting trucked up the 10-mile Ferry road to the project site.

Project Manager, Greg Wyman, gives some perspective on the size of these turbine foundations.

Preparing the turbine foundations.

The turbine blades began arriving on June 15.

The Manitowoc crane 16000 is capable of lifting up to 440 US tons.

This crane is the largest in Alaska and came from Wisconsin specifically for this project. It came by train to Ferry (in pieces) and was trucked up the hill to the Eva Creek site where it was assembled.

This is a turbine hub. The three blades will be attached before it is lifted onto the top of the turbine tower.

A nacelle is unloaded from the ship.

You are looking at a nacelle. This is the part that sticks off the backside of the hub (at the top) that houses the generating components like the generator, gearbox, drive train, etc.

The turbine towers were trucked (at night) to Healy by Carlile Transportation Systems..

The towers are so tall, they are shipped in sections. Turbine hub height: 262 ft.

Three sections of tower (like the one pictured) form the post of the wind turbine.

Work on the Ferry road began in the fall of 2011.