Plans are being made to build a center in

western Kansas that will put small-scale wind turbines to the test.

The High Plains Small-Wind

Turbine Test Center will be located at the Northwest Kansas

Research and Extension Center just outside Colby.

Several groups are working together on the center, including

Hays-based Midwest Energy, Colby Community College and the Wind

Applications Center at Kansas State University.

The center will study residential and commercial scale turbines

that produce no more than 50 kilowatts of electricity. It will

offer something akin to a certification rating that can be used by

the companies that manufacture the turbines.