Bellevue Firm Lands Wind Turbine Contract

A Bellevue company has signed a government contract to develop a wind turbine to compete with other sources of electricity.

The Wind Turbine Co. expects its windmills with fiberglass blades could generate electricity at a cost of 3 cents a kilowatt hour, compared with 5 cents per kilowatt hour for the cheapest power produced by existing wind turbines, company co-founder Larry Miles said.

The company has a $15 million contract with the Energy Department and also is raising $7 million from investors.

The contract calls for developing a half-size 25-megawatt prototype, a full-size, 1,000-megawatt prototype and a 1,000-megawatt commercial design.