MEDICINE BOW, Wyo. (AP) - Environmental effects of a proposed large, experimental wind turbine will be minor, federal officials have concluded.

Clipper Windpower Inc., of Carpenteria, Calif., wants to construct and test a 2.5-megawatt tower south of Platte River Power Authority's Medicine Bow Wind Farm on private land about five miles south of Medicine Bow.

The combined height of the tubular tower and its blades would be 410 feet, which would make it the tallest wind turbine in Wyoming.

The low-speed turbine should be capable of generating full power even when annual wind speeds average less than 13 mph, project manager Eli Bosco said.

The turbine would start producing power in a 9-mph wind and the blades would cease rotating at 55-63 mph, according to an environmental assessment prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy, which is accepting public comment on the project through Friday.

Clipper Windpower is partnering with Platte River Power, which plans to buy the turbine.

In 2002, Clipper won about $13 million from the Department of Energy to partially fund development of low wind-speed turbines.

Information from: Rawlins Daily Times