Albany County Will Be Test Site for New Wind Energy Technology

MARCH 12, 2025|

Photo – Image of Airloom Turbines vs traditional turbines – Courtesy Airloom Energy

A new type of wind turbine technology will be tested in Albany County.

During the December 3^rd Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, representatives from Laramie-based Airloom Energy discussed the tech startup’s new wind turbine technology. Instead of the traditional vertical three-bladed wind turbines, common across the Cowboy State, Airloom Energy plans to construct large tracks with multiple mobile blades. The wind blows the blades around the track, which is similar to a roller coaster, to generate electricity. The new design is expected to be 5.5% more efficient than a traditional wind turbine.

Airloom representatives said they were seeking land in both Carbon and Albany Counties to construct a test version of their bladed track design.

Bigfoot99 reached out to the Laramie tech company for an update on the pilot project. Airloom Energy Director of Operations Sam Farstad told Reporter Matt Copeland that his company needed to consider a variety of factors when selecting a location to build their test system.

Airloom Director of Operations Farstad said his company used data collected from meteorological evaluation towers to determine a suitable location to test the tracked blade technology. Farstad said a site north of Laramie met all the necessary criteria for the pilot project.

Farstad said Airloom Energy was considering constructing its pilot project in Carbon County. The area’s strong winds made it an ideal place to test new wind energy technologies. However, Farstad said the proximity of the chosen site to Airloom’s headquarters in Laramie offers significant logistical advantages.

At the Albany County site, Airloom plans to build a metal test track roughly the size of a football field suspended 30 feet above the ground. The pilot project is expected to cost around $1.9 million and generate approximately 150 kilowatts of electricity.

Airloom Energy Director of Operations Sam Farstad explained that the test track will allow his company to make the technology more efficient and cheaper.

Farstad said Airloom’s goal is to make the tracked blade system less expensive than traditional wind turbines.

The benefit of the Airloom system is that the technology can be scaled up or down depending on the customer’s needs. Once the technology has been proven to work, Farstad said he would like to begin selling it to military bases. The shorter tower height of the Airloom system provides advantages when built near military flight paths. Eventually, Farstad said he would like to see Airloom’s tracked blades entirely replace traditional vertical wind turbines.

Farstad said he expects groundbreaking at the Albany County pilot project site to occur sometime this spring. If everything goes well, the Director of Operations said commercial applications of the system should begin sometime in 2027.

The company plans to break ground on the project this spring.