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Thar she blows at the Navy Yard

Apparently, Brooklyn will soon have the honor of being home to the first building in the city to use wind turbines to harvest energy.

The three-story industrial building, to be erected in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, will be topped by a series of small wind turbines that convert the kinetic energy of a stiff breeze into electricity.

“Supposedly, there are no other wind turbines on buildings in New York City,” said Andrew Kimball, president of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, the quasi-governmental agency that facilitates development in the yard. “This will be the first.”

The half-dozen turbines that will top the new building bare little resemblance to those statuesque towers that seem to cover Europe. These turbines will rise only six feet from the roof of the 89,000-square-foot, industrial building. The turbines will power some of common areas in the building, allowing the Yard to suck less electricity from the power grid.

This is the latest in a series of green developments to bloom like weeds from the Navy Yard’s industrial soil. Back in April, the Yard heralded the arrival of two solar-powered, waste-compacting trash cans. The Yard is also transitioning to all hybrid vehicles, and is looking to add solar power.

Kimball cautioned that the wind turbine development is “absolutely experimental.”

“A lot of the sustainable energy initiatives are still shaking out, as far as whether they are viable in the long run,” said Kimball.

Whether or not the turbines are viable should be determined as early as next year. The building is scheduled for completion in June.