Heirloom Company details ground‑based wind turbine pilot north of Rock River

Neil Rickner with Heirloom Company presented the company’s ground‑mounted wind‑energy design to the Laramie City Council during its Oct. 14 work session, describing a pilot project built north of Rock River and a workshop near the Laramie airport he called the company’s global headquarters.

Heirloom is developing a rail‑mounted string of winged rotors that pull an industrial belt to drive multiple electric motors. Rickner said the megawatt‑scale design reuses 58 unique parts across machine sizes and aims to be built with higher manufacturing volumes than current wind turbines, which he said typically require many more unique parts.

The presentation matters because the company is building a temporary R&D pilot in Wyoming and has secured a conditional‑use permit for the site; the project could create local manufacturing and testing activity while the company pursues commercial customers including data centers and Department of Defense users. Rickner said Heirloom’s stated advantages include lower height (reducing FAA lighting requirements in many settings), smaller crane and road requirements for installation, and the ability to place machines more densely than traditional horizontal‑axis turbines.

Rickner described the technology in technical terms and with efficiency goals. "Wind drives the wing. The wing pulls the belt," he said, explaining the basic transmission chain that moves mechanical energy to vertically oriented motors. He said the company built a kilowatt‑scale prototype near Pine Bluffs in 2023 that operated about 14 months and that the current pilot uses megawatt‑scale parts on a roughly 30‑acre parcel about 4 miles north of Rock River. He described the pilot as temporary, not connected to the grid, and intended to prove the power curve and costs at scale.

Heirloom disclosed funding and support sources in the presentation: about $14 million in combined resources to move from kilowatt prototype to megawatt design, including roughly $7.5 million in private capital, a $5 million grant from an energy matching fund (described in the meeting as “EMF”), and a $1.25 million contract from the U.S. Air Force. Rickner said Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Lower Carbon Capital are among investors who previously supported the company’s development. He also described interest and a commercial term sheet with a customer that would buy the power, noting the term sheet had not been signed pending required permissions.

Council members asked about operational details, siting and impacts. On noise, Rickner compared the experience to an amusement‑park roller coaster and said his modeling indicates the pilot would be inaudible about a half‑mile away in most conditions; he emphasized the need to collect field data from the pilot to validate those projections. On wildlife impact, he said the company lacks sufficient data and is partnering with Wyoming Game and Fish to study potential bird and bat interactions; he added he would not claim definitive impacts until data are available.

Rickner also discussed potential military and expeditionary uses: utility‑scale installations on bases to strengthen energy security, containerized or expeditionary versions for forward sites, and a floating offshore variant for remote island power. He described a design height of about 55 feet for the pilot, 10‑meter wings (about 33 feet), and a 150‑kilowatt nameplate for the pilot configuration, while noting the same 58‑part architecture can scale to larger megawatt class systems.

Council members expressed interest in a site tour and in continuing conversations about permitting, impacts and workforce needs. Several councilors said they would like to visit the workshop and pilot site; Rickner invited council members to schedule visits. City staff did not take formal action during the presentation; no vote was held.

The presentation included requests and next steps rather than formal council action. Councilors asked staff and the company to schedule tours and said they expect additional updates as the pilot produces data.

Ending: Heirloom’s Laramie workshop is under construction and company representatives said they plan further outreach and data collection as the pilot is installed. Council members left the session with the option to visit the site and follow up with staff on permitting and any data the pilot produces.