Walking up to DiMillo’s in Portland, Maine, the first thing you’ll notice is that the restaurant is inside a former ferry permanently anchored at the pier.

The next thing to turn your head is the three-story-high tubular spire near its entrance that looks like it might be a high tech antenna.

“Some people think it’s an art installation,” says restaurant manager Steve DiMillo.

It’s actually a cutting edge vertical axis wind turbine called the Windspire, but it’s not your average windmill. Six two-foot-long blades—arrayed from 17 to 34 feet high—are parallel to the ground, it produces almost no sound, and there’s no flicker caused by the propellers passing in front of the sun.

“Everybody loves it,” DiMillo says. “And we received a business leadership award from the Sierra Club of Maine for its installation, so it has been great publicity.”

DiMillo’s received the turbine last August for free in exchange for showcasing the new technology at its high traffic restaurant, which hosts 200,000 diners annually. The installers of this renewable energy source, Portland’s Nelson & Small, estimates that it will generate about 2,000 kilowatts annually, which is about half the electricity that the average household in Maine uses every year.

That’s not enough to completely power the eatery’s marina store located next door, but DiMillo says that it’s definitely saving the restaurant money on its utility bill—around $400 per year.

Finish reading this story on the Restaurant Management website now.

Photo of Uncommon Ground courtesy of Zoran Orlic.