As New England Institute of Technology student Mark Spisto watches from inside a classroom, the final installation work is done on a new wind turbine at the school’s campus in Warwick.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

WARWICK — Could there be a better billboard for renewable energy in Rhode Island?

The new wind turbine installed Wednesday by the New England Institute of Technology dominates the view from Route 95. Drivers will not be able to ignore the 156-foot machine as its blades slowly rotate in the wind along the busy highway.

The institute installed the 100-kilowatt turbine as part of an effort to go “green,” but the school will also use it as a teaching tool. Administrators say green-collar jobs are the future and students will learn about wind-power technology by studying the turbine as well as learning how to service and maintain it.

It’s only the third industrial-scale turbine in Rhode Island. The first two were put up in Portsmouth, one in 2006 and the other in March. Other entities are considering installing turbines, including the state Department of Environmental Management, the City of Providence and private companies in Portsmouth and Exeter.

Interest in land-based wind energy is intensifying as a New Jersey company moves forward with plans to build wind farms off the Rhode Island coast, something that hasn’t been done anywhere in the nation.

The Northwind 100 turbine was erected in three days this week in a parking lot on the institute’s Access Road campus. Alteris Renewables, a Wilton, Conn., company with an office in Bristol, oversaw the project.

On Monday and Tuesday, the three sections of the machine’s tower were put in place. On Wednesday morning, the nacelle, which houses the turbine’s generator, was added by a crane. Then, at about 1:30 p.m., the blades were lifted and, within an hour, were secured.

Most of the turbine is white — the typical color for the machines — but its blades are black. The City of Warwick required black blades to reduce the possibility of ice freezing on them in the winter, according to Philip G. Parsons, vice president and general counsel for the institute. There was a concern that if ice built up on the blades, it could slide off and threaten cars and people in the parking lot, he said.

The turbine cost $455,000 and was part of a green-energy project that also included the installation of 135 solar panels for $255,000. Parsons said the institute has applied for money from the federal economic-stimulus package to help offset the cost, but he hasn’t gotten word if the money will be awarded.

akuffner@projo.com