National Wind Watch: Wind Energy News » $400 million Jackson County wind farm project is still in development

HERON LAKE – NextEra Energy continues to make progress on its plans to develop a 200-megawatt wind farm in southwest Jackson County , according to project director Clay Cameron.

The Three Waters Wind Farm is planned for construction in 2023, though there remains a lot of work to be done. Cameron said the company is still concentrating on land acquisition as it prepares to submit its final draft application on the estimated $400 million project.

“A couple of months after that’s approved, we will submit the final application of turbine location,” Cameron said on Monday. It takes approximately 16 months for the final application to be approved, he added.

NextEra acquired the project from Scout Energy in 2019, and has since moved the location of the wind farm fully into Jackson County, instead of spanning across the state line into Iowa. Energy generated from the proposed 50-turbine farm will be sold to Great River Energy, through a connection at Trimont.

While the location of turbines isn’t set in stone, Three Waters Wind Farm will likely consist of turbines in Alba, Ewing, West Heron Lake, Rost and Sioux Valley townships, with another one or two turbines each located in Hunter and Round Lake townships.

“There may be a possibility that some of those turbines move as things are finalized,” Cameron said.

NextEra plans to construct the wind farm with GE turbines, each at 3.4 megawatts.

“GE is a U.S.-based company and they have a lot of facilities located around the U.S.,” Cameron said. “Their blades typically come from a blade manufacturing company based in Grand Forks , North Dakota.”

NextEra Communications Manager Matt Eissey said the majority of materials for Three Waters Wind Farm will come from within the U.S.

“We haven’t seen supply chain issues, as of yet, on those materials,” Eissey said.

Cameron said he’s seen a lot of support from local landowners for the project, and touted the economic impact the wind farm would have on the area.

There will be purchased goods and services during construction, tax benefits to the county and townships, and landowner payments to property owners, he noted.

With a projected capital investment of just over $400 million, the wind farm will generate an estimated $40 million in tax payments, and another $60 to $70 million in landowner payments, Cameron said.

“We’re excited to continue working with the community,” Eissey added. “We believe this will be an extremely friendly project; we plan on being here for the long-term.”