June 17, 2022
Minnesota

Shakopee Mdewakanton tribe to remove wind turbine this summer

Red Lake Nation News | June 16, 2022 | www.redlakenationnews.com

Prior Lake, Minn. – The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) is planning to remove the 262-foot-tall wind turbine on its reservation in Prior Lake this summer. The tribe first installed the 1.5-megawatt turbine in 2009 to provide a green energy source, but the turbine has since had significant reliability issues and is no longer cost-effective to maintain.

“Unfortunately, this turbine is no longer a good fit for the location or our tribe’s needs,” said SMSC Chairman Keith Anderson. “One of our tribe’s core values is caring for the environment, and we plan to continue investing in other more reliable and efficient conservation and green initiatives like water reclamation, green roofs, solar cells and more.”

The SMSC is working with a highly experienced contractor to remove the turbine sometime this summer. The contractor will secure the area, lower the turbine, and disassemble and remove the materials over the course of a couple of weeks. The date the turbine will be lowered will be dependent on weather conditions and other factors.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2022/06/17/shakopee-mdewakanton-tribe-to-remove-wind-turbine-this-summer/