Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Wind Power News: Minnesota
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Murray County wind turbine upgrades get PUC approval
MARSHALL – A project to replace 65 existing wind turbines in western Murray County will be moving forward. On Thursday, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved a 120 megawatt project by Northern Wind Energy Redevelopment, LLC. The Northern Wind project will replace turbines in two existing wind farms, the Chanarambie and Viking projects. The existing turbines would be replaced with a total of 45 new turbines that are larger and more efficient, the PUC said. A summary of the project said . . . Complete story »
Wind project touted as potential economic driver for area cities
Although the timelines are not set in stone, the City of Tracy will likely be flanked by not one, but two wind farms in the near future. With plans in the works for a wind farm to be built to the east of town, another clean energy undertaking – Box Car Wind – is in the planning stages to the west, straddling the Lyon-Murray County line. Drew Christensen, public engagement manager for Apex Clean Energy, said Xcel Energy would be a customer . . . Complete story »
$400 million Jackson County wind farm project is still in development
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. Complete story »
MidAmerican plans to add 2 GW of wind energy in Iowa, study carbon capture
MidAmerican Energy said it plans to to spend $3.9 billion to add more than 2 GW of wind energy and 50 MW of solar generation in Iowa. The company also proposed feasibility studies to look at other clean generation technologies, including carbon capture, energy storage and small modular nuclear reactors. The company said that since 2004, it has invested around $14 billion in renewable energy projects across Iowa. If approved, the new capacity–known as Wind PRIME–would enable the utility to cover . . . Complete story »
Great River signs agreement to build big North Dakota wind farm
Great River Energy has reached an agreement to build one of the largest wind farms in North Dakota. The deal announced Tuesday with developer Apex Clean Energy comes nearly two weeks after Minnesota utility regulators approved the controversial sale of Great River’s 436-mile power line from North Dakota to the Twin Cities. Maple Grove-based Great River sold the power line along with its big coal-fired power plant in McLean County N.D. Clean energy groups protested the sale because it will . . . Complete story »
Apex looks at Lyon Co. for future wind project
MARSHALL – A clean energy company is looking for potential sites for a 400-megawatt wind energy project in Lyon County, the Lyon County Board learned this week. A spokesperson for Apex Clean Energy told county commissioners Apex has been meeting with landowners in the southern part of the county. Drew Christensen of Apex Clean Energy spoke with Lyon County commissioners at their regular meeting Tuesday. Christensen said the company was planning for a future wind energy project. Apex was looking for . . . Complete story »
Letter didn’t address reality
In an April 24 letter to the Herald, UND Professor Dexter Perkins thoroughly bashed the usage of coal for generating electricity. However, he erroneously claims that solar and wind generating sources are non-polluting. Spent wind turbine blades, after only 15 years of service, are being quietly landfilled by the thousands out on the lone prairie. We are never allowed to see the real costs of turbines, land leases, transmission line conductors, horribly expensive maintenance costs, turbine lives of only 25 . . . Complete story »
In Minnesota, old power plants could be the on-ramp for new wind and solar
Minnesota utilities will soon use existing fossil fuel plant infrastructure to transport clean energy to Midwest’s regional electricity grid. The workaround avoids the Midwest’s bottlenecked transmission grid managed by the Midwest Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO), the regional transmission organization currently hamstrung by a lengthy project queue and a capacity shortage. The process of connecting new generation to the grid in MISO’s 15-state territory takes an average of three years, according to an Americans for a Clean Energy Grid study. . . . Complete story »
NextEra gives commissioners update on Dodge County Wind Farm, proposed solar farm
The Mower County Board of Commissioners received an update from NextEra Energy projects in the area, including their wind farm in Dodge and Steele Counties as well as a solar project within Mower County. During the board’s meeting Tuesday, Tom Von Bische, Early Stage Development for NextEra presenting for Mark Lennonx, project director of renewable development for the Dodge County Wind Project (DCWP), brought the commissioners up to speed on a total of three projects with the DCWP having the . . . Complete story »
University of Minnesota researchers drill down on ways to protect eagles in wind farms’ airspace
Resilient as bald eagles are, they are no match for wind turbine blades, whose spinning tips can reach speeds of up to 200 mph. Intent on keeping the two apart, a team of University of Minnesota researchers with expertise in wildlife behavior, neuroscience and mechanical engineering is continuing its work to find solutions through what bald and golden eagles hear and how it affects their behavior. The findings might help create acoustic deterrents at wind farms that could save the . . . Complete story »