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More than 12 wind farms operating or planned in SD

A rundown of some of the most local and largest wind projects in South Dakota.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative - June 13, 2010

Originally published in Aberdeen American News
Reported by Emily Arthur-Richardt and Scott Waltman

Wind turbines aren't as numerous as cattle in South Dakota pastures, but they're becoming increasingly common as the state's wind power output increases year by year. More than a dozen wind farms are operating, under construction or in the planning stages for northeast South Dakota.

A rundown of some of the most local and largest projects follows:

Day County Wind Energy Center: The 99-megawatt wind farm, which has been operational since April, has 66 turbines with the capability of generating enough power for 25,000 average homes, Stengel said.

Construction on the project, which is in Day County about 20 miles southeast of Groton, began in October.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative, which is based in Bismarck, N.D., has committed to buying the power, but during the first three years the electricity will be sold to the Western Area Power Administration.

"WAPA needed the power," Stengel said.

The project, end-to-end, takes up about a 30-square mile area, Stengel said. But each turbine takes up less than one acre, he said.

The Day County Wind Energy Center employs eight people.

"This is a project that's going to be in the community for 20 to 30 years," Stengel said. "Although wind projects don't create a lot of full-time paying jobs, there are jobs associated with the project that weren't there before."

The project also brought an economic impact to the area, he said.

"In a seven-month construction period, there were 150 people on site, buying gas at the local convenience store or filling station, buying groceries in the local market," Stengel said. " ... Those folks also had to sleep somewhere, so they were renting apartments or houses or staying at a hotel."

Stengel said he's thankful for all the help NextEra Energy got with the project.

"A project like the Day County project needs a lot of people working together to make it successful," he said. "We've had wonderful cooperation in South Dakota - locally, regionally and at the state level."

A dedication will be June 22 at the facility. Dustin Johnson, of the state Public Utilities Commission, said the project cost $250 million.

Campbell County wind farm: Although it's still in the beginning stages, officials expect a wind farm in Campbell County to be operational by 2013.

"That is our goal," said Heath Johnson, vice president of Aberdeen-based Dakota Plains Energy, which is developing the project. "Whether or not we'll hit that, we don't know. Who knows? We might be a bit early."

The Campbell County Wind Farm will be five miles south of Pollock and 10 miles west of Herreid. When finished, the $600 million project will cover about 40 square miles. The facility is expected to have 200 turbines, producing 300 megawatts of energy.

Right now, the environmental studies are being conducted, Johnson said.

While this is the first wind energy project for Dakota Plains Energy, Johnson said it was a natural fit.

"We saw a need for it," he said. "We know quite a few land owners in the area. That's why we ended up getting started."

Johnson said that as the country comes out of the recession, he expects to see more wind energy projects.

"There is more capital out there to do it now," he said. "I think nationally we're coming out of a recession, and people are feeling more confident about getting involved in energy in general."

Dakota Wind Energy: With hopes of a large wind farm in Day, Marshall and Roberts counties, Minnesota-based National Energy has taken a different approach to procuring lease agreements on 60,000 acres of land. It has organized local property owners in an effort to negotiate more favorable agreements from utility and wind power companies.

National's Dakota Wind Energy project is the first of its type in South Dakota, state officials say. But it doesn't yet have a buyer for its potential power, said Dusty Johnson of the state Public Utilities Commission.

Initial plans call for developing a 300-megawatt wind farm with about 200 turbines, said Erin Edholm, director of communications for National. But the demise of the Big Stone II problem is a concern, she said. Even under a favorable transmission replacement plan, it will be at least a couple of years before the farm starts producing power, she said.

The current lease agreements cover enough land to produce between 500 and 600 megawatts of power, Edholm said. But that much power would involve expansion beyond the project's initial phase.

Tatanka Wind Farm: If transmission capacity were increased, there's a chance the Tatanka Wind Farm near the South Dakota-North Dakota boarder could eventually be expanded, a company official said.

"The initial rollout of the Tatanka project could have been larger; however, we were limited by transmission," said Eric Schneider, ACCIONA Energy North America's vice president of marketing. ACCIONA is the company that oversees the Tatanka project.

"The transmission line we connected to was the only line with available capacity and part of the...system. The upside is that the wind farm is capable of tripling or quadrupling in size and capacity in the future, if transmission capability improves, and we are hopeful that it will."

Presently, the Tatanka Wind Farm has 120 turbines in McPherson County in South Dakota and McIntosh County in North Dakota. Combined, the 1.5-megawatt turbines produce enough power for more than 60,000 U.S. homes. The electricity is sold to the Midwest Independent Transmission System, which delivers the power to the upper United states and Canada.

Hurricane Lake: The Hurricane Lake wind farm would be built by Invenergy and include 167 turbines in Roberts County that would produce 250.5 megawatts of electricity, said Barry Fladeboe, development manager.

Because part of the project is on U.S. Fish and Wildlife grassland easements, Invenergy has already started the environmental permitting process, said Brian Rounds, an analyst with the state PUC.

Fladeboe said the plant would be built in a way that doesn't negatively impact the environment.

Transmission is a concern, he said. He said that with Big Stone II, plans called for production to being in 2011. Now, it might be 2013 or 2014, he said. The company has a power purchase agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority and lease agreements covering 100,000 acres he said.

Extensive wind testing has been very encouraging for Invenergy.

"We have a profound wind resource out there," Fladeboe said.

Others: Johnson said there has also been talk about wind farms in the Gettysburg, Java and Clark areas. The Clark County undertaking would be small and community-based, he said, and NorthWestern Energy would ideally purchase the 20 megawatts of power.

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