North Dakota Announces Biggest Wind Farm
North Dakota – the top state for wind power according to the American Wind Energy Association – is far behind less windy states in utilizing its clean, powerful natural resource. But that gap will soon narrow.
A $250 million wind farm is planned for Langdon in the northeast corner of the state. The 106 wind turbines will start spinning later this year or early next year, pumping out 159 MW of electricity – enough to power about 48,000 homes. The Langdon Wind Project is a partnership between Minnkota Power Cooperative of Grand Forks, Otter Tail Power of Minnesota, and FPL Energy of Florida, the world’s largest wind developer. From the Fargo Forum:
Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker was on hand for the announcement, which he applauded as a big step in North Dakotas development of renewable energy.
We understand this is not going to replace everything, Walaker said, but added that it will help reduce the nations dependency on foreign oil. I am so happy that this has gone forward.
The project will produce 10 permanent full time jobs, 50 construction jobs, $1 million in yearly sales tax revenues, a half million in yearly property tax revenues, and a half million in yearly lease payments and royalties to landowners, according to FPL. A 35-mile transmission line and substation will also be upgraded.
American Wind Energy Association
Fargo Forum
U.S. Department of Energy
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:30 pm
It is my fervent hope that one of these days the wind promoters will actually tell the truth and not mislead the public with their exaggerated claims. I’d like to hear a reason why reporters use
those meaningless power ratings and characterize this project (which will likely never acheive a
40 megawatt output caapcity) with a straight face as a facility that “will pump out 159 megawatts, enough to power 48,000 homes. 159 megawatts would power approximately 100,000 homes. I doubt that this windfarm could produce enough to power over 25,000 homes. Of course, wind can never really “power a home,” since wind is more or less totally unreliable, and can’t produce continuous power.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Wind power is great but it doesn’t help us wean ourselves from foreign oil. We use oil primarily for transportation fuel, wind power provides electricity to homes and other buildings. These two things are completely different.
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
These two things are only completely different for as long as we want them to be. By moving in the direction of plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles, wind power can start powering our transportation as well (not to mention storing wind energy for later use).
I find it hilarious that two of the most fervent arguments of the anti-green crowd are 1) going electric for our transportation is stupid becaue it uses dirty coal power anyway and 2) that clean wind power does nothing about our reliance on fossil fuels. To claim those two things simultaneously without seeing the circularity of those arguments is crazy to me. Yes, one or the other does no good. But doing both does do good.
There's no silver bullet here, people. But find some new reasons not to start the process of upgrading our civilization.
David
Founder and CEO
Green Options, LLC
April 2nd, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Having lived in that part of NoDak for several years, I can assert confidently that this windfarm will reach it’s maximum generating capacity at least several times a year … particularly in the winter months. Brrrrrrr.(Many fine people though).
Naturally it will not put out 150+MW all the time. But the beauty of these machines — apart from the aggravation to trolls and the development of renewable resources — is that they keep generating long after they pay for themselves. Much like the gasbags that oppose them.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:48 am
My understanding has been that although North Dakota has an enormous wind resource, that the transmission system there is not sturdy enough to be able to transmit large sums of power from the wind resources to the places where large amounts of power is needed, such as Chicago. Does anyone know if ND has any plans to start exporting wind power, and if so, how have they worked out the transmission issue?
Jameel
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:12 am
From this map it is easy to see that there are few other locations in the US with strong winds. Compare that to this map and it appears that North Dakota is lagging behind in wind power generation. The best places for strong winds are on the top of inaccessible mountains. Off-shore wind farms in some areas look lucrative, but there are other obvious difficulties with that.
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:28 am
I don’t know if the guy above is anti-green, but you’ve gotta realize that these numbers are usually inflated to promote this wind farm.
This country already “mov[ed] in the direction of plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles” in the early 90’s. The fad died out back then. David (or any other blogger), maybe you could explain to the readers at Green Options why these vehicles no longer exist and why this time will be any different.
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
James–
A couple of things come to mind–
1) The sense of need to fundamentally change the automobile has heightened — climate change was on the radar in the early '90s, but hadn't seeped into the public consciousness as deeply as now
2)The focus on form and function — automakers recognize that they can't sell cars to a mass market if they're only appealing to eco-consciousness — the Tesla Roadster, Phoenix SUT and Chevy Volt all attempt to appeal to the emotional connection Americans have with their automobiles.
3) Better technology makes electric vehicles perform better in terms of range and power — that's going to continue to improve.
4) The focus on plug-in hybrids as well as EVs — these address some of the problems with convenience seen in earlier EVs
_______________________________________
Jeff McIntire-Strasburg
Senior Editor
Green Options
jeff@greenoptions.com
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:28 pm
James-
First, to my knowledge, there was very little movement "in the directon of plug-in hybrids" 15 years ago.
Calling the killing of the EV1 a fad that died out is probably the most misleading way to characterize it.
Explaining to our reader "why these vehicles no longer exist" would also be misleading, since they do exist. And this time, it's smaller companies who don't have their entire future wrapped up in the internal combustion engine so thoroughly that they're willing to kill any project that threatens their unwise investment in fossil fuels. It's their fault they took that route, not ours. They're going to have to buy Phoenix and Tesla, or compete with them. Or kill them.
Maybe you could explain to everyone why you won't identify yourself, who you are, and why you keep shying away from debating me. I've challenged you repeatedly. Ok, I haven't, but if you want to debate me, bring it on.
David
Founder and CEO
Green Options, LLC
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
James-
Way to link to a wind map that hasn't been updated since 1985.
Here's a wind map of ND that actually uses current technology. From the site:
"In general, at 50 meters, wind power Class 4 or higher can be useful for generating wind power with large turbines. Class 4 and above are considered good resources. Particular locations in the Class 3 areas could have higher wind power class values at 80 meters than shown on the 50 meter map because of possible high wind shear. Given the advances in technology, a number of locations in the Class 3 areas may suitable for utility-scale wind development."
Take a look at the map. 95% of North Dakota is Class 3 or above; more than 50% of the state's land mass is a Class 4 wind resource or above, at just 160 feet.
You must be really desperate to keep good information out of people's hands.
David