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DES MOINES, Iowa, US, May 03, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
A U.S. utility will install 545 MW of new
windfarms in Iowa, increasing its wind capacity from its current 361
MW of turbines in the state.
MidAmerican Energy, which claims to have the largest installed
wind capacity of all rate-regulated utilities in the country, has
received approval from the Iowa Utilities Board to install up to 545
MW of additional wind-powered generation. The size, cost and
locations of the windfarms have not been finalized, but power rates
will remain at current levels until at least 2010.
The first phase of the expansion will be built in Carroll and
Crawford counties in west-central Iowa and is scheduled to be
completed in 2006. This 99-megawatt project, being constructed by
Invenergy Wind Development Iowa LLC, will utilize 66 GE Energy
1.5-megawatt wind turbines.
MidAmerican currently owns and operates 360.5 MW of wind facilities
in northwest and north-central Iowa, with sufficient output for
100,000 homes. The new projects will use improved turbine technology
and generate power for 200,000 more customers, while displacing the
annual emission of 1.6 megatonne of carbon dioxide.
The utility’s existing 361 MW of wind energy avoid 805,000 tons of
CO2 per year.
“This project will bring additional renewable energy to Iowans while
keeping electric rates stable for our customers,” says president
Todd Raba. “We are again adding renewable energy to our diversified
generation portfolio in a way that makes sense for our customers,
our company and the state.”
MidAmerican built a 311 MW windfarm in response to a challenge made
in 2003 by Iowa governor Tom Vilsack to install 1,000 MW of green
power by 2010. At that time, Vilsack’s challenge would have required
the addition of 500 MW of renewables.
If the entire 545 MW of wind power were installed by the end of
2007, MidAmerican would own or have under contract more than 1,000
MW of wind, biomass and hydroelectric energy in Iowa. The American
Wind Energy Association says Iowa currently has 830 MW of wind
capacity, ranking third behind California and Texas in the output
from wind turbines.
“MidAmerican has stepped forward as one of the real leaders within
the electric utility industry related to wind energy, and the state
of Iowa will be reaping a wide range of benefits as a result:
cleaner air, new jobs, growing revenue for farmers and local
governments, and stable electric rates for consumers,” says Randall
Swisher of AWEA.
“MidAmerican is investing in our state’s energy future and in the
lives of our communities and residents with the creation of
construction jobs, not only for this project, but also with the $1.5
billion investment the company has in its other new electric
generation projects in Council Bluffs, Des Moines and northwest and
north central Iowa,”says Mary Lawyer of the Iowa Department of
Economic Development. “Projects like this are key drivers in
economic development for our state.”
MidAmerican has also reached agreement with the Iowa Farmers Union
to facilitate the sale of wind power from small community-based
projects. Under the terms of the agreement, the utility will
purchase 40 MW from community projects that are less than 2.5 MW in
size.
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