Third Missouri Wind Farm Announced

Oct. 20, 2006

The first commercial wind turbine in Missouri was erected near King City in November. When completed, the Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm will boast 27 Suzlon turbines, each capable of producint 2.1 megawatts of power Read about the Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm in Rural Missouri

Skepticism about wind energy in Missouri was blown away Friday when legislators toured construction of the state’s first wind farm and developers announced a third utility-scale wind farm will be built and operating in northwest Missouri by year-end 2007.

“For the longest time, this wind farm existed in my head, on the piles on my desk, as a file on my computer . . . and in the faces of the landowners, engineers and consultants,” said developer Tom Carnahan, president of Wind Capital Group.Today, it’s real due to the collaboration of Wind Capital Group, John Deere Wind Energy and Missouri’s rural electric cooperatives, he said.

“If anyone doubts wind power is real and going to happen, put that thought to rest today,” Carnahan said. “John Deere and Missouri’s electric cooperatives are transforming rural America again, and for the better.”

“We have the potential to make a difference,” said David Drescher, vice president of John Deere Wind Energy. “Wind projects develop the economic value in rural Missouri and take advantage of a renewable resource that’s free,” he said. “It makes good environmental and economic sense for the landowners and for energy independence.”

John Deere Wind Energy, a unit of Deere & Company, is providing debt and equity investment and co-development services for the three wind farms in northwest Missouri.

Praised for voluntarily becoming Missouri’s leader in renewable energy, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc., will purchase the electricity from the wind farms and distribute it through its network of regional and local rural electric cooperatives that serve more than 630,000 farms, homes and businesses in Missouri.

A turbine's massive rotors dwaft a man working underneath. The turbines in northwest Missouri will rise 300 feet in the air.

Missouri’s rural electric cooperatives are growing and need more energy — about 100 megawatts more each year, said O.B. Clark, president, Associated Electric Cooperative. “Wind energy is reliable and economical, and we need diverse energy resources,” he said.

As part of AECI’s three-pronged approach to meet cooperatives’ growing energy needs, the wind farms will complement a new gas plant and a new coal plant planned to ensure a reliable, economical power supply for more than 630,000 cooperative members in Missouri.

“This will happen,” Clark said. “The technology is proven. . . . It’s renewable, it’s affordable, it’s clean and this investment is staying in rural Missouri.”

About 100 legislative, state and cooperative officials attended the program and toured the Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm, where partially erected towers for 27 wind turbines can be seen along the ridgeline of the 7,000-acre project.

At turbine No. 17, guests watched as 140-foot fiberglass turbine blades were inserted into the turbine hub. Later this month, the largest crane in North America will arrive to finish erecting the towers and lift the blades and nacelles, which are the gearbox and generator housings that sit on the top of the towers. All 27 turbines are expected to be operational by year-end.

Tom Carnahan, head of the Wind Capital Group announced a third wind farm to be built in northwest Missouri. Power from the three projects will be marketed by Associated Electric Cooperative.

Construction on the second wind farm, the Cow Branch Wind Energy Project in Atchison County, will start next year with projected completion by the end of 2007. It will consist of 24 Suzlon S-88, 2.1-MW turbines.

The project announced Oct. 20 will be located near the town of Conception in Nodaway County. The $75 million project will consist of 24 Suzlon 2.1-MW turbines and be in service by year-end 2007.

About 20 Nodaway County landowners are involved in the Conception project, which will span more than 7,000 acres. Landowners will receive annual lease payments for hosting turbines, and the county will benefit from an expanded tax base and job creation.

Combined, the three wind farms could produce more than 150 MW. That’s enough power for about 45,000 homes.

Carnahan said more projects could be in the works. “This is not an impossible dream,” he said. “I’ve never seen an issue with this potential to unify people . . . to get people in business and government to work together.”

For more information, contact:
Jim McCarty, (573) 659-3402
jmccarty@amec.coop