Since 2003, fifty wind farms have sprouted in Illinois, with more on the way, but not everyone is on board.
According to The (Bloomington) Pantagraph, which quoted the American Wind Energy Association, the state ranks sixth in the country with 2,778 active wind turbines. Four wind farms are anticipated to be built in McLean County in the near future.
According to the US Department of Energy’s Wind Vision Scenario, Illinois could produce enough wind energy by 2030 to power the equivalent of 7.2 million ordinary U.S. homes.
While proponents praise employment creation and the alternative energy source, critics contend that they don’t generate as much electricity over time as traditional power plants, are an eyesore, and have an impact on property values. Some environmentalists are concerned about the impact on animals, particularly bats.
Wind projects are subject to stricter regulations in some counties, requiring a lengthy approval procedure that includes public hearings.
The first wind farm in Illinois was built near Mendota in 2003. According to the newspaper, turbines spun 6.8% of Illinois’ generated electricity last year.
Floyd Morefield of rural Bloomington, who owns two wind turbines, believes opponents are underestimating the economic benefits.
In Illinois, where are the wind turbines?
The Twin Groves Wind Farm is located in McLean County, Illinois, near the villages of Arrowsmith, Saybrook, and Ellsworth. It has 240 operational wind turbines. Each wind turbine has three 120-foot-long (39-meter) blades and is 280 feet (80 meters) tall. Between 2007 and February 2008, the wind farm was built. Upon completed, Twin Groves was the largest utility-scale wind farm east of the Mississippi River.
Where in the United States is the largest wind farm?
The Roscoe Wind Farm (RWF) is the world’s largest onshore wind farm. It lies 45 miles south-west of Abilene, Texas, in the United States. It is one of the world’s largest wind farms, owned by RWE.
RWF’s installed capacity of 781.5MW surpasses that of the previously largest Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center (735.5MW), which is located southwest of Abilene in Taylor and Nolan counties.
The plant, which was built by E.ON Climate and Renewables (EC&R) of Germany, is spread across 100,000 acres of land largely utilized for cotton production in Mitchell, Nolan, and Scurry counties. Farmers who grow dryland cotton have leased the land.
Why is it that Iowa has so many windmills?
In addition to federal programs, Iowa offers a one-cent-per-kilowatt-hour tax credit to stimulate the development of renewable energy sources. In addition, property tax discounts are available for generation equipment and buildings, and sales tax exemptions are available for generation equipment.
Iowa’s wind power development began in 1983, when a state law was passed requiring investor-owned utilities to purchase a total of 105 MW of wind-generated electricity, one of the earliest renewable electricity portfolio standards. This assured those who were constructing wind power plants that there would be a market for the electricity they generated.
What percentage of Illinois’ electricity is generated by wind?
Biofuels are Illinois’ principal renewable energy product. With an annual production capacity of 1.8 billion gallons of ethanol and 168 million gallons of biodiesel, the state is a significant producer of both ethanol and biodiesel. 109,110,111 Illinois is a large maize and soybean producer, thanks to its fertile prairie soil. 112 Maize is used as a feedstock in the state’s 14 ethanol plants, and the state’s 5 biodiesel plants employ a variety of feedstocks, including soy and corn oils. 113,114 After Iowa and Nebraska, Iowa is the third-largest ethanol producer in the US, and Nebraska is the eighth-largest ethanol consumer. 115,116 After Texas and California, the state is the fourth-largest biodiesel producer in the country and the third-largest biodiesel consumer. 117,118,119
Renewable energy, which includes small-scale, customer-sited solar generation, will generate 11% of Illinois’ electricity in 2020, nearly tripling the amount created in 2010.
120 Wind is the state’s principal renewable energy source for generating electricity. Wind generated 94 percent of Illinois’ renewable energy generation in 2020, and the state ranked sixth in the nation in utility-scale (1 megawatt or higher) wind capacity, with over 6,300 megawatts online. 121 Wind power potential is greater in Illinois, particularly in northwest and central Illinois. A total of 1,100 megawatts of wind power capacity is either being built or being developed. 122,123
Solar, biomass, and hydropower account for less than 1% of the state’s total renewable energy.
124 Small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) consumption in 2020 will be about eight times higher than it was in 2017. In 2020, customer-sited, small-scale generation, largely from rooftop solar panels, accounted for more than four-fifths of the state’s solar generation. 125,126,127 The governor signed the Future Energy Jobs Act into law in 2016, which boosted community solar adoption by providing renewable energy credits (RECs) and other incentives. 128,129 Community solar refers to solar facilities that are typically smaller than five megawatts in size and are shared by a community, with each member receiving a credit for their part of the electricity generated. 130 All of the state’s biomass electricity generation is fueled by waste and methane gas from municipal landfills. 131,132 The Illinois River and the Rock River are two of the state’s many rivers, but the state’s largely flat geography restricts hydropower potential. 133
All investor-owned electric utilities and alternative retail power suppliers in Illinois are required to obtain growing percentage of their retail sales from renewable-sourced generation under the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS). Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives are exempt from the RPS. By 2025, the RPS demands that renewable sources account for 25% of retail power sales, with specific percentages for wind, solar PV, and customer-sited generation. 134 Illinois also established an energy efficiency portfolio standard in 2007, mandating investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities, as well as retail energy suppliers, to achieve long-term reductions in electricity use through efficiency measures. 135,136
Is it true that Chicago has wind turbines?
Currently, the United States has only one offshore wind farmthe five-turbine Deepwater Wind project in Rhode Island, and Massachusetts plans to build an 84-turbine farm off Martha’s Vineyard by 2022. From coastal residents who think the turbines are a nuisance to fisherman who fear they will disturb marine life, offshore wind farms have received opposition on aesthetic, environmental, and commercial grounds.
However, there is a location in Chicago that would be ideal for a wind farm and may benefit much from the financial investment. The 440-acre U.S. Steel South Works facility is visible in the background. The steel mill closed in 1992, and various developers have attempted and failed to replace it with a housing and shopping development. Due to worries over residual soil pollution, Emerald Development scrapped a plan to build 20,000 dwelling units there last year.
The historic lakefront Bethlehem Steel factory in Lackawant to, New York, just west of Buffalo, is now home to Steel Winds, a system of wind turbines that capture winds off Lake Erie. Each of the 14 turbines produces 2.5 kilowatts per day, which is enough to power 1,000 Lackawant to dwellings. Every year, Steel Winds pays the city $20,000 per turbine.
Granted, the turbines don’t generate nearly as much revenue as the mill, which provided funding for 75% of the city’s budget. However, they’re more profitable than a brownfield sitting idle, and they’ve become a symbol of Buffalo, frequently appearing on television during Bills football broadcasts.
South Works, like Steel Winds, is situated on the shore of a Great Lake. There’s a chance that a wind farm may bring construction jobs and tax income to South Chicago. It may also provide a new use for an unusedand possibly useless piece of land while also providing sustainable energy for Illinois. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Who wouldn’t want to live near the South Works wind farm? President Donald Trump said lately that wind turbine noise causes cancer. There is no scientific proof for this; most likely, Trump sees renewable energy as a threat to the fading coal industry that he is attempting to prop up in order to win Pennsylvania a second time, therefore he will say anything is politically expedient.
Illinois has a coal sector as well, but we’re also on the cutting edge of renewable energy. Rep. Will Davis, D-Hazel Crest, introduced the “Path to 100 Act” this year, which would commit the state to using 40 percent renewable energy by 2030 and “rive procurement of an estimated 6,000 MW of new utility scale solar, 6,500 MW of new wind power, and 7,500 MW of new residential, commercial, and community scale solar.” And the wind industry has already expressed its support for the legislation.
Coal from southern Illinois has fueled this state for the most of its history. Winds that blow continuously across central Illinois’ plains and northern Illinois’ lake will increasingly power it in the future.
Why are there so many wind turbines in Indiana?
Experts say Indiana is one of the greatest areas in the country for wind turbine construction, thanks to strong winds from Lake Michigan and a strategic location between two energy networks. As a result, Indiana’s manufacturing industry is expanding.
According to a survey released last year by the American Wind Energy Association, Indiana’s wind power generation climbed by 14% between 2018 and 2019, making it the seventh-fastest growing state in the US. Only 11 other states currently produce more wind energy than Indiana.
Wind power is also growing in popularity around the country. According to the US Department of Energy, by 2050, wind could sustain over 600,000 employment while saving customers billions of dollars. Currently, wind generates around 8% of the nation’s electricity.
However, as the industry grows, so do the questions. IndyStar readers have asked us, “How precisely does a wind turbine work?” What is the maximum amount of energy it can generate? Is it even a dependable source of energy?
We spoke with professionals to address your questions about wind power for this edition of the Scrub Hub. Continue reading to find out what they said.
In Indiana, how many wind turbines are there?
Since 2006, wind energy has been a part of Indiana’s fuel mix, providing manufacturing investment opportunities and a diverse power portfolio.
Wind energy is the process of generating power from wind or air flows in the earth’s atmosphere. Wind turbines take kinetic energy from the wind and convert it into electricity.
HOW DOES WIND GENERATE ELECTRICITY?
When wind passes through a wind turbine, the blades collect the kinetic energy of the wind and rotate, converting it to mechanical energy. This revolution accelerates the rotation by a factor of 100 by turning an internal shaft attached to a gearbox. Diversion facilities are generators that create energy in Indiana.
Did You Know?
- Indiana is home to the fourth largest wind farm in the United States, with over 2,300 MW of capacity.
- With 1,264 wind turbines, Indiana is ranked 12th in the United States.
- With 16 projects in operation, wind generated 6% of Indiana’s electricity in 2019.
- Over 1,100 MW of new wind projects are in the planning stages or are already operational.
WHAT TYPE OF WIND FACILITIES EXIST?
Wind energy can be divided into three categories:
- Utility-scale wind turbines range in size from 100 kilowatts to several megawatts, with electricity transported across the grid via MISO or PJM before being provided to end users by electric utilities.
- Single tiny wind turbines under 100 kilowatts are used to directly power a home, farm, or small company and are not connected to the grid in distributed or “small” wind.
- Wind turbines are placed in huge bodies of water, usually on the continental shelf, for offshore wind. Offshore wind turbines are larger and produce more energy than onshore wind turbines.