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.
- Offshore wind: Wind turbines are erected in large bodies of water, usually on the continental shelf. Offshore wind turbines are larger and produce more energy than onshore wind turbines.
In Indiana, where are the wind turbines?
In Benton County, Indiana, the Fowler Ridge Wind Farm (FRWF) is located. It is one of the world’s largest onshore wind farms, covering 50,000 acres.
The construction of Fowler Ridge took place in four stages. The first three phases of the Indiana wind farm are jointly owned and operated by BP Alternative Energy North America and Dominion Resources, each with a 50% share in the project. The fourth phase, Amazon Wind Farm Fowler Ridge, is owned and operated by Pattern Energy Group.
The FRWF has a capacity of 750MW, which is enough to cover the electricity needs of 200,000 ordinary US houses. The wind farm may be seen from both sides of I-65 (IS-65).
In Fowler, Indiana, how many wind turbines are there?
BP Wind Energy Inc., based in Texas, has agreed to buy the remaining 50% of the Fowler Ridge 1 wind farm in Benton County from its partner, Dominion Energy, based in Virginia. Financial information was withheld.
The farm has 162 wind turbines with a total capacity of 300 megawatts. Fowler Ridge 1 is one of three interconnected farms totaling 42,000 acres and 355 wind turbines.
The facility is about 30 miles northwest of Lafayette, along Interstate 65.
“bpWE Chief Executive Officer Al Vickers remarked, “We are thrilled to announce this deal in the context of bp’s objective to become a net zero organization.” “We have the operational, trading, and financial capabilities to operate efficiently, extend asset life, and optimize wind energy value. This underlines our belief in renewable energy and the sector’s potential for future growth.
According to the business, the purchase will increase BP’s net wind generation capacity by more than 15%, reaching 1,076 MW of energy.
The Fowler Ridge complex is bpWE’s largest wind power plant in the United States.
The company owns a stake in a tenth onshore wind project in Hawaii and runs nine onshore wind assets in six states.
Subject to regulatory approval, the Fowler Ridge 1 transaction is scheduled to close before the end of the year.
In Randolph County, Indiana, how many wind turbines are there?
EDP Renewables spokesperson Blair Matocha said in an email that the business is investing $300 million to bring the project to the area, and that construction will begin in the autumn of 2019.
In a statement, Matocha stated, “EDP Renewables has received a tremendous amount of support in Randolph County.” “We chose the Headwaters II site because of this, as well as the good wind resource and excellent transmission access.”
Nearly 100 turbines already dot the Randolph County landscape as part of the company’s initial Headwaters development, which will run independently from the new project, which started up roughly four years ago.
The project was estimated to be worth $400 million, and the firm stated at the time that it intended to invest more in the area, although no plans had been formalized. Since then, the corporation has looked into further possible ventures in Wayne, Rush, and Henry counties.
EDP Renewables worked closely with dozens of farmers around Randolph County during the early stages of the project to obtain agreements for them to install turbines on their land, allowing those who agreed to use their land to earn between $8,000 and $12,000 per turbine per year.
The business claimed that landowner payments, which are commonly used as a crucial incentive for residents to invest in and support renewable energy projects in rural regions, will be included in the next Headwaters II project.
In Benton County, Indiana, how many wind turbines are there?
INDIA, FOWLER
They are beacons for I-65 passengers, marking the midway point between Indianapolis and Chicago.
They are emblems of the future of renewable energy for conservationists. They are attractive, minimalist sculpture that rise from the cornfields like huge steel beanstalks, according to creative individuals. They are ever-present symbols of growth and economic development for the citizens of Benton County, which borders Tippecanoe County to the northwest.
They are a source of fascination for many: The 560 huge wind turbines that make up the Benton County wind farms are jaw-dropping engineering marvels that tower 300 feet above the ground and harness the wind’s force to generate nearly 1,000 megawatts of electricity (enough to power 300,000 homes).
They will come if you build it. And no one knows more about the turbines in Benton County than Harry Hoover. Since 2010, he’s been leading tours for the county’s office of economic development, and he believes he’s hosted over 6,000 tourists, ranging from casual visitors to die-hard gearheads, single sight-seers to larger groups and clubs.
“People have informed us that you’re the only one on Google who conducts wind farm tours,” adds Hoover, whose tours include a video presentation, a question-and-answer session, the opportunity to touch a turbine blade, and a journey out to a running turbine for an up-close view.
Hoover and his wife, Terry, who assists with tour coordination, welcomed around 50 seniors from the Bensenville and Wood Dale park districts in Illinois to a big multipurpose room in a county building in Fowler on a recent day.
Sue Gager, the Bensenville Park District’s active adult supervisor, assists in the planning of weekly social and educational outings that include visits to theaters, gardens, and historic houses.
Gager, who is always on the hunt for new educational experiences, wasn’t sure what to anticipate from the wind farm visit.
Gager recalls, “I’ve seen the blades on the back of a semi once.” ” They appear to be small toys in the distance. I was interested in learning more about it.
Hoover, who taught industrial arts and science at Benton Central High School for 35 years, has accumulated hours of home film of the gigantic turbines’ fabrication and installation since the project began in 2007.
A specialized 12-axle, 96-tire trailer hauling a 55-ton nacelle the size of a city bus through town; a 220-ton crawler maneuvering across a county lane on tracks that keep the machine from crushing the cement; and a technician installing spacers between power lines as he hangs off a hovering helicopter are among the highlights of his tour.
Hoover reeled off facts and figures on the wind farm project to the oohs and aaahs of his audience during his talk to Illinois senior groups. The foundation of a wind turbine, for example, is 10 feet deep and 60 feet broad, with 377 yards of concrete (or 33 truckloads) and 139 tons of rebar and mounting hardware. In Benton County, there are 54 miles of overhead utility lines, with each mile costing $1 million to install by helicopter. And the 138-foot turbine blade’s tip will be moving at 185 mph at 20 RPM.
Participants filed outside after his talk to see a turbine blade mounted next to the building, then boarded their motor coach for a quick ride to the base of an Earl Park turbine, where they disembarked, craned their necks, and snapped photos of the 150-foot turbine blades slowly rotating more than stories above them.
Dan Lancaste, a member of the Bensenville senior club, adds, “I’ve seen them travel down the highway.” ” I’m amazed at how large they are. I had no idea this was such a large undertaking.
“You never imagine something so enormous and large,” says Aria Dickey of the Wood Dale Park District. “It’s astonishing the size of these objects, the number of people involved, and the maintenance necessary.” Seeing anything up close is intriguing.
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.
Constructed by Germany-based E.ON Climate and Renewables (EC&R), the plant is located in 100,000 acres of land, primarily used for cotton farming, stretching into the three counties of Mitchell, Nolan and Scurry. Farmers who grow dryland cotton have leased the land.
In West Lafayette, Indiana, how many windmills are there?
The first phase. The first phase of the project, which has a nameplate capacity of 400 MW, comprises of 222 wind turbines, 182 Vestas V82-1.65 MW turbines, and 40 Clipper C-96 2.5 MW turbines.
Is Fowler, Indiana, the windiest city on the planet?
According to a new review of recent meteorological data from CoreLogic, a research and consulting business, Chicago isn’t even in the top 10 of the windiest U.S. cities, despite its reputation.
According to CoreLogic, Jackson, Miss., is the windiest city in the US, followed by Springfield, Mo., Boston, Cambridge, Mass., and Shreveport, La.
The cumulative force induced by all severe wind gusts of 60 mph or more for every wind occurrence dating back to 2006 in 293 U.S. cities with populations of 100,000 or more is calculated in the ranking.
“When it comes to natural hazards and the risk they offer, wind gets less attention than hurricanes, floods, or wildfires, which can inflict widespread destruction in a single occurrence,” said Lindene Patton, CoreLogic’s global head of hazard product development.
“However, wind-related damage is a substantial and persistent danger, accounting for nearly a third of all claims,” she noted. “Looking at wind activity over time helps uncover trends and provides more scientific evidence to determine insurance coverage, which protects homeowners better.”
This data differs from that of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which claims Dodge City, Kan., as the windiest city based on average wind speed rather than which places have the biggest wind gusts.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declined to comment on CoreLogic’s approach for acquiring wind speed data.
CoreLogic captured wind data at a more property-specific level than typical wind records, which rely on airport-based and private weather observation stations that record data only at one place, according to the company. Even cities that are near together, such as Boston and Cambridge, can be measured independently because the data is localized and geography-specific.
Reno had the maximum wind speed of 119 mph in the first half of 2015, while Jackson, Miss., had the most wind events with 14, according to CoreLogic.
According to CoreLogic’s research, Chicago is the 50th windiest city in the United States.