USA - Wind farm with 100 turbines ready to go

MidAmerican Energy now has 100 more turbines spinning in northern Iowa at a wind generation facility that officials say will help ease the utility’s natural gas use at a time when that fuel’s price is rising. The utility is scheduled to hold a dedication ceremony in Blairsburg this morning. Thursday for the wind farm, which was completed last week. Like all utilities, Mid-American generates electricity from a number of sources. Most comes from coal. At times of peak energy demand, MidAmerican typically turns to natural gas. The additional wind generation means MidAmerican will use less of the other fuels, said MidAmerican President Todd Raba.

“The more wind you have, the less gas you’re going to use,” he said. Wind generation is more expensive at first, with construction and building costs. But after the turbines are erected, wind is much cheaper than coal or natural gas. Unlike the fluctuating prices for coal and natural gas, wind is stable because it’s free, Raba said. Along with a wind facility in northwest Iowa completed in December, MidAmerican now owns and operates 360 megawatts of wind generation, enough to power about 100,000 homes. The generation helps Iowa rank third in the nation behind California and Texas in wind generation capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

A federal tax credit for wind projects that was renewed this summer in an energy bill makes wind facilities comparable in construction cost with other generation sources, Raba said. Wind is a small portion of Mid-American’s energy portfolio. All renewable energy makes up less than 9 percent of the utility’s energy generation. Most of that is wind. With the tax credit renewed and energy prices rising, the wind association expects more wind generation to start in Iowa and across the country. About 2,500 megawatts are expected to come online in 2005. “This year is going to be a record year,” spokeswoman Christine Real de Azua said. MidAmerican is building another 50 megawatts of wind generation at the two wind sites. Raba expects that $62 million expansion to be finished in December.