Meadow Lake Wind Farm

Meadow Lake Wind Farm

Location of Meadow Lake Wind Farm in Indiana
Country United States
Location Chalmers, Indiana
Coordinates 40°36′4″N 86°51′57″W / 40.60111°N 86.86583°W / 40.60111; -86.86583Coordinates: 40°36′4″N 86°51′57″W / 40.60111°N 86.86583°W / 40.60111; -86.86583
Status Phases I to IV operating; phases V and VI proposed
Owner(s) EDP Renewables North America
Power generation
Units operational various types
Nameplate capacity 500 MW

The 500.85 MW Meadow Lake Wind Farm is a wind farm near Brookston and Chalmers, Indiana, spreading over portions of White, Jasper, and Benton Counties in Indiana, owned and operated by EDP Renewables North America.[1] The wind farm currently has four operational phases, with 303 turbines. There are tentative plans to develop additional phases of the Meadow Lake Wind Farm.[2] The farm can be seen by travelers prominently on both sides of Interstate 65, which runs through the area.

Phase I

Phase I consists of 121 Vestas V82 Turbines [3]1.65 MW wind turbines, for a total nameplate capacity of 199.65 MW.[4] Groundbreaking ceremonies occurred on April 14, 2009.[5] Phase I became operational in October, 2009.[6]

Horizon built a substation next to an existing AEP substation which was already within the wind farm site area. This allowed the wind farm to connect to the power grid without the need to build lengthy new transmission line at a cost of $1 million per mile.[1]

Phase II

Meadow Lake II Wind Farm has an installed capacity of 99 MW – enough to power approximately 27,000 average Indiana homes with clean energy each year. The wind farm, which consists of 66 Acciona AWs 1.5 MW turbines, achieved commercial operation in June 2010.[4]

Phase III

Meadow Lake III Wind Farm has an installed capacity of 103.5 MW – enough to power approximately 28,000 average Indiana homes with clean energy each year. The wind farm, which consists of 69 GE sle 1.5 MW turbines, achieved commercial operation in October 2010.[4]

Phase IV

Meadow Lake IV Wind Farm has an installed capacity of 98.7 MW – enough to power approximately 27,000 average Indiana homes with clean energy each year. The wind farm, which achieved commercial operation in October 2010, consists of 47 Suzlon S88 2.1 MW turbines.[4]

Phases V and VI

Future phases will have capacities between about 100 MW and 200 MW each.[6][7][8]

Environmental impact

At the planned nameplate capacity of 1000 MW, EDP Renewables North America claims that Meadow Lake would be one of the largest wind farms in the world. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that such facilities would generate enough electricity to power about 250,000 homes,[5] annually saving 1,684 million gallons of water and eliminating 3.1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.[9] Horizon further estimates that Phases I and II should eliminate just under one million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.[6]

Phase I spreads over 26,000 acres (110 km2) a ten by six mile area since large wind turbines must be spaced at least 5 to 10 rotor diameters apart to avoid wind shadowing. Most of the land between turbines remains productive farmland; only about 250 acres (1.0 km2) of farmland have been taken out of production by the 121 turbines.[1]

Future expansion

In early 2010, a EDP Renewables representative and local renewable energy advocates scouted the Meadow Lake project area for a location to build a visitor center. One possibility was an unused building near the intersection of I-65 and US-231 (40°40′04″N 87°02′27″W / 40.667692°N 87.04073°W / 40.667692; -87.04073), near where a wind turbine will be installed within the next year.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Richards, Rick A. (2010-03-03). "Wind farms are changing Indiana's rural landscape". Farm World. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  2. ↑ http://meadowlakewindfarm.com/
  3. ↑ http://meadowlakewindfarm.com/
  4. 1 2 3 4 Horizon Wind Energy. "What we have done".
  5. 1 2 Showalter, Max (2009-04-15). "Groundbreaking held for ambitious White County wind farm". Lafeyette Journal & Courier. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  6. 1 2 3 Krizen, Julie (2009-10-23). "New wind farm operating in White County; Meadow Lake Wind Farm phase I complete". WLFI-TV. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  7. ↑ "Meadow Lake Wind Farm". White County Economic Development. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  8. ↑ "Meadow Lake Update" (PDF). Horizon Wind Energy. 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  9. ↑ Lantz, Eric; Tegen, Suzanne (May 2008). "Economic Benefits, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions Reductions, and Water Conservation Benefits from 1,000 Megawatts (MW) of New Wind Power in Indiana" (PDF, 503kB). EERE, NREL. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
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