Wind power in Nebraska

2006 United States Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory NE wind resource map
Salt Valley, near Lincoln, 2006

Wind power in Nebraska remains largely untapped in comparison with its potential. In the Great Plains, with more than 47,000 farms and open skies it ranks near the top in the United States in its ability to generate energy from wind.[1] As of 2015, the state had not adopted a renewable portfolio standard.[2] Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is one of the state's largest purchasers of wind energy.[3]

In 2016, Nebraska had 1,335 MW of installed wind power generation capacity, producing 10.1% of the electricity generated in-state.[4] This increased to a capacity of 2,142 MW and a 19.92% of generation in 2019.[5]

Wind for Schools

An initiative of the Department of Energy, the Wind for Schools program supported the construction of small scale wind turbines at schools throughout state to encourages the incorporation of renewable energy education into the science curriculum. In Nebraska, wind turbines were installed at twenty-five K-12 schools, four community colleges and the Wind Applications Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.[6] Locations include various elementary and high schools, and community colleges including those Bancroft, Bloomfield, Cedar Rapids, Crawford, Creighton, Diller-Odell High School, Elkhorn Valley, Hastings, Hayes Center, Hyannis, Logan View, Loup City, Merdian-Daykin, Mullen, Norfolk, Norris,[7] Oshkosh, Papillion-LaVista South High School, Pleasanton, Superior, West Holt and Southeast Community College,[8][9]

Utility installations

Main article: List of power stations in Nebraska § Wind

Nebraska's first utility-scale wind project with two 750 kW Zond wind turbines came on-line in 1998 west of Springview and operated until 2007.[10]

Site[10] Location Coordinates Commissioned Size (MW) Turbines:
number, type and model		 Notes
OPPD/Valmont Industries Douglas, Otoe County 40°35′35″N 96°23′14″W / 40.593056°N 96.387222°W / 40.593056; -96.387222 2001 0.7 2 Vestas V47 Valmont prototype[11] Omaha Public Power District
Kimball Wind Project near Kimball, Kimball County 2002 30 MEAN[12]
Ainsworth Wind Energy near Ainsworth, Brown 2005 59.4 Vestas V82 Renewable Energy Systems[13]
Elkhorn Ridge Wind Farm Knox 2009 81.0 Vestas V90-3.0
Flat Water Wind Farm near Humboldt, Richardson 2010 60.0 GE 1.5 Renewable Energy Systems[14]
Laredo Ridge Wind Farm Petersburg, Boone 2010 80.0 GE 1.5 xle
Springview II near Springview, Keya Paha 2011 3.0 Vensys 77 direct-drive turbine
TPE Petersburg Wind Farm near Petersburg, Boone 2011 40.5 GE1.5 xle-ess
Broken Bow Wind Farm 1 Broken Bow, Custer 41°24′00″N 99°34′24″W / 41.400029°N 99.573412°W / 41.400029; -99.573412 2012 80.0 GE 1.5sle
Broken Bow Wind Farm 2 Broken Bow, Custer 2012 80.0 50 GE Energy 1.5sle Sempra & Con Ed[15]
Crofton Bluffs Wind Farm Crofton, Knox 2012 42.0 Vestas V90 [16]
Steele Flats Wind Farm Steele City and Odell
Jefferson & Gage		 2014 75.0
Prairie Breeze Wind Farm Antelope Boone, & Madison 2014 200.6 Invenergy[17]
Prairie Breeze II, III Antelope and Boone Counties 2015 109.2 Invenergy[18]
Grande Prairie Wind Farm O'Neill, Holt 42°36′29″N 98°25′42″W / 42.608056°N 98.428333°W / 42.608056; -98.428333 2016 400 200 Vestas V110-2.0 BHE Renewables[19][18]
Cottonwood Wind Webster 40°14′25″N 98°24′21″W / 40.240168°N 98.405956°W / 40.240168; -98.405956 2017 90 Siemans VS 2.3 [20][21]
Kimball Wind Farm Kimball 2018 30 GE [22][23][24]
Upstream 2018 202 GE [25]
Rattlesnake Creek Dixon 2018 318 Nordex [25]
Seward Wind Project Seward , 40°53′43″N 97°11′43″W / 40.895297°N 97.195383°W / 40.895297; -97.195383 2018 1.7 GE 1.7 MW Bluestem Energy Solutions [26]

Statistics

Nebraska Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh)
Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2002 11 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2003 40 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 4
2004 36 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
2005 98 1 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 23 27 26
2006 260 28 21 23 25 22 16 19 18 18 22 23 25
2007 217 31 15 22 18 17 17 15 12 14 18 20 18
2008 214 22 18 18 23 18 12 14 14 13 14 20 28
2009 382 24 17 39 43 39 19 21 31 36 39 41 33
2010 421 36 28 41 42 39 24 28 30 30 36 38 49
2011 1,050 60 96 90 101 102 85 63 52 59 96 124 122
2012 1,283 132 105 115 104 104 102 82 84 80 113 120 142
2013 1,800 152 143 159 157 156 117 101 107 150 169 210 179
2014 2,738 225 169 211 223 225 200 184 126 226 281 375 293
2015 3,179 329 283 284 282 261 187 169 215 271 269 316 313
2016 3,800 310 308 344 387 263 260 215 209 294 336 336 538
2017 5,085 434 466 491 464 433 374 285 241 396 511 460 530
2018 5,549 562 461 523 487 391 468 305 355 466 464 461 606
2019 7,211 524 490 668 686 575 480 488 411 645 769 749 726
2020 9,115 724 763 737 713 617 791 623 740 805 826 887 889
2021 9,719 759 595 946 962 817 618 564 718 772 857 998 1,113
2022 12,545 1,090 1,077 1,293 1,264 943 846 727 738 883 1,045 1,397 1,242
2023 3,538 1,053 1,263 1,222
Source:[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ "NRDC: Renewable Energy in Nebraska". nrdc.org. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  2. ^ "State Renewable Portfolio Standards and Goals". National Association of State Legislatures. February 19, 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  3. ^ OPPD Quick Facts, 2014
  4. ^ "Nebraska Wind Energy" (PDF). U.S. Wind Energy State Facts. American Wind Energy Association. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  5. ^ Wind Energy in Nebraska
  6. ^ Algis Laukaitis - Lincoln Journal Star. "Wind for Schools program ends, but learning continues". JournalStar.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Wind turbine makes its west campus debut". norris160.org. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  8. ^ "Nebraska Schools". caesenergy.org. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  9. ^ "WINDExchange: Nebraska Wind for Schools Project Surpasses Original Goal: A Wind Powering America Success Story". energy.gov. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Nebraska Wind Farms". Kansas Energy Information. 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Valmont demonstrates innovative wind energy structure". power-eng.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  12. ^ "NMPP Energy™ - Kimball Wind Project Map of Participants". nmppenergy.org. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  13. ^ Administrator. "RES Americas". res-americas.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  14. ^ Administrator. "RES Americas". res-americas.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  15. ^ "Broken Bow II - Energy Solutions - Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, LLC". semprausgp.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  16. ^ "Crofton Bluffs wind farm". thewindpower.net. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  17. ^ "Invenergy LLC > Projects by Country > United States > Prairie Breeze". invenergyllc.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  18. ^ a b Nebraska's Wind Energy
  19. ^ Mortensen Construction
  20. ^ "Wind Turbines Going Up in Webster County". Hastings Tribune. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  21. ^ AWEA Fourth Quarter 2017 Market Report Public Version
  22. ^ "Kimball Wind Facility Goes Online". NMPP Energy. August 2, 2018. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  23. ^ Mooney, Kevin (March 6, 2017). "Larger Kimball wind project to replace existing one". KNEB. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  24. ^ Lillian, Betsy (2018-07-31). "GE-Powered Kimball Wind Project Begins Operations In Nebraska". North American Windpower. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  25. ^ a b AWEA Fourth Quarter 2018 Market Report Public Version
  26. ^ Bluestem Energy Solutions
  27. ^ WINDExchange: U.S. Installed and Potential Wind Power Capacity and Generation
  28. ^ a b "Electricity Data Browser". U.S. Department of Energy. March 28, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2021.