The Benton County Wind Farm (also called Goodland I) consists of 87 model sl/sle Gen4 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines near

Earl Park, Indiana Earl Park is a town in Richland Township, Benton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 348 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Earl Park was laid out July 31, 1872, by Adam ...

in northern

Benton County, Indiana Benton County is located in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Indiana, along the border with Illinois. As of 2010, the county's population was 8,854. It contains six incorporated towns as well as several small unincorporated settlements; ...

. The farm's

nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station,

is 130.5 MW. The farm was developed by Orion Energy Group, LLC (Oakland, CA) and Vision Energy, LLC (Cincinnati, OH) beginning in 2003. It began commercial operation in April 2008. At the time of its construction, it was Indiana's only commercial-scale wind farm. Duke Energy purchases electricity from the wind farm and sells it to customers through its GoGreen program. In August 2006, Duke Energy Indiana finalized its agreement to buy the output of 54 of the wind farm's 87 wind turbines for 20 years. This was the first significant long-term wind

power purchase agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...

in Indiana. The remaining 33 wind turbines in the wind farm sell their electricity to Duke and

Vectren Vectren Corporation was a Fortune 1000 energy holding company headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. Through its utility subsidiaries (Vectren North, Vectren South, and Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio), the company distributed natural gas to appr ...

. The owner of the project is Benton County Wind Farm LLC, which is owned by subsidiaries of Orion Energy Group LLC and other investors. The project is managed by Orion Energy Group LLC.
, accessdate=2011-11-10 In early 2009, the nearby Fowler Ridge Wind Farm was Indiana's second wind farm to open, and became Indiana's largest wind farm. Other wind farms developed by Orion and Vision include the Camp Grove Wind Farm and the Fowler Ridge Wind Farm.

References

{{Generating Stations in Indiana Buildings and structures in Benton County, Indiana Wind farms in Indiana Energy infrastructure completed in 2008

See also

References