Meadow Lake Wind Farm is an 801.25

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

(MW)

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

near Brookston and

Chalmers, Indiana Chalmers is a town in Big Creek Township, White County in the U.S. state of Indiana. Its population was 508 at the 2010 census. History Chalmers dates back to the early 1850s. Land was donated by Gardner Mudge to the Chicago, Indianapolis an ...

, spreading over portions of

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

, and Benton Counties. It is owned and operated by

EDP Renewables North America EDP Renewables North America (former names: Zilkha Renewable Energy and Horizon Wind Energy) and its subsidiaries develop, construct, own, and operate wind farms and solar parks throughout North America. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, with 58 w ...

. The facility currently has six operational phases, with 414 turbines, and is a prominent feature on both sides of Interstate 65 in western

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Phase I

Phase I consisted of .65 MW

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...

s, for a total

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,

of 199.65 MW. Groundbreaking ceremonies occurred on April 14, 2009. Phase I became operational in October 2009. 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.

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. The wind farm, which consists of 66 Acciona AWs-1.5 MW turbines, achieved commercial operation in June 2010.

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. The wind farm, which consists of 69

GE Energy GE Power (formerly known as GE Energy) is an American energy technology company, owned by General Electric. Structure As of July 2019, GE Power is divided into the following divisions: * GE Gas Power (formerly Alstom Power Turbomachines), bas ...

SLE-1.5 MW turbines, achieved commercial operation in October 2010.

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. The wind farm, which achieved commercial operation in October 2010, consists of 47

Suzlon Suzlon Energy Limited (NSE:SUZLONEQ, BSE:532667) is an Indian multinational wind turbine manufacturer based in Pune, India. It was formerly ranked by MAKE as the world's fifth largest wind turbine supplier.Source: MAKE Report: Global Wind Turb ...

S88-2.1 MW turbines.

Phases V and VI

Meadow Lake V and VI have installed capacities of 100 MW and 200.4 MW, respectively. Phase V came fully online in 2018 and consists of 50

Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Un ...

V110-2.0 MW turbines. Phase VI came fully online in 2019 and consists of 61 turbines (12 Vestas V110-2.0 MW wind turbines and 49 Vestas V136-3.6 MW) that include some of the tallest and most powerful in the state.

Future expansion

In early 2010, an 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 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...

and US-231 (), near where a wind turbine will be installed within the next year.

Environmental impact

At a planned ultimate 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, annually saving 1,684 million gallons of water and eliminating 3.1 million tons of

carbon dioxide emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and la ...

. Horizon further estimates that Phases I and II should eliminate just under one million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Phase I spreads over 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 of farmland have been taken out of production by the 121 turbines.

Electricity production

(*) partial year of operation

References

External links

* {{Wind power in the United States Wind farms in Indiana Buildings and structures in Benton County, Indiana 2009 establishments in Indiana