Wind power in Missouri has an installed capacity of 959 MW from 499 turbines, as of 2016. This provided 1.29% of the state's electricity production.

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

's total wind generation potential is estimated to be 340 GW.

Installed capacity

As of 2016, Missouri had 959 MW of installed capacity, all installed in the north-west corner of the state. At least six wind farms were developed by

Wind Capital Group Wind Capital Group was a wind power developer founded in 2005 by Missouri native Tom Carnahan. Developed wind farms Blue Grass Ridge Wind Farm On January 31, 2006, Wind Capital Group announced the planned construction of Blue Grass Ridge Wi ...

between 2006 and 2009. As of 2017, the largest wind farm in the state came online, the 300 MW Rock Creek Wind Farm in Atchison County. Northwest Missouri is considered the windiest portion of the state and clips the windiest portion of the country which is known as

Tornado Alley Tornado Alley is a loosely defined area of the central United States where tornadoes are most frequent. The term was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to study severe weather in areas of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, So ...

. Source:

Transmission capacity

There have been several attempts at getting regulatory approval of

transmission lines In electrical engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable or other structure designed to conduct electromagnetic waves in a contained manner. The term applies when the conductors are long enough that the wave nature of the transmis ...

to carry wind power, either to the load centers of Missouri, or through Missouri, from major wind power producers in the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

states to load centers further east.

Completed

*The Midwest Transmission Project is a 180-mile 345-kV transmission line which became active in 2017. It connects the

Omaha Public Power District Omaha Public Power District, or OPPD, is a public electric utility in the state of Nebraska. It is a publicly owned electric utility in the United States, serving more than 855,000 people in Omaha and 13 surrounding counties in southeast Nebrask ...

(at its

Nebraska City, Nebraska Nebraska City is a city in Nebraska, and the county seat of, Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,289. The Nebraska State Legislature has credited Nebraska City as being the oldest incorporated ...

substation with the

Kansas City Power & Light Kansas City Power and Light Company was an electric utility company serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Plains Energy of which it was the biggest component. The company traces its roots to No ...

substation at

Sibley, Missouri Sibley is a village in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 357 at the 2010 census. It is known as the home of Fort Osage National Historic Landmark. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. History Sibley was plat ...

and has one major substation in

Maryville, Missouri Maryville is a city and county seat of Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. Located in the "Missouri Point" region, As of the 2020 census, the city population was 10,633. Maryville is home to Northwest Missouri State University and Northwes ...

. The line was not specifically designed to supplement the wind grid but FAQ notes it "will create opportunities for existing and new future wind energy to access to the regional transmission system." It is a priority project of the

Southwest Power Pool Southwest Power Pool (SPP) manages the electric grid and wholesale power market for the central United States. As a regional transmission organization, the nonprofit corporation is mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure ...

. * The Mark Twain Transmission Project was proposed by

Ameren Ameren Corporation is an American power company created December 31, 1997, by the merger of St. Louis, Missouri's Union Electric Company (formerly NYSE: UEP) and the neighboring Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPSCO Inc. holding, form ...

to connect

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

Kirksville Kirksville is the county seat and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri. Located in Benton Township, Adair County, Missouri, Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirksville is home to ...

and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. Approval was given for construction by each of the counties the transmission lines passed through, and the line was energized in January 2020.

Proposed

* The Grain Belt Express is a proposed 4 GW transmission line from western

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

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 ...

. The

Missouri Public Service Commission The Missouri Public Service Commission regulates investor-owned telephone, electric, natural gas, steam, water, and sewer utilities in the state of Missouri. Manufacturers and retail dealers who sell new and used manufactured homes and modular un ...

twice rejected the proposal, initially due to questions of the benefits of the project to the state, and later due to a lack of assent from all counties. The Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals ruled the commission erred in its second rejection, but sent the case to the

Missouri Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

Planned growth

In October 2017, the

Empire District Electric Company The Empire District Electric Company (railcar reporting mark: EDEX) is an investor-owned utility providing electric, natural gas (through its wholly owned subsidiary The Empire District Gas Company), and water service with approximately 215,000 c ...

proposed installing 500 MW of wind turbines in

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> ...

, Barton, Dade, and

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

counties. In May 2018,

has announced plans to construct a 175 turbine, 400 MW wind farm in Adair and

Schuyler Schuyler may refer to: Places United States * Schuyler County, Illinois * Schuyler County, Missouri * Schuyler, Nebraska, a city * Schuyler County, New York * Schuyler, New York, a town * Schuyler Island, Lake Champlain, New York * Schuyler C ...

counties. Construction is expected to being in 2019, with the project coming online in 2020. In February 2019, E.ON announced plans for a 150 MW wind farm northwest of

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

in rural Boone County.

References

External links

{{Energy in the USA