Iowa Coop Honored After Speedy Completion of Wind Farms
Posted on Mar 20, 2012 in Financing, Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Iowa Coop Honored After Speedy Completion of Wind Farms
Estherville-based Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative has been honored by the U.S. Department of Energy as the 2011 Wind Cooperative of the Year after designing and building two wind farms in just 18 months. The coop built the wind farms near existing ethanol plants, which allowed it to use existing substation infrastructure and save approximately $5 million by not having to build a transmission-level connection to the grid. On days when the wind is blowing at 22 to 25 mph the wind farms can supply all of the plant’s power needs. To read more about the financing and design of the wind farms, click here.
