Project to more than double Nebraska wind generation

Ground was broken last week near Bloomfield, Nebraska, for the state’s first community-based wind project. The Elkhorn Ridge Wind Facility is to have 27 wind turbines and is expected to generate enough electricity to power 25,000 homes. The facility is the first project developed using provisions of a state law passed by the Nebraska Unicameral last year allowing the state’s publicly-owned utilities to purchase electricity generated by community-based wind partnerships, according to Governor Heineman.

Public entities aren’t eligible for federal wind power incentives. The state law makes wind power projects more economically feasible, said the governor. When it begins operating, the 80-megawatt facility near Bloomfield will more than double wind generation in Nebraska. Another project planned for Knox County next year will add another 42 megawatts of power generation capacity. The Nebraska Energy Office says current wind energy production in Nebraska is 73 megawatts.