S. DAKOTA GREEN LIGHTS BIG WIND

Permit granted for 37K-acre wind farm in SD
Wayne Ortman, June 15, 2010 (AP)

"A state permit was granted…for a 37,000-acre wind farm of up to 110 turbines to be built by Basin Electric Power Cooperative in southeast South Dakota.

"North Dakota-based Basin Electric said when completed, the PrairieWinds SD1 project would replace its PrairieWinds ND1 as the largest wind project owned and operated by an electric cooperative in the United States…Construction of the $363 million, 165-megawatt project will begin when federal permits are obtained…PrairieWinds ND1…has 77 turbines producing about 115 megawatts…"

click thru for the SD Wind Energy Association

"PrairieWinds SD1 is the second-largest wind farm in South Dakota that is either operating, under construction or has received a state permit…The largest is the 300-megawatt Buffalo Ridge project in Brookings and Deuel counties.

"PrairieWinds would encompass 37,000 acres in parts of Aurora, Jerauld and Brule counties north of White Lake. A 13-mile transmission line would be built to feed the electricity… into the electric grid…"

Setting in a turbine tower at PrairieWinds 1 (click to enlarge)

"Basin Electric said a nine-month construction timetable would require a peak of about 250 construction jobs. Ten permanent jobs paying a total of about $550,000 annually would be created once the project is operational."

[Commissioner Dusty Johnson:] "It's safe to say we're talking about several hundred thousand dollars a year in annual lease payments, which is pretty substantial…I would think those would have quite a positive impact on the economy of that area."