Twin Groves Wind Farm

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Twin Groves Wind Farm
File:Twin Groves Wind Farm DSC03252.JPG
Twin Groves Wind Farm from McLean County Route 21
Twin Groves Wind Farm is located in Illinois
Twin Groves Wind Farm
Location of Twin Groves Wind Farm in Illinois
Country United States
Location McLean County, Illinois, Illinois
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Construction cost $700 million
Owner(s) Horizon Wind Energy
Operator(s) Horizon Wind Energy
Wind farm
Site area 22,000 acres (8,903.1 ha)
Hub height 270 ft
Power generation
Units operational 240 Vestas 1.65 MW
Nameplate capacity 398 MW
Annual generation 1.3 TWh
File:Twin Groves Wind Farm DSC03242.JPG
Twin Groves Wind Farm from McLean County Route 21

Twin Groves Wind Farm is a wind farm in the U.S. state of Illinois, near the villages of Arrowsmith, Saybrook, and Ellsworth in McLean County. It consists of 240 operating wind turbines.[1] Each wind turbine stands 270 ft (65.23 m) tall and has three 85-foot-long (35.91 m) blades. The wind farm was constructed from 2007 to February 2008. Twin Groves was the largest utility-scale wind farm east of the Mississippi River upon completion.[2][3]

Description

The Twin Groves Wind Farm lies in eastern McLean County just east of Bloomington on Illinois State Route 9. The wind farm consists of 240 Vestas 1.65 MW wind turbines and is owned and operated by Horizon Wind Energy.[1] Total cost of Twin Groves was approximately $700 million.[4] The towers are spread out over 22,000 acres (8,900 ha) of McLean County,[1] near the villages of Arrowsmith, Ellsworth, and Saybrook. The current total capacity at Twin Groves Wind Farm is 398 megawatts.[1] The site produces enough power to power about 120,000 homes, or approximately 1.3 billion kilowatt hours annually.[5][6]

Revenue

Between 150–200 acres (60.7–80.9 ha), or 1%, of the total 22,000 acres will be taken up by the turbines.[5][7] Royalties are paid to owners of the land at $5,000 per wind turbine.[2][7] The wind farm pays property taxes, of which Ridgeview School District will start collecting $300,000 a year,[7] while Tri-Valley School District will collect between $200,000-$250,000 a year.[7]

Future

With 240 wind turbines already generating power, Horizon Wind Energy is considering an additional 170 wind turbines, to bring the total number of turbines to 410.[7][8] Test wind turbines are being placed in eastern McLean County to determine if additional wind turbines can be supported.[7] If constructed, power capacity estimates for the wind farm increase from 398 megawatts to 680 megawatts.[8]

See also

References

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  2. 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Later in 2008, the Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in neighboring Indiana surpassed Twin Groves with 400 MW of installed nameplate capacity.
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  5. 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links