Wind power in Nebraska


Wind power in Nebraska remains largely untapped in comparison with its potential. In the Great Plains, with more than 47,000 farms and open skies it ranks near the top in the United States in its ability to generate energy from wind. As of 2015, the state had not adopted a renewable portfolio standard. Omaha Public Power District is one of the state's largest purchasers of wind energy.
In 2016, Nebraska had 1,335 MW of installed wind power generation capacity, producing 10.1% of the electricity generated in-state. This increased to a capacity of 2,142 MW and a 19.92% of generation in 2019.

Wind for Schools

An initiative of the Department of Energy, the Wind for Schools program supported the construction of small scale wind turbines at schools throughout state to encourages the incorporation of renewable energy education into the science curriculum. In Nebraska, wind turbines were installed at twenty-five K-12 schools, four community colleges and the Wind Applications Center at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Locations include various elementary and high schools, and community colleges including those Bancroft, Bloomfield, Cedar Rapids, Crawford, Creighton, Diller-Odell High School, Elkhorn Valley, Hastings, Hayes Center, Hyannis, Logan View, Loup City, Merdian-Daykin, Mullen, Norfolk, Norris, Oshkosh, Papillion-LaVista South High School, Pleasanton, Superior, West Holt and Southeast Community College,

Utility installations

Nebraska's first utility-scale wind project with two 750 kW Zond wind turbines came on-line in 1998 west of Springview and operated until 2007.
SiteLocationCoordinatesCommissionedSize Turbines:
number, type and model
Notes
OPPD/Valmont IndustriesDouglas, Otoe County20010.72 Vestas V47Valmont prototype Omaha Public Power District
Kimball Wind Projectnear Kimball, Kimball County200230MEAN
Ainsworth Wind Energynear Ainsworth, Brown200559.4Vestas V82Renewable Energy Systems
Elkhorn Ridge Wind FarmKnox200981.0Vestas V90-3.0
Flat Water Wind Farmnear Humboldt, Richardson201060.0GE 1.5Renewable Energy Systems
Laredo Ridge Wind FarmPetersburg, Boone201080.0GE 1.5 xle
Springview IInear Springview, Keya Paha20113.0Vensys 77direct-drive turbine
TPE Petersburg Wind Farmnear Petersburg, Boone201140.5GE1.5 xle-ess
Broken Bow Wind Farm 1Broken Bow, Custer201280.0GE 1.5sle
Broken Bow Wind Farm 2Broken Bow, Custer201280.050 GE Energy 1.5sleSempra & Con Ed
Crofton Bluffs Wind FarmCrofton, Knox2012 42.0Vestas V90
Steele Flats Wind FarmSteele City and Odell
Jefferson & Gage
201475.0
Prairie Breeze Wind FarmAntelope Boone, & Madison2014200.6Invenergy
Prairie Breeze II, IIIAntelope and Boone Counties2015109.2Invenergy
Grande Prairie Wind FarmO'Neill, Holt2016400200 Vestas V110-2.0BHE Renewables
Cottonwood WindWebster201790Siemans VS 2.3
Kimball Wind FarmKimball201830GE
Upstream2018202GE
Rattlesnake CreekDixon2018318Nordex
Seward Wind ProjectSeward,20181.7GE 1.7 MWBluestem Energy Solutions

Statistics

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