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Project Progress

Wind farm development is a lengthy, complex process. Dakota Wind Energy's wind parks will be developed in phases over the next three to five years. Below documents the current progress of the project. Click on any section to read more.

60,000 Acres Signed for the Project

To develop a 750 megawatt project, nearly 75,000 acres of land is needed. To date, we have signed just over 60,000 acres, enough land to develop at least 500 megawatts.

Reaching this milestone not only speaks to the dedication of our field team, but to the strong local support and interest in community wind energy. Completing this crucial landmark makes our project a very viable option for area utilities. Utilities like to work with community projects because they know significant local support is important to getting a project permitted and completed. Dakota Wind Energy is exploring several options in this regard.

Read more about our progress in our Fall 2009 newsletter

What Wind Assessments Mean for Dakota Wind Energy's Development

Dakota Wind Energy has completed a one-year wind study, a crucial milestone for the project to progress further. The industry recommends at least one year of on-site wind data in order to accurately predict the potential benefits of a wind power installation. Financing and utility sources require validated energy production and revenue estimates before they even consider participating in a wind project, so having this information readily available is important for Dakota Wind Energy.

Dakota Wind Energy has three meteorological towers installed, two in Marshall County and one in Roberts County. The National Wind Assessments team installed all three meteorological towers in 2008.

See Kevin Romuld's, President of National Wind Assessment's editorial on this subject here.

 

Marshall County's Proposed Wind Ordinance

Extensive discussions have been taking place around the country on the issue of siting wind energy facilities. Federal, state, and local governments have long governed the siting of turbines. However, in South Dakota, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), only has authority to regulate wind farms with a capacity of 100 megawatts or more.

Smaller projects, 99 megawatts and under, are not governed by the South Dakota PUC. County governments are encouraged to voluntarily elect to adopt model wind ordinances. The overall goal is to mitigate wind energy system impacts on existing land uses, area neighbors, and the environment.

Only a few counties in South Dakota have this ordinance and Day, Marshall, and Roberts counties are not currently included. However, Marshall County is considering adopting a wind regulation. Pete Karlsson, a field specialist for National Wind, appeared before the county on February 16th, 2009 to propose several amendments that are in landowners’ and Dakota Wind’s best interests.

The current draft ordinance outlines requirements for building permits, road use for turbine construction, soil and erosion control, electrical cable installation, FAA lighting, turbine setback from residences (1000 ft), and turbine decommissioning.

$3.25 Billion for WAPA

The recent Stimulus Act has allocated funds and outlined provisions to improve our current transmission system and facilitate the movement of renewable energy from rural production areas to areas with high demand. Among these provisions are establishing a $6 billion loan guarantee program, requiring the Secretary of Energy to include an analysis of transmission issues, and increasing the borrowing authority of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) to $3.25 billion.

WAPA will utilize these funds to improve its current transmission system. Dakota Wind Energy has a 99 MW interconnection request into WAPA to gain access to their electrical grid. The cost of this 99 MW project could be greatly reduced due to any transmission upgrades WAPA completes.

New Transmission Initiative to run through Dakota Wind

One transmission provider, ITC Holdings Corporation, is developing a plan for a network of transmission lines referred to as the “Green Power Express” that will run right through Dakota Wind Energy’s footprint. This will help save on total project costs because Dakota Wind Energy won’t have to allocate large funds for transmission upgrades. National Wind is amongst many other developers and utilities who partnered together to endorse this initiative.

Intrastate Public Investment Offering Announced

  • Dakota Wind Energy's intrastate public investment offering is open all South Dakota residents who meet investor suitability requirements. This allows a large cross-section of the local community to become owners in this development, helping make our country more energy-independent. To register to view a prospectus, please visit: www.delphifinancial.com.
  • View press release here

Over 40,000 acres of Land Leased for the Project

  • Dakota Wind Energy now has leased over 40,000 acres of land in connection with development of the state's largest community owned wind farm. This is over half the land needed to develop the project up to 750 MW. A majority of the landowners are choosing to take units in the company in exchange for their wind rights.
  • View press release here

Met Tower Installed

  • Sisseton Township Met Tower: National Wind Assessments installed a met tower in Sisseton Township, Marshall County, on April 17, 2008. The met tower will collect wind data to determine the best wind speeds in the area. This data will then be used in later stages of development to microsite turbine placement. For pictures of the met tower installation, please see the photo gallery.
  • View press release here

Wind Option Agreements are Announced

  • Wind Option Agreement: When landowners sign this agreement, the primary right assigned to Dakota Wind is that of exclusive "wind rights" for a period of five years. During this time, National Wind, as the managing partner, conducts the necessary studies that will be used in the configuration of the final wind farm. Several options are available.
  • Wind Turbine Leases: For wind turbines placed on your property, we provide the most competitive turbine lease rates.

Initial Feasibility Studies are Complete

  • Environmental: A preliminary environmental analysis including preliminary permitting requirements. Three project areas were studied and based upon this analysis, there are no "fatal flaws" that prevent the project from being completed. As the project progresses, additional studies will be conducted to obtain the necessary zoning and permitting approvals to construct the wind farms.

  • Wind: National Wind Assessments, the met tower erection and wind assessment firm division of National Wind, have prepared a preliminarly anlaysis using state wind resource maps, topography maps and data collected from available met towers in the vicinity of the project area to estimate the prospective wind speeds and energy production. Meteorological towers will be erected within the project's footprint in order to collect on-site wind data for a extended period of time. Preliminary studies indicate excellent wind speeds.

  • Transmission: Excel Engineering evaluated the transmission options for this project and prepared an interconnection strategy. National Wind filed an immediate interconnection request. Furture interconnection requests will be filed.

Dakota Wind Energy, LLC is Formed and Capitalized

Photo by Dennis SchwartzNine local South Dakota landowners have partnered with National Wind to form and capitalize this project.