Wednesday, June 30, 2010

MDU Completes Wind Farms in North Dakota, Montana -- Heart of the Bakken

MDU has completed two wind farms in North Dakota and Montana.
  • The Rhame wind farm, Bowman County, southwestern North Dakota, 19.5 megawatts, 13 turbines
  • The Diamond Willow wind farm, Baker, MT, 10.5 megawatts, see comments section below
  • Can supply electricity needs for 10,000 homes
No cost provided

Rules of thumb
  • 500 megawatts on-land wind farms: $500 million
  • 500 megawatts off-shore wind farms: $1 billion
  • 1 turbine on the northern plains: 1 megawatt
  • 30 megawatts = 10,000 homes
UPDATES

Update -- July 22, 2010: after posting the above in which I asked how many turbines were supporting the Diamond Willow wind farm, I got the explanation, which is posted in the comment section below.
Posted by at