Wind Project Soon To Break Ground -- In The Middle Of The Bakken -- July 20, 2019

Updates:

Later, 2:56 p.m. CT, from a reader:

Well, no actually not. More people are understanding that wind and solar power needs backup for the 70% of the time it's not producing electricity.

The latest hot button item for solving this problem is grid scale utility lithium battery storage. $100's of millions have already been spent worldwide, (including in surprise -- California), for this "new" technology (Exxon brought us lithium batteries 50 years ago).

Here's what the Manhattan Institute tells us about battery storage:

China already dominates global battery manufacturing and is on track to supply nearly two-thirds of all production by 2020.  The relevance for the new energy economy vision:

70% of China’s grid is fueled by coal today and will still be at 50% in 2040. This means that, over the life span of the batteries, there would be more carbon-dioxide emissions associated with manufacturing them than would be offset by using those batteries to, say, replace internal combustion engines.

Comment: so, batteries don't solve the problem either. This, ironically, will be the argument that renewables (wind and solar) will use when explaining why they won't include battery back-up in their projects. "Because batteries" don't solve the problem."

From Geoff Simon's top ND energy stories this past week:

Work set to begin on Williams County wind far, Tradewind Energy; 300-MW Aurora Wind Farm; northeaster Williams County; up to 121 turbines spanning 44,000 acres; centered five miles northwest of Tioga; range in size from 2.0 to 4.8 MW; includes construction of a 20-mile 345 KV transmission line; will terminate at Basin Electric Power Cooperative's Tande Substation east of Tioga in Mountrail County; $385 million.

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On Another Note -- 

Link here. Provided by a reader.

But it makes us feel good.