Wind power in Arkansas
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Wind power in Arkansas remains nearly untapped, with just a single wind turbine in the state. Arkansas does not have a renewable portfolio standard. Studies have concluded that while Arkansas is generally considered to have low wind resources, there are significant pockets of it throughout the state.


Import by transmission

The
Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation The Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) is an electrical generation and distribution cooperative founded in 1949 and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. It sells wholesale energy to 17 member cooperatives serving 500,000 custome ...
(AECC) purchases electrical power from wind farms outside the state, including 51MW from Flat Ridge 2 Wind Farm in Kansas. In 2013 AECC entered a long-term agreement to buy 150 megawatts of wind energy from Oklahoma from the RES Americas-built Origin Wind Farm, which has 75 turbines in Murray County and Carter County,
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, and came on line at the end of 2014. It was taken over by Enel.


Wind Catcher project

In 2018,
SWEPCO American Electric Power (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest gen ...
, an Arkansas utility, faced opposition to its $4.5 billion Wind Catcher project, and indicated that ads opposing the project were being sponsored by an unknown non-profit, "Protect Our Pocketbooks". SWEPCO entered a settlement in which it agreed to "provide a number of guarantees, including a cap on construction costs, qualification for 100 percent of the federal Production Tax Credits, ndminimum annual production from the project." The Wind Catcher project involved "acquisition of a 2,000-megawatt wind farm under construction in the
Oklahoma Panhandle The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas Count ...
and construction of a 360-mile dedicated generation tie line to the Tulsa area, where the existing electrical grid ...
ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...
deliver the wind energy to customers." The Wind Catcher Energy Connection project was approved by the
Arkansas Public Service Commission The Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC) regulates the service and rates of those utilities subject to its jurisdiction in the State of Arkansas, United States. It was originally created by the Arkansas General Assembly on March 11, 1899, as ...
and the Louisiana Public Service Commission in 2018.


Existing wind power capacity

Arkansas is home to one wind energy company, LM Windpower, which builds wind turbine blades at a plant in Little Rock, and to 12 facilities involved in the wind energy industry, such as
PPG Industries PPG Industries, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By revenue it is ...
and ABB. A 100-foot wind turbine near Prairie Grove was the only turbine in the state.


Potential

It is estimated that Arkansas could install 9,200 MW of wind generation capacity based on 80 meter hub height turbines. This could potentially generate 26.906 TWh of electricity each year. In 2015 Arkansas used 46.346 TWh of electricity. Raising the hub height to 110 meters, though, vastly increases the potential to 180,978 MW, capable of generating over 555 TWh of electricity each year.


See also

* Solar power in Arkansas *
Energy in Arkansas The United States state of Arkansas is a significant producer of natural gas and a minor producer of petroleum. Though a small percentage of total consumption, its many waterways provide for a higher than average hydroelectric generation capacity. ...
* Wind power in the United States * Renewable energy in the United States


References

{{Wind power in the United States