Buffalo Ridge Wind Farm
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Buffalo Ridge Wind Farm is a large wind farm on
Buffalo Ridge Buffalo Ridge is a large expanse of rolling hills in the southeastern part of the larger Coteau des Prairies. It stands 1,995 feet (608 m) above sea level. The Buffalo Ridge is long and runs through Lincoln, Pipestone, Murray, Nob ...
near
Lake Benton, Minnesota Lake Benton is a city in Lincoln County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 687 at the 2020 census. Lake Benton is also the name of the approximately seven-mile-long (11 km) lake adjacent to the city of Lake Benton. The town is ...
, United States.


History

In 1994, a Minnesota legislative mandate increased the demand for
wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...
in Minnesota. Buffalo Ridge's geography is well suited for wind power and it has been heavily developed for this purpose. The history of modern wind power activity on Buffalo Ridge can be split into four phases of construction. In 1994, the first wind farm cluster was built on Buffalo Ridge, northwest of the town of Lake Benton. This first cluster was built by the Kenetech Corporation and runs northwest to
Lake Shaokatan Lake Shaokatan is a lake in Lincoln County, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Minnesota DNR identifies the lake as ID 41008900. It is a "sentinel" lake of recorded by Minnesota's top geographer Walker Rasmussen. According to Warren Upham Sha ...
; it consists of seventy-three wind turbines. The second phase occurred in 1998 when Zond Energy Systems built the next wind farm cluster near
Hendricks, Minnesota Hendricks is a city in Lincoln County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 713 at the 2010 census. History A post office called Hendricks has been in operation since 1884. The city was named for Thomas A. Hendricks, elected 21st V ...
. This farm consists of 143 Zond Z-750 wind turbines with each turbine standing high and weighing about . Each 750 kW turbine can deliver the annual electricity needs of approximately 250 homes. The third phase occurred in mid-1999 and added an additional one hundred
megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s of power to the existing output. In 2006, PPM Energy and
Xcel Energy Xcel Energy Inc. is a U.S. regulated electric utility and natural gas delivery company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving more than 3.7 million electric customers and 2.1 million natural gas customers across parts of eight states (Color ...
began construction of a one hundred and fifty megawatt project called the MinnDakota Wind Power Project. This project adds sixty-seven more wind turbines to the Buffalo Ridge wind farm. It also adds turbines to the portion of Buffalo Ridge that is in
Brookings County, South Dakota Brookings County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,375, making it the fifth most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Brookings. The county was created in 1862 and orga ...
. The land where the wind farm resides is privately owned farm land. To acquire a piece of this land for the use of wind turbines, the wind developer rents or leases the plot of land from the farmer who owns the land. Small projects, less than two megawatts in size, are offered
subsidies A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acce ...
of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for power sold to utilities.


Birds, bats, and wind turbines

Concerns involved with wind turbines revolve around the affected bird and bat populations that surround the Buffalo Ridge area. A study featured in ''The American Midland Naturalist'' found that eighty-four to eighty-five percent of the seventy species of birds that live in the Buffalo Ridge area fly outside the range of the wind turbine blades. During a study conducted in 1996, by Western EcoSystems Technology, it was concluded that an estimated average of 1.4 birds were killed per wind turbine during the seven-month study. Another eight-month study was done in 1997 and found that 1.1 birds were killed per turbine. Also, available evidence from the "Interim Report: Bat Interactions with Wind Turbines at the Buffalo Ridge, Minnesota Wind Resource Area: 2001 Field Season," shows that most bat mortalities caused by wind turbines occur during the fall to migrant and dispersing bats and not to resident breeding populations. It was concluded by this same study that 2.45 to 3.21 bats die per turbine which is lower than the number of bat deaths by
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...
s,
communication towers Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmit ...
, tall buildings, power lines, and fences.Mike Sagrillo,"Interim Report: Bat Interactions with Wind Turbines at the Buffalo Ridge, Minnesota Wind Resource Area: 2001 Field Season", In 1996
Western EcoSystems Technolygy
was contracted by
Northern States Power Northern States Power Company () was a publicly traded S&P 500 electric and natural gas utility holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that is now a subsidiary of Xcel Energy (). History The company's founder, Henry Marison Byllesby, ha ...
to create an avian monitoring program for Buffalo Ridge. Its primary goals for Buffalo Ridge were to evaluate the risks to avian species by monitoring the wind power development and its effect on the avian species while at the same time using that information to reduce avian mortalities on Buffalo Ridge. According to the studies, bird populations are in more danger from humans than from wind turbines.


References

{{Coord, 44, 17, N, 96, 20, W, display=title Energy infrastructure completed in 1994 1994 establishments in Minnesota Wind farms in Minnesota Wind farms in South Dakota Buildings and structures in Lincoln County, Minnesota Buildings and structures in Brookings County, South Dakota