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Buffalo Ridge Wind Power Plant
Location: Southwestern Minnesota, near the South Dakota border.
Plant Description: 450 wind turbines.
Power Production Capabilities: Up to 300 megawatts (MW).
About The Facility: Northern States Power Company (NSP), one of our predecessor companies, originally installed three 65-kilowatt wind turbines in the late 1980s near Lake Benton, Minnesota, as part of a research project.
The area selected, now a leading region for wind generation in the nation, is on one of the region's highest and windiest locations, Buffalo Ridge. The ridge was created by ancient glacial action and forms a divide between the Missouri and Mississippi river basins. The average wind speed is 16.1 miles per hour — about two miles per hour greater than 14 other sites that were assessed.
The transmission lines carrying power from Buffalo Ridge were built decades ago and are at their limit. We have proposed a series of transmission improvements, which would in turn support the development of new electrical generation in southwestern Minnesota, including wind and other renewable energy sources.
Contact Information:
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