John Deere Renewables (John Deere) and Consumers Energy has announced that the completion of commercial-scale Michigan Wind 1 wind farm on December 16, 2008, despite the complexities of the project. The wind farm is located near Ubly, Michigan. But the opening date has not been decided. The wind power project comprises of 46 General Electric Company’s SLE wind turbines and has a total capacity of 69 megawatts. Consumers Energy will be purchasing the power generated from the wind farm.

Michigan Wind 1 is part of the former Noble Thumb Windpark (NTW). NTW has been acquired by John Deere from Noble Environmental Power in October, 2008.

The wind farm produces enough electricity to power around 20,000 homes.

“This is a large-scale project that benefited from strong community support. The combined efforts of the project team at John Deere Wind Energy, RMT, GE, Noble, Energy Works, and Consumers Energy, made this happen,” said David Drescher, vice president of John Deere Wind Energy.

“Electricity from Michigan Wind 1 supports Consumers Energy’s Green Generation program,” said John G. Russell, the utility’s president and chief operating officer. “This complements our existing renewable energy supply of 5 percent, the largest in Michigan.