National Wind, LLC (National Wind) and Norfolk Wind Energy, LLC (Norfolk Wind) will develop a new community wind project in Renville county, Minnesota. National Wind will act as the project manager for Norfolk Wind and will assist in the development of 40 megawatts (MW) of community-based wind power in central Minnesota, with the opportunity to expand the project.
If constructed, the intended wind development would offer enough electricity to power around 12,000 homes and could help to offset about one hundred tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
National Wind will participate in a joint development effort with original members of Norfolk Wind Energy and additional, new Norfolk community members. A board has been set up with representation from original landowners involved in Norfolk Wind Energy and National Wind. The responsibility of the board will be to guide the wind energy development process to ensure that the community’s voice is heard through regular meetings and votes on important issues.
“We are excited about partnering with National Wind,” says John Jacobs of Norfolk Wind Energy. “Wind energy presents a lot of benefits to our local community.”
David Scheibel, of Norfolk Wind echoes similar sentiments. “For over two years we’ve worked on this project and have envisioned putting up commercial scale wind turbines in Renville County. We’re excited that National Wind can help make this dream a reality while at the same time keeping it a community-based project with a high level of local involvement.”
Currently Minnesota ranks fourth in the nation for installed wind energy with just over 1,750 MW installed. National Wind has about 1,300 MW currently in development in the state.
Norfolk Wind will be the seventh wind energy project administered by National Wind in Minnesota and is one of thirteen families of community-based wind projects currently being developed by National Wind across the Midwest and Plains states. Together, these wind projects, if constructed, are anticipated to be able to supply more than 1,100,000 average American homes with power.