Twin Groves Wind Farm

Twin Groves Wind Farm is a wind farm in the U.S. state of Illinois, near the villages of Arrowsmith, Saybrook, and Ellsworth in McLean County. It consists of 240 operating wind turbines.[1] Each wind turbine stands 280 ft (80 m) tall and has three 120-foot-long (39 m) blades. The wind farm was constructed from 2007 to February 2008. Twin Groves was the largest utility-scale wind farm east of the Mississippi River upon completion.[2][3]

Twin Groves Wind Farm
Twin Groves Wind Farm from McLean County Route 21
CountryUnited States
LocationMcLean County, Illinois, Illinois
Coordinates40°28′54″N 88°42′26″W
Construction cost$700 million
Owner(s)EDP Renewables North America
Operator(s)EDP Renewables North America
Wind farm
TypeOnshore
Hub height280 ft
Site area22,000 acres (8,903.1 ha)
Power generation
Units operational240 turbines
Make and modelVestas V82-1.65 MW
Nameplate capacity396 MW
Capacity factor33.5% (average 2008-2018)
Annual net output1,162 GW·h
External links
Websitetwingroveswindfarm.com
Twin Groves Wind Farm from McLean County Route 21

Description

The Twin Groves Wind Farm lies in eastern McLean County just east of Bloomington on Illinois State Route 9. The wind farm consists of 240 Vestas 1.65 MW wind turbines and is owned and operated by EDP Renewables North America.[1] Total cost of Twin Groves was approximately $700 million.[4] The towers are spread out over 22,000 acres (8,900 ha) of McLean County,[1] near the villages of Arrowsmith, Ellsworth, and Saybrook. The current total capacity at Twin Groves Wind Farm is 398 megawatts.[1] The site produces enough power to power about 120,000 homes, or approximately 1.3 billion kilowatt hours annually.[5][6]

Revenue

Between 150–200 acres (60.7–80.9 ha), or 1%, of the total 22,000 acres will be taken up by the turbines.[5][7] Royalties are paid to owners of the land at $5,000 per wind turbine.[2][7] The wind farm pays property taxes, of which Ridgeview School District will start collecting $300,000 a year,[7] while Tri-Valley School District will collect between $200,000-$250,000 a year.[7]

Future

With 240 wind turbines already generating power, the project owner is considering an additional 170 wind turbines, to bring the total number of turbines to 410.[7][8] Test wind turbines are being placed in eastern McLean County to determine if additional wind turbines can be supported.[7] If constructed, power capacity estimates for the wind farm increase from 396 megawatts to 680 megawatts.[8]

Electricity production
Twin Groves Wind Farm Electricity Generation (MW·h)
YearTwin Groves I
High Trail Wind Farm
(198 MW) [9]		Twin Groves II
Old Trail Wind Farm
(198 MW) [10]		Total Annual
MW·h
2007 324,962- 324,962
2008 635,776579,235 1,215,011
2009 570,571579,853 1,150,424
2010 549,674565,168 1,114,842
2011 590,569598,433 1,189,002
2012 589,634604,896 1,194,530
2013 579,021588,592 1,167,613
2014 582,524585,864 1,168,388
2015 592,258604,310 1,196,568
2016 541,774565,513 1,107,287
2017 586,815616,625 1,203,440
2018 527,035553,138 1,080,173
Average Annual Production (years 2008-2018) --->1,162,480
Average Capacity Factor (years 2008-2018) --->33.5%

See also

References
  1. "Welcome to Horizon Wind Energy". Horizonwind.com. Archived from the original on 2010-08-30. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  2. "Indian Creek Newsletter". Frontiernet.net. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  3. Later in 2008, the Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in neighboring Indiana surpassed Twin Groves with 400 MW of installed nameplate capacity.
  4. "Wind energy comes to McLean - Online Exclusives". Media.www.dennews.com. 2006-11-13. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  5. "Welcome to Horizon Wind Energy". Horizonwind.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-26. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  6. "View". redOrbit. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  7. National Wind Watch, Inc. (2007-05-30). "Twin Groves Wind Farm may add 170 towers". Wind Watch. Archived from the original on May 24, 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  8. "Twin Groves Wind Farm may add 170 towers". Pantagraph.com. 2007-05-30. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  9. "High Trail Wind, Annual". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  10. "Old Trail Wind, Annual". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved April 2, 2019.


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