The Centennial Wind Farm is one of the largest wind farms in Oklahoma. It can produce a total of 120 megawatts of power which is enough electricity to supply about 36,000 homes. The wind farm cost $200 million and is easily visible from U.S. 183 northwest of Fort Supply. [1]
The wind farm has an array of 80 General Electric turbines, each standing 262 feet tall at its hub, and the total height of the structure is 388 feet. The wind turbines are computer-controlled, with peak turbine performance at about 25 mph. For safety, the turbines automatically shut down if wind speeds exceed 55 mph. [1]
The Centennial Wind Farm was built for Oklahoma Gas & Electric in Harper County by Invenergy Wind. It is one of only a few wind farms in the United States owned and operated by a utility. The electric output will be dedicated exclusively to OG&E's customers for the life of the facility. [2]
Greensburg is a city in, and the county seat of, Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of the city was 740. It is home to the world's largest hand-dug well. On the evening of May 4, 2007, Greensburg was devastated by an EF5 tornado that leveled at least 95 percent of the city and killing eleven people between the ages of 46 and 84. Today, Greensburg stands as a model "green town", often described as the greenest in America. The hospital, city hall, and school have all been built to the highest certification level issued by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
Hurricane Carla ranks as the most intense U.S. tropical cyclone landfall on the Hurricane Severity Index. It was the ninth most intense hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. The third named storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, Carla developed from an area of squally weather in the southwestern Caribbean Sea on September 3. Initially a tropical depression, it strengthened slowly while heading northwestward, and by September 5, the system was upgraded to Tropical Storm Carla. About 24 hours later, Carla was upgraded to a hurricane. Shortly thereafter, the storm curved northward while approaching the Yucatán Channel. Late on September 7, Carla entered the Gulf of Mexico while passing just northeast of the Yucatán Peninsula. By early on the following day, the storm became a major hurricane after reaching Category 3 intensity. Resuming its northwestward course, Carla continued intensification and on September 11, became what would today be classified as a Category 4 hurricane. Later that day, Carla weakened slightly but was still a large and intense hurricane when the storm made landfall near Port O'Connor, Texas. It weakened quickly inland and was reduced to a tropical storm on September 12. Heading generally northward, Carla transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on September 13, while centered over southern Oklahoma. Rapidly moving northeastward, Carla's remnants reached the Labrador Sea, Canada and dissipated on September 17, 1961.
Gray County Wind Farm near Montezuma, Kansas was the largest wind farm in Kansas and the largest in the United States not mandated by a state regulatory commission back in 2001. The site consists of 170 Vestas V-47 wind turbines with a total nameplate capacity of 112 MW. Each turbine tower is 217 feet high, with blades 77 feet long, and a generating capacity of 660 kW. Owned and operated by NextEra Energy Resources, Gray County Wind Farm became fully operational in November 2001. Its construction cost an estimated $100 million. The average wind speed at the site is approximately 20 mph. The area is primarily used for farmland.
Blue Canyon Wind Farm is the largest wind farm in Oklahoma, United States. The project, located in the Slick Hills north of Lawton, consists of four phases with a total output of 423.45 MW. As of 2008, Blue Canyon remains Oklahoma's largest wind farm; however, several organizations including Oklahoma Gas & Electric plan to greatly increase Oklahoma's wind power capacity, and future projects may be larger.
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 sixty miles (97 km) long and runs through Lincoln, Pipestone, Murray, Nobles, and Rock counties in the southwest corner of Minnesota.
The San Gorgonio Pass wind farm is a wind farm that stretches from the eastern slope of the San Gorgonio Pass, near Cabazon, to North Palm Springs, on the western end of the Coachella Valley, in Riverside County, California. Flanked by Mount San Gorgonio and the Transverse Ranges to the North, and Mount San Jacinto and the Peninsular Ranges to the South, the San Gorgonio Pass is a transitional zone from a Mediterranean climate west of the pass, to a Desert climate east of the pass. This makes the pass area one of the most consistently windy places in the United States.
Wind power is a branch of the energy industry that has expanded quickly in the United States over the last several years. From January through December 2021, 379.8 terawatt-hours were generated by wind power, or 9.23% of all generated electrical energy in the United States. The average wind turbine generates enough electricity in 46 minutes to power the average American home for one month. In 2019, wind power surpassed hydroelectric power as the largest renewable energy source generated in the U.S.
Wind power in California had initiative and early development during Governor Jerry Brown's first two terms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The state's wind power capacity has grown by nearly 350% since 2001, when it was less than 1,700 MW. In 2016, wind energy supplied about 6.9% of California's total electricity needs, or enough to power more than 1.3 million households. Most of California's wind generation is found in the Tehachapi area of Kern County, California, with some large projects in Solano, Contra Costa and Riverside counties as well. California is among the states with the largest amount of installed wind power capacity. In recent years, California has lagged behind other states when it comes to the installation of wind power. It was ranked 4th overall for wind power electrical generation at the end of 2016 behind Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. As of 2019, California had 5,973 megawatts (MW) of wind power generating capacity installed.
The Wild Horse Wind Farm is a 273-megawatt wind farm that generates energy for Puget Sound Energy that consists of one hundred twenty seven 1.8-megawatt Vestas V80 turbines and twenty two 2.0-megawatt Vestas V80 turbines on a 10,800-acre (4,400 ha) site in Kittitas County, Washington, 17 miles (27 km) east of Ellensburg, Washington. The turbines are placed on the high open Shrub-steppe ridge tops of Whiskey Dick Mountain, which was chosen for its energetic wind resource, remote location, and access to nearby power transmission lines. The towers are 221 feet (67 m) tall, and each blade is 129 feet (39 m) long, with a total rotor diameter of 264 feet (80 m), larger than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. The turbines can begin producing electricity with wind speeds as low as 9 mph (14 km/h) and reach full production at 31 mph (50 km/h). They shut down at sustained wind speeds of 56 mph (90 km/h). The site is also home to one of the largest solar array (500 kW) in Washington.
Making up over 55% of the state's generated electricity in 2021, wind power is the largest source of electricity generation in Iowa. In 2020, over 34 billion kWh of electrical energy was generated by wind power. As of Q3 2020, Iowa has over 10,951 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity with 5,590 wind turbines, ranking 2nd and 3rd in the nation below Texas respectively.
Biglow Canyon Wind Farm is an electricity generating wind farm facility in Sherman County, Oregon, United States. It is owned by Portland, Oregon-based Portland General Electric and began operations in 2007. With the completion of phase 3 of the project it has a generating capacity of 450 megawatts. It is located roughly five miles (8 km) northeast of Wasco, Oregon, and about ten miles (16 km) southeast of Rufus, Oregon. Biglow Canyon Wind Farm covers 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) in the Columbia River Gorge.
Wyoming has one of the highest wind power potentials of any state in the United States. In 2019, Wyoming had wind powered electricity generating capacity of 1,589 MW, which produced 9.85% of its electric generation, with an additional 3,753 MW under construction. However, the wind generation in that year was Wyoming's third-lowest in the 2010s. By 2020, wind capacity increased to 2738 MW and 8448 gigawatt-hours of electricity were produced from wind in 2021, more than double 2019 production. Additional wind capacity and needed transmission lines are under construction or planned, despite political headwinds from Wyoming's strong coal and oil sectors.
The 123 megawatt (MW) Red Hills Wind Farm is located in Roger Mills and Custer counties, near Elk City, Oklahoma. The wind farm has 82 Acciona 1.5-MW wind turbines, and the Red Hills facility is spread across 5,000 acres (20 km2). Acciona Energy North America opened the wind farm in June 2009.
The Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) is an agency of the state of Oklahoma created to control, develop, and maintain the Grand River waterway. It was created by the Oklahoma state legislature in 1935, and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. GRDA was designed to be self-funding from the sales of electricity and water. The state of Oklahoma was to provide no funding from taxes. The Authority was authorized to issue revenue bonds to fund large-scale capital investments.
The Papalote Creek Wind Farm near Taft, Texas in San Patricio County is an array of 196 wind turbines that can produce 380 megawatts (MW) of power, enough to serve approximately 114,000 homes. The wind farm was built and is operated by E.ON Climate and Renewables North America.
Wind power in Michigan is a developing industry. The industrial base from the automotive industry has led to a number of companies producing wind turbine parts in the state. The development of wind farms in the state, however, has lagged behind. In January 2021, there were a total of 1,481 wind turbines in the state with a nameplate capacity of 2,549 MW. The nameplate total exceeded 2,000 MW when Pine River came online in March 2019. Wind provided 4.2% of the state's electricity in 2016.
The U.S. State of Oklahoma has high potential capacity for wind power in the western half of the state. In 2017, Oklahoma's installed wind generation capacity was almost 7,500 megawatts, supplying almost a third of the state's generated electricity.
Wind power in Hawaii has the potential to provide all of the electricity generation in the electricity sector in Hawaii. The 132 commercial wind turbines in the state have a total capacity of 236 MW. In 2015, wind turbines produced 6.4% of Hawaii's electricity. In 2012, Hawaii generated 367 million kWh from wind power.
Wind power in Tennessee, which has significant potential in East Tennessee, is in the early stages of development. The state has not passed renewable portfolio standard legislation and there is just one utility-scale wind farm with 18 turbines. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), based in Knoxville, imports wind-generated electricity into its service area which includes Tennessee. US Senator Lamar Alexander from Tennessee is an outspoken critic of wind power.
Coordinates: 36°37′47″N99°31′05″W / 36.62972°N 99.51806°W
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