500 MW Wind Farm in Washington County, Iowa Announced: Construction to Begin 3-5 Years

To grasp the scale of this project envision 384 more of those turbines, spaced a bit less than a quarter mile apart, and transplant them to Iowa fields instead of Massachusetts... Photo: Stephen Gore via flickr.

Though announcements of new large renewable energy projects have slowed to little more than a trickle in the past two or three months, both in the United States and abroad, there still are some noteworthy new plans being announced. In that category is a newly proposed wind farm in Iowa which, if completed as Trade Wind Energy plans, will have a capacity of 500 megawatts. Here are the details:

Communities Will Get Clean Energy + More Property Tax IncomeLocated in Washington County, the project will consist of 335 wind turbines—provided enough landowners are willing to lease their land...which so far hasn’t been a problem—with total costs reaching $1 billion. Combined income going to property owners could top $1 million; an additional $3-4 million in property taxes could also be generated annually.

TWE says construction should begin within 3-5 year: More land leases need to be signed, a wind study completed, and a power purchase agreement secured (yes, there are a lot of potential kinks to be ironed out). The developer gave no timetable for completion once construction begins, other than to say that it takes about two years to erect a turbine.

via: Kalona News and Cleantechnica Wind PowerRhode Island’s First Offshore Wind Farm to Begin Construction in 2010Wind Power Manufacturing Jobs Grow in American HeartlandWind Power Produces 123% of Residential Energy Demand in Rock Port, Missouri