Wind power in Montana

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Wind power in Montana is a growing industry. At a nameplate capacity of 210 megawatts (MW),12 the $500 million3 Glacier Wind Farm, which is located in Toole and Glacier counties,1 became Montana's largest in October 2009,3 surpassing the 135 MW Judith Gap Wind Farm in Wheatland County.3

Rim Rock Wind Farm, brought online in September 2012, is located about 25 miles due north of the Glacier project. The wind farm has 126 wind turbines of 1.5 megawatts each, to be supplied by Acciona.4 The project had been delayed due to issues with the Montana-Alberta Tie Line, which connects wind farms in the area to Lethbridge, Alberta.516 Montana added two significant wind projects in 2012. The Gordon Butte Wind Farm, 9 MW, was completed early in the year and the Rim Rock Wind Project, 189 MW, was completed in September.

Contents

Installed capacity growth

Montana Wind Generation Capacity by Year
Megawatts of Installed Generating Capacity78 9
Montana Wind Generation by Year

Wind Farms

List of wind farms in Montana
Wind farm Installed
capacity (MW)
Turbine
Manufacturer
County Date in Service
Glacier Wind Farm I and II (NaturEner) 210 Acciona 1.5MW Glacier/Toole 2008-2009
Rim Rock Wind Farm (NaturEner) 189 Acciona 1.5MW Glacier/Toole 2012
Judith Gap Energy Center (Invenergy) 135 GE 1.5MW Wheatland 2005
Diamond Willow Wind Farm (Montana-Dakota Utilities) 30 GE 1.5MW Fallon 2007
Musselshell Wind Project 1 and II 20 GW 1.5-87 1.5MW Musselshell 2012
Gordon Butte Wind 9.6 GE 1.6MW Meagher 2012
Horseshoe Bend Wind Park (United Materials of Great Falls) 9 GE 1.5MW Cascade 2006
Two Dot Wind Farm 3.8 Wheatland

10 1112

Wind generation

Montana Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh)
Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2009 821 104 59 81 77 64 41 37 24 49 75 130 82
2010 930 82 55 92 104 85 69 62 61 60 81 101 80
2011 1,265 144 108 85 112 102 84 74 59 73 113 138 164
2012 1,238 158 87 128 94 97 107 57 58 37 119 123 162

Source:12

See also

References