Primghar, Iowa — The recently completed wind farm near Primghar has helped propel Iowa up to second place in the nation when it comes to producing power from the wind. That’s according to American Wind Energy Association Manager of Data and Analysis, John Hensley.
Iowa moved past California by 104 megawatts, but would have to triple its output to overtake top-ranked Texas — which has nearly 18-thousand megawatts. Hensley says Iowa was part of a trend that saw more wind turbines come online across the country.
He says wind will account for around one-third the electric power produced in Iowa.
Hensley says Iowa has a lot of advantages when it comes to wind power.
And he says Iowa’s location is good for distributing the wind power. Hensley says improved technology has helped lower the cost of installing wind power, and that has helped continue the expansion of capacity.
American Wind Energy Association figures show there are now 74-thousand-472 megawatts of installed wind capacity in the United States and more than 52-thousand operating wind turbines.
