Statewide Iowa (RI) — MidAmerican Energy Company says it plans to install six more aircraft detection systems this year to keep the red warning lights at the top of wind turbines off until they are needed. But the O’Brien County wind farms won’t get the upgrade until 2027.
MidAmerican spokesman Geoff Greenwood says they started testing the system in 2023.
They have 38 wind farms in 34 counties. The blinking red lights are required from dusk until dawn by the FAA so planes can see the wind turbines at night.
Greenwood says the warning system is simple, and they’ve found it keeps the lights off 95 to 98 percent of the time.
Greenwood says the lights are important in rural areas where there are small airports.
Greenwood says they have to follow all the regulations for installation but plan to eventually add the light control systems to all their wind farms.
A bill recently passed out of a subcommittee in the legislature would require the systems at new wind farms and existing turbines to be upgraded by the start of 2028.
The first MidAmerican test systems were installed at the Eclipse and Morning Light wind farms in Adair, Audubon, Cass and Guthrie counties. MidAmerican installed systems at its Lundgren wind farm in Webster County and Wellsburg wind farm in Grundy County in mid 2025.
MidAmerican plans to add aircraft detection technology to six wind farms this year, the Arbor Hill in Adair County; Diamond Trail in Iowa County; North English in Poweshiek County; Shenandoah Hills in Page and Fremont counties; Vienna in Marshall and Tama counties, and the Walnut wind farm in Pottawattamie County. MidAmerican also plans to add systems in 2027 to its Highland and O’Brien wind farms in O’Brien County.
KIWA Staff Photo
