Wind power in Missouri

Wind power in Missouri has an installed capacity of 959 MW from 499 turbines, as of 2016.^[1] This provided 1.29% of the state's electricity production.^[2]

Missouri 80-Meter Wind Resource Map

Missouri's total wind generation potential is estimated to be 340 GW.^[1]

Installed capacity

As of 2016, Missouri had 959 MW of installed capacity, all installed in the north-west corner of the state.^[1] At least six wind farms were developed by Wind Capital Group between 2006 and 2009. As of 2017, the largest wind farm in the state came online, the 300 MW Rock Creek Wind Farm in Atchison County.^[3]

Northwest Missouri is considered the windiest portion of the state and clips the windiest portion of the country which is known as Tornado Alley.

Missouri Wind Generating Capacity by Year Megawatts of generating capacity[4]

Missouri Wind Generation by Year Million kilowatt-hours of electricity[5]

Missouri Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh)
Year	Total	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2008	203	11	7	13	19	17	16	17	12	19	30	12	30
2009	499	26	26	34	59	41	23	23	37	29	70	74	57
2010	925	45	40	76	75	92	67	57	67	87	104	136	79
2011	1,179	93	106	108	143	112	99	58	48	69	106	139	98
2012	1,245	135	112	135	111	116	103	66	62	64	115	116	110
2013	1,165	120	120	118	111	102	92	58	51	79	101	122	91
2014	1,130	141	83	127	126	88	79	62	48	60	101	137	78
2015	1,034	111	87	92	97	79	61	41	47	86	86	130	117
2016	1,122	98	118	119	132	69	65	60	52	83	100	108	118
2017	2,031	141	170	187	181	161	141	99	80	136	192	264	279
2018	2,836	296	234	305	280	190	244	128	195	223	230	243	268
2019	2,857	244	215	286	288	223	193	189	146	263	279	245	286
2020	3,345	242	250	260	263	261	285	168	204	286	338	378	410
2021	6,608	495	416	729	636	548	382	278	466	542	580	708	828
2022	7,468	775	766	813	729	576	480	375	356	469	568	795	766
2023	2,206	664	720	822

Source:^[5]

Project	County	City	Turbines	Nominal Power (MW)	Commissioned	Notes
Bluegrass Ridge	Gentry	King City	27	56.7	2008	[6] Developed by Wind Capital Group (now owned by Exelon). Wind Capital's founder is Tom Carnahan, son of Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan and U.S. Senator Jean Carnahan
Clear Creek Energy Center	Nodaway	Maryville	111	242	2020	[7] Developed by Tenaska with lease by Associated Electric Cooperative in Springfield to provide power for rural electric cooperatives in Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma.[7][8]
Conception	Nodaway	Conception	24	50.4	2008	[9] Developed by Wind Capital Group (now owned by Exelon)
Cow Branch	Atchison	Rockport	24	50.4	2008	[10] Developed by Wind Capital Group (now owned by Exelon)
Farmers City	Atchison	Westboro	73	146.0	2009	[11] Owned by and developed by Iberdrola Renovables.
High Prairie	Adair, Schuyler	Marshfield,Seymour	175 [12]	400 [12]	2020 [13][14]	Project started by Terra-Gen_LLC., currently owned by Ameren since December 2020.[12][15]
Loess Hills	Atchison	Rockport	4	5.0	2008	First city in US to get its total power from wind.[16] Developed by Wind Capital Group (now owned by Exelon)
Lost Creek Ridge	DeKalb	Union Star	100	150.0	2011	[17] Developed by Wind Capital Group and later sold to Pattern Energy.
Osborn	Dekalb	Osborn	88	176.0	2016	[18] Developed and owned by NextEra Energy.
Rock Creek	Atchison	York	150	300.0	2017	Largest in Missouri and cost $500 Million[19] Owned and developed by Enel Green Power (after acquisition in 2019 of Kansas-based Tradewind Energy).[20]
White Cloud	Nodaway	Maryville	89	236.5	2020	Owned and developed by Enel Green Power. 11 Vestas and 78 Siemens Gamesa turbines.[21] Cost was $380 million.[22]

Transmission capacity

There have been several attempts at getting regulatory approval of transmission lines to carry wind power, either to the load centers of Missouri, or through Missouri, from major wind power producers in the Great Plains states to load centers further east.

Completed

• The Midwest Transmission Project is a 180-mile 345-kV transmission line which became active in 2017. It connects the Omaha Public Power District (at its Nebraska City, Nebraska substation with the Kansas City Power & Light substation at Sibley, Missouri and has one major substation in Maryville, Missouri. The line was not specifically designed to supplement the wind grid but FAQ notes it "will create opportunities for existing and new future wind energy to access to the regional transmission system." It is a priority project of the Southwest Power Pool.^[23]
• The Mark Twain Transmission Project was proposed by Ameren to connect Palmyra, Kirksville and Iowa.^[24] Approval was given for construction by each of the counties the transmission lines passed through, and the line was energized in January 2020.^[25]

Proposed

• The Grain Belt Express is a proposed 4 GW transmission line from western Kansas to Indiana.^[26][27] The Missouri Public Service Commission twice rejected the proposal, initially due to questions of the benefits of the project to the state, and later due to a lack of assent from all counties.^[28][29] The Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals ruled the commission erred in its second rejection,^[30] but sent the case to the Missouri Supreme Court.^[27]

Planned growth

In October 2017, the Empire District Electric Company proposed installing 500 MW of wind turbines in Jasper, Barton, Dade, and Lawrence counties.^[31][32][33]

In May 2018, Ameren has announced plans to construct a 175 turbine, 400 MW wind farm in Adair and Schuyler counties.^[34] Construction is expected to being in 2019, with the project coming online in 2020.

In February 2019, E.ON announced plans for a 150 MW wind farm northwest of Columbia, Missouri in rural Boone County.^[35]

See also

• Wind power portal
• Renewable energy portal
• Energy portal
• United States portal

• Solar power in Missouri
• Wind power in the United States
• Renewable energy in the United States
• List of wind farms in the United States
• List of HVDC projects