Wind Energy Generation in Nebraska


According to the American Wind Energy Association, Nebraska is ranked sixth in the nation with the greatest energy potential from wind power.  In 2007, more than 200 million kilowatthours were generated by wind energy in Nebraska (see graph and table).  Generation for the year was less than the generation for 2006.  The shutdown of the two Springview turbines accounts for only a minute portion of the difference.  No one turbine alone was to credit—all of the turbines had reduced generation.  Nebraska has 46 operational wind turbines with a total capacity of 71.88 megawatts (or 71,880 kilowatts for comparison purposes).  The average annual output could power about 21,500 homes.  The turbines are located on four sites:

  Nebraska Public Power District installed two turbines near Springview and began operation in October 1998.  (The numbers in the table below for December 1998 are totals for October, November, and December.)  The Springview turbines were released for full power operation in late January 1999.  Maximum capacity was 1,500 kilowatts, and the average annual output could power 380 homes.  The six co-owners were:  City of Auburn (2 percent), City of Grand Island (2 percent), KBR Rural Public Power District (1 percent), Lincoln Electric System (29 percent), the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (5 percent), and Nebraska Public Power District (61 percent).  KBR Rural Public Power District operated the turbines.  Although there is a possibility of more turbines on the site in the future, the Springview wind turbines were decommissioned and the last generation data was reported for August, 2007.

With the addition of the Ainsworth wind farm, Nebraska's wind energy generation more than doubled in 2005 from 2004 and nearly tripled in 2006 from 2005.  The 36-turbine wind farm near Ainsworth began commercial operation on October 1, 2005.  Each turbine has a maximum capacity of 1,650 kilowatts for a total of 59,400 kilowatts.  The average annual output could power 19,000 homes.  The five participants in the wind farm are:  Nebraska Public Power District (32 megawatts), Omaha Public Power District (10 megawatts), Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (7 megawatts), Grand Island Utilities (1 megawatt), and the Jacksonville Electric Authority (10 megawatts), based in Florida.  The Jacksonville utility will not receive power but will receive renewable energy credits for its participation in this project.

  Lincoln Electric System installed two turbines in an area called Salt Valley located north of Lincoln; the first turbine began operation on December 17, 1998, and the second turbine began operation on October 27, 1999.  The maximum capacity of the Salt Valley turbines is 1,320 kilowatts, and the average annual output could power 350 homes.

  Omaha Public Power District and Valmont Industries installed one turbine by Valley which began operation on December 21, 2001.  The maximum capacity of the Valley turbine is 660 kilowatts, and the average annual output could power 150 homes.

  Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) installed seven turbines on a farm located near Kimball.  The wind farm began operation in October 2002.  With the addition of the Kimball wind farm, Nebraska's wind energy generation more than doubled in 2002 from 2001 and again more than doubled in 2003 from 2002.  Maximum capacity of the Kimball wind farm is 10,500 kilowatts, and the average annual output could power 2,000 homes.

Energy generated by wind power is estimated to be less than one percent of Nebraska's energy consumption in 2004 and less than one percent of the electricity generated in 2004.  (The year 2004 is the most recent year that data is provided for consumption.)

For more information, see the Generating Units report, the Units and Capacity by Energy Source and Year of Initial Operation report, and the Units and Capacity by Energy Source report.




Wind Energy Generation in Nebraska, 1998-2008

 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 1998
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 660                       54,295 54,295
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Springview 1 750                   NA NA 101,1821 101,182
2 750                   NA NA 27,8281 27,828
 1998 Total 183,305
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 1999
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 22 1,320 119,656 142,411 141,792 144,008 153,912 100,185 94,649 51,237 79,009 172,8872 193,009 227,698 1,620,453
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Springview 1 750 136,545 206,876 200,156 138,954 194,467 182,127 100,240 172,127 180,063 215,636 153,846 229,093 2,110,130
2 750 71,437 184,764 198,938 206,012 204,515 185,130 98,171 163,638 177,210 240,035 226,528 258,956 2,215,334
 1999 Total 5,945,917
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 2000
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 2 1,320 196,847 275,506 181,520 233,112 216,446 225,574 108,763 113,985 226,821 227,421 230,351 248,535 2,484,880
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Springview 1 750 209,850 208,263 194,786 240,798 183,716 183,862 124,178 193,794 221,778 201,402 293,937 224,829 2,481,193
2 750 206,697 197,716 191,731 193,039 187,787 235,668 126,019 193,567 220,552 198,454 296,399 233,216 2,480,845
 2000 Total 7,446,918
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 2001
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 2 1,320 227,121 168,961 169,808 321,880 293,406 201,781 116,183 103,629 142,514 303,695 279,902 287,265 2,616,146
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Springview 1 750 283,678 128,094 166,948 199,742 216,180 177,089 140,976 153,663 186,859 243,888 274,675 284,108 2,455,900
2 750 290,767 182,124 150,770 204,550 223,951 182,981 145,739 155,697 189,332 249,349 260,903 280,904 2,517,067
  Omaha Public Power District/Valmont Industries
  Valley 1 660                       5,600 5,600
 2001 Total 7,594,713
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 2002
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 2 1,320 339,153 344,239 356,506 347,715 270,551 280,698 160,168 171,367 186,951 200,128 206,373 216,718 3,080,568
  Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska
  Kimball 1 - 7 10,500                   1,550,107 3,363,398 3,516,746 8,430,251
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Springview 1 750 266,695 271,492 207,371 228,591 218,283 183,625 190,295 212,422 245,822 166,489 254,721 211,447 2,657,253
2 750 262,633 237,979 181,540 201,134 221,964 207,249 197,915 217,077 244,515 120,983 237,204 219,446 2,549,639
  Omaha Public Power District/Valmont Industries
  Valley3 1 660 70,300 72,100 79,300 85,000 85,000 87,400 58,600 56,100 33,800       627,600
 2002 Total 17,345,311
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 2003
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 2 1,320 267,145 224,965 325,392 311,966 203,266 163,985 166,409 98,569 183,033 248,616 223,339 271,522 2,688,206
  Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska
  Kimball 1 - 7 10,500 3,530,187 2,526,762 3,087,610 2,891,660 2,145,370 1,810,228 1,416,479 1,493,846 1,980,629 2,780,816 3,213,839 3,840,902 30,718,328
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Springview 1 750 185,296 147,922 248,915 240,567 213,240 161,420 163,980 177,697 242,738 156,850 239,148 270,778 2,448,551
2 750 219,843 169,682 240,863 238,451 192,777 154,489 164,666 176,087 239,616 96,972 95,289 262,933 2,251,668
  Omaha Public Power District/Valmont Industries
  Valley3 1 660           44,400 55,200 17,000 107,600 89,600 112,500 125,500 551,800
 2003 Total 38,911,354
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 2004
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 2 1,320 246,791 271,309 349,335 272,856 283,379 153,601 80,449 95,991 230,853 246,015 225,241 277,691 2,733,511
  Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska
  Kimball 1 - 7 10,500 3,102,718 2,895,685 3,498,010 2,301,960 2,474,475 1,809,036 1,517,453 1,546,624 2,193,871 2,504,767 3,190,926 4,548,209 31,583,734
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Springview 1 750 198,216 229,775 280,338 202,312 179,684 137,259 117,921 99,609 238,113 207,857 184,176 211,487 2,286,747
2 750 190,895 228,604 275,746 15,537 64,324 143,451 107,702 71,854 42,177 136,798 75,827 222,152 1,575,067
  Omaha Public Power District/Valmont Industries
  Valley 1 660 119,500 127,900 165,300 123,200 140,300 57,400 30,800 54,900 113,300 99,400 88,900 134,200 1,255,100
 2004 Total 39,434,159
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 2005
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 2 1,320 165,130 207,299 300,542 305,126 281,556 237,280 196,440 95,078 212,706 243,517 334,236 263,162 2,842,072
  Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska
  Kimball 1 - 7 10,500 2,591,917 2,338,722 3,663,255 2,871,255 2,120,927 1,853,683 1,372,623 1,308,859 1,692,067 2,350,747 3,507,865 3,663,751 29,335,671
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Ainsworth 1 - 36 59,400                   18,281,000 20,440,000 21,146,000 59,867,000
  Springview 1 750 213,629 156,765 197,649 232,352 164,457 157,328 61,853 111,543 160,270 196,131 231,100 225,044 2,108,121
2 750 209,727 157,913 176,477 186,729 230,150 188,447 66,228 119,158 220,327 195,079 247,307 149,920 2,147,462
  Omaha Public Power District/Valmont Industries
  Valley 1 660 95,800 72,300 126,700 133,600 117,500 99,000 77,500 29,000 95,800 107,800 149,200 102,100 1,206,300
 2005 Total 97,506,626
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 2006
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 2 1,320 311,140 255,364 353,801 311,664 304,399 161,088 119,229 116,141 194,876 263,150 246,267 226,950 2,864,069
  Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska
  Kimball 1 - 7 10,500 4,139,405 3,322,983 2,216,841 2,278,373 2,229,983 1,725,577 1,566,236 1,718,322 2,068,342 2,732,165 3,003,825 4,174,206 31,176,258
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Ainsworth 1 - 36 59,400 24,226,513 18,064,000 20,047,944 21,586,555 18,220,608 13,521,207 17,084,697 15,963,717 15,780,849 19,087,887 19,504,863 20,457,528 223,546,368
  Springview 1 750 211,093 28,585 243,722 252,823 205,697 133,549 82,237 99,817 96,301 207,979 187,242 40,764 1,789,809
2 750 259,737 210,345 264,411 238,294 194,539 32,720 41,051 102,096 118,755 167,799 149,129 191,569 1,970,445
  Omaha Public Power District/Valmont Industries
  Valley 1 660 146,100 113,200 160,300 143,400 150,300 71,200 44,400 55,200 82,400 114,400 111,935 108,125 1,300,960
 2006 Total 262,647,909
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 2007
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 2 1,320 297,174 215,770 293,037 312,163 253,639 144,523 84,291 160,900 242,907 257,501 267,366 187,183 2,716,454
  Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska
  Kimball 1 - 7 10,500 4,074,405 2,575,575 3,473,549 2,601,976 2,383,538 2,084,590 1,139,464 1,279,294 2,106,913 2,421,773 2,632,169 3,236,015 30,009,261
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Ainsworth 1 - 36 59,400 26,161,128 12,779,088 18,293,961 15,436,449 14,201,565 14,342,664 13,095,831 10,285,464 11,945,955 14,448,693 16,135,329 14,998,200 182,124,327
  Springview4 1 750 81,278 118,868 118,082 40,270 237,528 160,708 150,339 10,411         917,484
2 750 267,281 167,026 166,016 159,086 175,386 193,511 136,621 9,577         1,274,504
  Omaha Public Power District/Valmont Industries
  Valley 1 660 150,371 101,949 141,064 166,445 112,994 78,553 36,132 51,487 112,958 109,799 113,915 69,027 1,244,694
 2007 Total 218,286,724
 Year
  Company
  Location

Turbines

Capacity
(kW)

Jan
(kWh)

Feb
(kWh)

Mar
(kWh)

Apr
(kWh)

May
(kWh)

Jun
(kWh)

Jul
(kWh)

Aug
(kWh)

Sep
(kWh)

Oct
(kWh)

Nov
(kWh)

Dec
(kWh)

Annual
Total
(kWh)

 2008
  Lincoln Electric System
  Salt Valley 1 & 2 1,320 283,031 215,332 286,841 384,631 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
  Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska
  Kimball 1 - 7 10,500 3,612,387 3,224,870 3,014,682 2,659,822 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
  Nebraska Public Power District
  Ainsworth 1 - 36 59,400 18,286,212 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
  Omaha Public Power District/Valmont Industries
  Valley 1 660 129,474 114,261 129,554 179,205 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
 2008 Total NA

Sources:  Lincoln Electric System, Lincoln, NE.  Nebraska Energy Office, Lincoln, NE.  Nebraska Municipal Power Pool, Lincoln, NE.  Nebraska Public Power District, Columbus, NE.  Omaha Public Power District, Omaha, NE.  TVP Stats Bulletin.  U.S. Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA, and Washington, DC.  Inventory of Electric Utility Power Plants in the United States.  Energy Information Administration, Washington, DC.


Notes:  Numbers represent net generation.  NA = Not Available.  Totals may not equal the sum of the components due to independent rounding.  Numbers in red have been revised.
1 Springview's numbers for December 1998 are totals for October, November, and December.
2 Salt Valley's turbine 2 became operational in October 1999.  Numbers for both turbines are combined starting with October 1999.
3 Valmont dismantled the Valley wind turbine and tower in October, 2002; it was back on line in June 2003.
4 Nebraska Public Power District retired the Springview wind turbines in August 2007.


This table was updated on May 16, 2008.  Typically, there is one month between updates.

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