MidAmerican Energy plans to build new wind farms in Boone, Greene and Mahaska counties in Iowa. The two new wind farms will be the first Wind XI project sites selected for construction. MidAmerican Energy plans to begin construction in April on the Beaver Creek wind project in Boone and Greene counties and the Prairie wind project in Mahaska County, with completion scheduled for the end of 2017.
The wind farms are part of MidAmerican Energy’s Wind XI project and will add 338MW of new wind generation capacity in Iowa: the Beaver Creek wind project will consist of 85 turbines, which will add 170MW of wind generation capacity and the Prairie wind project will have 84 turbines and add 168MW of wind generation capacity. MidAmerican Energy announced plans in April 2016 to invest US$ 3.6 billion for the Wind XI project. The project calls for the construction of 1,000 wind turbines that will add 2,000MW of wind generation capacity in Iowa. The company is working with developers, county officials and landowners at potential wind farm sites in other Iowa counties for the balance of the Wind XI project. Construction on these projects would start in 2018 and 2019, and sites will be announced at a later date. Construction on the entire Wind XI project is expected to be complete by December 2019.
