Global renewable energy company, EDF Energies Nouvelles, through its enXo subsidiary, has commissioned the Chandler, Minn.-based Fenton Wind Farm. The facility, designed by wind-energy architects enXco, includes 137 wind turbines in Murray and Nobles counties and is expected to generate up to 205 megawatts of electricity, making it the largest wind farm in the state.
The facility will join other area wind farms in delivering an estimated 825 megawatts of power to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area for distribution across the state. Xcel’s newly completed transmission lines—a 345-kilovolt line and two 115-kilovolt lines—will transmit the power that is generated.
Wind energy is the world’s fastest-growing energy technology,
according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States had 11,603
megawatts of wind generating capacity as of July 2007. World wind capacity
totaled 74,223 megawatts in 2006, up from 59,091 in 2005. Germany, Spain and the
United States lead the world in installed wind energy capacity.
