The English Farms Wind Project is located approximately 60 miles east of Des Moines, Iowa, in the high-yielding corn and soybean farmlands of Poweshiek County.
The wind farm is expected to have a capacity of 170 MW which would produce enough wind energy to power approximately 50,000 homes at peak production. When completed, it will offset approximately 430,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
The project represents an approximate $250 million infrastructure investment, and will have additional and exponential economic impacts to the Poweshiek County community. Economic impacts include property taxes generated for local government and taxing authorities, lease payments made to project landowners, use and support of local businesses and more than 100 temporary construction-related jobs – resulting in a significant economic impact without straining local schools or county infrastructure
Alliant will build and own project. The company received approval in 2016 to add up to 500 MW of wind energy in Iowa and requested a similar wind expansion from the Iowa Utilities Board again in 2017. With these combined projects, customers will get more than one-third of their energy from wind by the end of 2020.
Construction is expected to begin in 2018 and will be comprised of 69 General Electric 2.5 MW and 2.3 MW wind turbines, built on 15,180 acres of participating properties. The English Farms Wind Project will interconnect to the existing Parnell-Poweshiek 161 kV transmission line.
“It has been extremely rewarding to work with Poweshiek County officials, landowners and community members,” said Jeff Hammond, senior development manager for Tradewind Energy. “We are very proud to partner with Alliant Energy, which is contributing to the transformation of Iowa’s electric power supply.”
“Wind energy is a win-win-win for customers, communities and local landowners,” said Doug Kopp, president of Alliant Energy’s Iowa energy company.
