MRES chooses wind energy

We also are committed to installing wind power that is clean and renewable.

MRES added 40 megawatts of renewable energy to its portfolio as the Rugby Wind Project began commercial operation Dec. 1, 2009.

The facility is located north of Rugby in north central North Dakota. In all, the project includes 71 wind generators with a total capacity of 149 megawatts. MRES contracted for 40 megawatts of power from the facility, which was developed by Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., the world's largest provider of wind energy. The project increases the wind power capacity of MRES to 82.4 megawatts.

MRES also derives wind energy from facilities near Worthington, Marshall, and Odin, all in the state of Minnesota. MRES owns the output of four wind turbines at Worthington, Minn., which can produce up to 3.7 megawatts of power. A collection of 19 wind turbines constructed near Marshall and Odin has the potential to produce up to 38.7 megawatts of wind-generated electricity for MRES members.

The Marshall project consists of nine wind turbines capable of producing 18.7 megawatts of energy. The energy produced at the site could power about 6,500 homes. MRES is purchasing all of the energy produced by the Marshall and Odin projects.

The Odin project, which began commercial operations in July of 2008, features 10 two-megawatt wind turbines, and generates about 70,000 megawatt-hours annually. 

Both the Marshall and Odin projects qualify for the State of Minnesota's Community-Based Energy Development program (C-BED), which Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty recommended and the Legislature established in 2007 to optimize local, regional, and state benefits from renewable energy development, and to facilitate widespread development of community-based renewable energy projects throughout the state. The Marshall project is the state's second approved C-BED project. The Odin project is the state's third C-BED project and the largest to date.

A copy of our C-BED Tariff can be found below.