A Missourri Town Runs on Wind Energy

The collaboration between John Deere Wind Energy, Wind Capital Group and the small Missouri town of Rock Port has resulted in what may be the first community in the nation capable of producing enough electricity from wind to meet all of its power needs.


Known as the Loess Hills Wind Farm, four Suzlon 1.25-MW turbines are currently being erected and will deliver 5MW of electricity into the grid that serves the 715 or so households that make up Rock Port, Mo. Missouri Public Utility Alliance, the local power company, will buy any excess electricity generated, and will also be the backup energy supplier when there isn’t enough wind to supply all the power the town needs.


Small projects like Loess Hills often are not feasible, but Rock Port’s nearness to the Cow Branch project, an excellent wind regime on a bluff within the city limits, easy proximity to the power grid and John Deere Wind Energy’s willingness to finance the effort made the Loess Hills project possible.


John Deere began working with the Wind Capital Group last year to develop the Bluegrass Ridge wind farm near Kansas City. That project is expected to begin producing power within the next month. The power generated through this project will be purchased by the Associated Electric Cooperative, a cooperative which serves rural customers in MO, southern IA and OK. AECI was recently named Wind Cooperative of the year by the U.S. Dept. of Energy for its efforts to expand the use of renewable energy in its generation mix.


More recently, the Wind Capital Group and John Deere Wind Energy joined forces again and are in the process of co-developing the 50-megawatt Cow Branch project, the Conception Wind Farm in Nodaway County and of course, the Loess Hills project in Rock Port.


While the Loess Hills project in Rock Port is small when compared to the Bluegrass Ridge project, which will have 24 Suzlon S-88 turbines and the capacity to produce enough power for approximately 30,000 homes, the residents of Rock Port don’t seem to mind.


Loess Hills could be producing electricity this fall.