Benton Cty

Fowler Ridge

Meadow Lake

Hoosier

Union City

Headwaters

Carthage

Haubstadt

Kokomo

LaGrange

Wildcat I

Wind power projects in Indiana
  Operating
  Under construction
  Stand Alone Facilities

Wind power in Indiana was limited to a few small water-pumping windmills on farms until 2008 with construction of Indiana's first utility-scale wind power facility, Goodland (phase I) with a nameplate capacity of 130 MW. As of September 2017, Indiana had a total of 1897 MW of wind power capacity installed, ranking it 12th among U.S. states.^[1] Wind power was responsible for 4.8% of in-state electricity production in 2016.^[2]

The main utility-scale development up to 2016 has been in the northwest part of the state in Benton, White, and Jasper Counties. As of May 2017, Fowler Ridge Wind Farm was completed and has a final nameplate capacity of 750 MW, making it the Midwest's largest wind farm, and one of the largest in the world. Wind energy growth in Indiana continues, with 15 projects currently online, continually increasing the total installed capacity of the state.^[3][4]

Installed capacity and wind resources

The following table compares the growth in wind power installed nameplate capacity in MW for Indiana and the entire United States from 2007 through 2019.^[5][6][7]

Year Indiana US 2007 0 16,907 2008 130.5 25,410 2009 1,036 34,863 2010 1,339.2 40,267 2011 1,340 46,916 2012 1,543 60,005 2013 1,544 61,107 2014 1,745 65,880 2015 1,895 74,471 2016 1,895 82,171 2017 2,117 89,078 2018 2,317 96,487 2019 2,317 105,583 2020 2,968 122,478	Installed capacity by state as of 2018 (animated map of installed capacity growth)	Average annual wind power density map for Indiana at 50m above ground

As of 2017 the state of Indiana ranks 12th in installed wind capacity and number of wind turbines with 1,897 MW and 1,096 turbines, respectively. Together, these yield 4.82% of the total in-state electricity production (~4,368,000 MWh or enough to power ~453,000 homes).^[8][3] To put this number into perspective, Indiana consumed 104.514 TWh of electricity in 2015. However, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory predicts wind energy growth in Indiana, stating the wind potential (from turbines with an 80 m hub height) could reach levels upwards of 40,259 MW by 2030. This predicted potential growth is starting to materialize now, with 15 wind projects currently online in the state.^[3]

Indiana also has some offshore wind resources in the shallows of Lake Michigan along its shoreline.^[9][10][11] However, offshore wind power development is far behind onshore development in the United States generally, because onshore development is cheaper and the United States has an abundance of suitable onshore sites to develop. Indiana has no offshore wind farms as of 2024.

Wind generation

Indiana Wind Generation in 2015

  Teal background indicates the largest wind generation month for the year.

  Green background indicates the largest wind generation month to date.

Source:^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

As this graph indicates, Indiana generally tends to have more steady wind from Fall to Spring months, evidenced by the fact that even in Southern Indiana, wind chill is a common factor of outside conditions. October and November, for example often see large variances in temperature, causing more days of strong gusty winds, thereby generating more wind electricity production. The same happens in March and April. But often in the Summer months the air tends to stagnate, resulting in less wind electricity production.

Wind farms

The following table of wind farms and utility-scale wind power developments uses data from the AWEA,^[5] the State of Indiana,^[17] and other sources. For the larger projects constructed in phases, the table lists separate information for each phase. The name of each wind farm is the name used by the energy company when referring to the farm. The Wind Farm suffix is implied and hence removed for brevity. For more details and references for each wind farm, see its article.

Single-unit turbines

In addition to the above wind farms, single stand-alone units have also been built in multiple other locations, mostly at schools. Some of these units were placed to test the environment for future wind energy development.^[19][20][21]

Environmental impact

According to the USDOE, each 1000 MW of wind power capacity installed in Indiana will annually save 1,684 million gallons of water and eliminate 3.1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.^[22]

For comparison, Indiana emitted a total of 1,883 lbs/MWh of carbon dioxide in 2015.^[23][24]

As of March 2010 Indiana lacked a renewable energy standard, unlike several other midwestern states: Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Iowa.^[25] Nevertheless, Indiana's wind power development had outpaced that of Ohio and Michigan.

Government policies and initiatives

The Indiana State government, along with the Federal Government, has put many incentives in place for the use of wind energy. The three main categories of incentives are 1) utility, 2) state, and 3) federal.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wind power in Indiana.

• Solar power in Indiana
• Index of Indiana-related articles
• Wind power in the United States
• Renewable energy in the United States
• Outline of Indiana

References