December 1, 2009

Top Plants: Fowler Ridge Wind Farm, Benton County, Indiana

Angela Neville, JD

Project Overview

When interviewed by POWER in October, representatives of Dominion and BP Wind Energy stated that for reasons of commercial confidentiality, they were unable to comment on the exact cost of construction for Fowler Ridge (Figure 2). However, a standard wind industry cost is approximately $2 million per installed megawatt of capacity, they explained. This cost is consistent with estimates reported in the Wind 2008 Annual Report prepared by the International Energy Agency for U.S. projects completed in 2008.


2.    Tractors and turbines. These turbines provide additional income for some 300 owners of the land where Phases I and II of the Fowler Ridge Wind Farm are situated and have minimal impact on existing farming operations. Courtesy: Dominion and BP Wind Energy

At present, Phase I of the wind farm has 36 full-time employees who monitor and maintain the facility. Once Phase II has been completed, it is expected that an additional 15 full-time employees will be hired to monitor and maintain that phase of the facility.

Dominion and BP Wind Energy representatives also addressed the important issue of the wind farm’s access to transmission lines. Aboveground transmission lines, which will be used by all phases, were constructed in a 25-mile corridor extending from the wind project substations in a southeasterly direction in order to connect to American Electric Power transmission lines located near Montmorenci, Ind. These lines connect into the PJM regional transmission organization grid.

Power from Phase I has been sold under three long-term contracts: two contracts, each for 100 MW with Indiana Michigan Power and Appalachian Power (both subsidiaries of American Electric Power), and one contract for 200 MW with Dominion Energy Marketing Inc., a subsidiary of Dominion. Power from phase two of the project has been sold under four long-term power purchase contracts, each for 50 MW. Three contracts are with operating units of American Electric Power and one is with Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana.