Wind power in South Dakota facts for kids

Wind resource map of South Dakota

The state of South Dakota is a leader in the U.S. in wind power generation with over 30% of the state's electricity generation coming from wind in 2017. In 2016, South Dakota had 583 turbines with a total capacity of 977 megawatts (MW) of wind generation capacity. In 2019, the capacity increased to 1525 MW.

South Dakota is one of the country's windiest states, and has the potential of installing 882,000 MW, and generating 2,902 billion kWh/year. Just as in Texas, the construction of new wind farms is transmission line limited.

History

South Dakota's first wind farm was the South Dakota Wind Energy Center, built in 2003.

In 2018, 324-foot wind turbines were installed in South Dakota, with a capacity of 2,300 kilowatts.

"As of December 2018, South Dakota had 1,018 megawatts of wind power capacity online and running. Another 200 megawatts of wind energy was under construction, and 673 more megawatts spread across dozens of sites are permitted for production."

Summary statistics

Wind generation percentage

Wind power per capita

Wind power capacity density

South Dakota Wind Generating Capacity by Year Megawatts of generating capacity

South Dakota Wind Generation by Year Million kilowatt-hours of electricity

List of wind farms in South Dakota

This section is transcluded from List of power stations in South Dakota #Wind

See also: Wind power in South Dakota

See also list of farms from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.

Name	Location	Coordinates	Capacity (MW)	Number Of Turbines	Owner	Year Opened	Ref
Aurora County Wind	Aurora County	43°43′08″N 98°45′07″W / 43.7190°N 98.7520°W / 43.7190; -98.7520 (Aurora Wind)	20	9	Con Ed	2018
Beethoven Wind	Bon Homme County	43°09′36″N 98°04′48″W / 43.1600°N 98.0800°W / 43.1600; -98.0800 (Beethoven Wind)	80	43	Northwestern Energy	2015
Brule County Wind	Brule County	43°43′01″N 98°55′19″W / 43.7170°N 98.9220°W / 43.7170; -98.9220 (Brule County Wind)	20	9	Con Ed	2018
Buffalo Ridge Wind	Brookings County	44°31′41″N 96°37′36″W / 44.5281°N 96.6267°W / 44.5281; -96.6267 (Buffalo Ridge Wind)	260	129	Avangrid	2009/2010
Campbell County Wind	Campbell County	45°45′12″N 100°16′30″W / 45.7533°N 100.2750°W / 45.7533; -100.2750 (Campbell County Wind)	97.8	56	Con Ed	2015
Chamberlain Wind	Brule County	43°50′55″N 99°14′51″W / 43.8485°N 99.2476°W / 43.8485; -99.2476 (Chamberlain Wind)	2.6	2	Basin Electric Coop	2002
Coyote Ridge Wind	Brookings County	44°27′00″N 96°33′00″W / 44.4500°N 96.5500°W / 44.4500; -96.5500 (Coyote Ridge Wind)	98	38	WEP Energy Group	2019
Crocker Wind	Clark County	45°03′05″N 97°49′35″W / 45.0515°N 97.8264°W / 45.0515; -97.8264 (Crocker Wind)	200	77	Geronimo Energy	2019
Crowned Ridge Wind	Codington County Grant County	45°09′18″N 96°50′12″W / 45.1549°N 96.8368°W / 45.1549; -96.8368 (Crowned Ridge Wind)	200	87	NextEra Energy	2019
Day County Wind	Day County	45°12′54″N 97°54′20″W / 45.2150°N 97.9056°W / 45.2150; -97.9056 (Day County Wind)	99	66	Nextera Energy	2019
MinnDakota Wind	Brookings County	44°16′00″N 96°20′40″W / 44.2667°N 96.3444°W / 44.2667; -96.3444 (MinnDakota Wind)	54	36	Avangrid	2008
Oak Tree Wind	Clark County	44°56′00″N 97°44′29″W / 44.9333°N 97.7414°W / 44.9333; -97.7414 (Oak Tree Wind)	19.5	11	Con Ed	2014
Prairie Winds	Jerauld County Aurora County Brule County	43°53′11″N 98°47′15″W / 43.8864°N 98.7875°W / 43.8864; -98.7875 (Prairie Winds)	162	101	Basin Electric Coop	2011
Prevailing Wind Park	Bon Homme County Charles Mix County Coddington County	43°02′20″N 97°31′34″W / 43.0390°N 97.5260°W / 43.0390; -97.5260 (Prevailing Wind)	219.6	57	S-Power	2020
South Dakota Wind Energy Center	Hyde County	44°32′57″N 99°30′00″W / 44.5492°N 99.5000°W / 44.5492; -99.5000 (South Dakota Wind)	40.5	27	NextEra Energy	2003
Tatanka Wind Farm	McPherson County	45°56′N 98°58′W / 45.933°N 98.967°W / 45.933; -98.967 (Tatanka Wind Farm)	190 (88.5 in SD)	179 (59 in SD)	Acciona	2008
Tatanka Ridge Wind Farm	Deuel County	44°35′31″N 96°34′34″W / 44.5920°N 96.5760°W / 44.5920; -96.5760 (Tatanka Ridge Wind)	154.8	56	WEC Energy Group Avangrid	2021
Titan Wind Project (Rolling Thunder Wind)	Hand County	44°28′40″N 99°08′02″W / 44.4778°N 99.1339°W / 44.4778; -99.1339 (Rolling Thunder Wind)	25	10	American Electric Power	2009
Triple H Wind Project	Hyde County	44°24′04″N 99°36′14″W / 44.4010°N 99.6038°W / 44.4010; -99.6038 (Triple H Wind)	250	92	ENGIE US	2020
Wessington Springs Wind	Jeraud County	44°00′09″N 98°35′27″W / 44.0025°N 98.5908°W / 44.0025; -98.5908 (Wessington Springs Wind)	51	34	NextEra Energy	2009
Willow Creek Wind	Hand County	44°49′33″N 103°12′27″W / 44.8259°N 103.2074°W / 44.8259; -103.2074 (Willow Creek Wind)	103	38	Ørsted	2020

Wind generation

All across the midwest, the Aermotor Windmill and others like it, have been used for a century for pumping water

South Dakota Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh)
Year	Total	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
2002	4	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2003	43	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	10	14	16
2004	158	13	15	16	13	15	9	9	11	14	15	13	15
2005	159	12	10	13	17	16	13	12	10	14	13	14	15
2006	147	12	12	16	13	14	9	10	11	11	13	12	14
2007	151	16	11	14	12	15	12	10	9	15	14	13	10
2008	146	11	9	10	14	12	9	8	8	10	14	15	26
2009	420	17	25	25	53	45	25	27	33	37	43	41	49
2010	1,371	84	60	99	130	150	102	97	119	132	130	134	134
2011	2,668	183	264	234	263	283	208	149	157	142	253	275	257
2012	2,354	232	182	234	231	218	187	153	145	162	234	206	170
2013	2,688	260	213	230	272	236	201	157	150	202	256	284	227
2014	2,336	258	200	216	221	192	150	155	101	185	217	250	191
2015	2,498	244	193	226	235	213	158	159	185	207	245	251	182
2016	3,714	274	299	338	383	280	288	235	222	305	334	342	414
2017	2,957	252	273	304	285	258	223	161	133	224	295	266	283
2018	2,837	289	238	280	268	204	245	143	182	230	240	244	274
2019	2,789	222	189	257	260	211	180	183	150	247	275	295	320
2020	5,545	337	433	477	424	415	442	337	410	467	532	591	680
2021	9,322	673	583	934	897	786	660	619	793	777	820	896	884
2022	10,325	917	967	1,089	1,070	711	715	683	661	756	919	991	846
2023	2,696	778	996	922

Source:

South Dakota Wind Generation in 2011 and 2012