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Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, Nov. 114, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 125 ~ 30 of 66
MidAmerican plans to spend $1B to update wind turbines
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — MidAmerican Energy says it plans to spend $1 billion updating more than 700 older wind turbines across Iowa.
The turbines will be retro tted with newer, more ef cient components, including longer blades, to ex- tend their lifespans an estimated 20 years, said Spencer Moore, MidAmerican Energy’s vice president of generation.
Each upgraded turbine will annually net between 19 and 28 percent more energy, the company said.
The Des Moines Register reports that the project is beginning with MidAmerican’s rst three wind farms, built in 2004 in northern Iowa. The entire project will likely update seven wind farms.
The utility company’s turbines are designed so they can be upgraded as they age and technology ad- vances, Moore said. The old equipment from the wind farms will likely get recycled by the manufacturer, General Electric.
Construction crews often work overnight, when winds die down. Work stops when the wind exceeds 20 mph.
The company also plans to add 1,000 more turbines around the state. That project is estimated to cost $3.9 billion. The company currently has more than 2,000 turbines in Iowa.
The company expects the upgrades and expansion will allow it to supply about 95 percent of its cus- tomer’s energy needs through wind. The utility said wind energy helps keep electricity costs low.
Both projects are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020, before the United States’ production tax credits are phased out. A U.S. House tax bill released last month looks to roll back the credits.
Iowa got almost 37 percent of its energy last year from wind.
Reclaim Appalachia sees potential for reclaimed mine sites By ANDREA LANNOM, The Register-Herald
TAMARACK, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia could produce pro table niche crops grown on reclaimed mine sites.
At least that’s what Nathan Hall, president of Reclaim Appalachia envisions.
Hall spoke about uses for reclaimed sites at the West Virginia Good Jobs Conference last Tuesday at Tamarack. The goal of the conference is to bring together entrepreneurs, funders, local community lead- ers and government agencies to trade ideas, provide mentorship and support entrepreneurs in Southern West Virginia.
Reclaim’s rst operational site is located next to the Buck Harless Wood Products Industrial Park in Holden, a property owned by the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority.
Reclaim and Refresh Appalachia have partnered to develop an active commercial agroforestry site, which is on about 50 acres of land that was mined and reclaimed in the late 1990s, managing crops including blackberries, hazelnuts, lavender and pawpaws. The site also has animals including chickens, hogs, goats and honeybees, which are managed with “rotational grazing techniques.”
Hall said he rst started work on the Mingo County site early last year. The business has ve full time crew members and one crew chief. Of those six employees, four are former coal miners.
According to Reclaim’s website, the organization intends to replicate the model on more mined proper- ties and on a larger scale.
“With any post surface mine landscape, this model works well,” Hall said. “It’s especially suited to areas where it’s not feasible to turn into a big shopping center or a golf course.”
Hall said the model is designed to be long term and said sites like these may not see pro t until a few years down the road.
“This approach is never pro table in year one or even year two,” he said. “It’s more of a three- ve year horizon to get into the black. A lot of agricultural investments like this are longer term.
“With animals, you have to establish a breeding stock. It takes some time before you’re able to send animals to slaughter,” Hall said. “And with perennial plants, it takes a year of establishment to get fruit