Kansas Wind Energy

Situated in the heartland of the country, Kansas is a state with lots of wind energy potential. Here is a guide to Kansas wind energy efforts.

Kansas Wind Energy

The United States is currently the world’s third largest producer of wind energy, trailing behind only Germany and Spain. Wind energy producing wind farms now create over 10,000 kilowatts of electricity a year, enough to supply around 2.5 million homes with energy. The cost of producing electricity from wind energy has declined dramatically in the last 25 years, from an expense of 45 cents per kilowatt-hour in 1980 to the current price of three to five cents per kilowatt-hour. The relative inexpensiveness of wind energy has lead many states to install wind farms to try to meet some of their energy needs.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, Kansas wind energy amounts rank this state as the third highest wind energy producing state in the US. Only Texas and North Dakota produce more wind powered electricity. The largest Kansas wind energy producing wind farm is located in Gray County, and it is known as the Gray County Wind Farm. This area contains 170 wind turbines, which are capable of generating 110 megawatts of energy per year. This is enough energy to provide electricity to 33,000 average homes in the state.

The amount of harmful carbon dioxide emissions that a coal-fired energy plant producing the same amount (110 megawatts) of energy would be about 600 tons, meaning that the Gray County Wind Farm reduces pollution by that amount annually. This wind farm was built in 2001 over a 12,000 acre site near Montezuma, Kansas. Only six of those acres actually house turbines and related equipment.

There are other Kansas wind energy sites throughout the state. The Westar Wind/Westar Energy project includes the first two wind turbines that were installed in the state of Kansas for commercial energy production. Placed at the Jeffrey Energy Center in 1999, the two turbines produce 2.9 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which is enough to energy 300 homes, with the land around the turbines still being used for farming purposes.

While Kansas is not the United States’ largest wind energy producer, it is definitely a major contributor to the country’s wind energy resources. The capabilities of the wind energy found in Kansas, North Dakota and Texas alone are enough to energy the entire US, so once wind energy is fully harnessed, we will as a nation be able to cut down drastically on our reliance on fossil fuels.

Solar power