Fourth Highest Wind Potential of all States...

Two New Wind Farms Add to Nebraska's Renewable Energy Portfolio

In Fillmore County, between Grafton and Fairmont, three new wind turbines have made their home south of Highway 6, each standing at 473 feet.

Fillmore County Wind Farm
Fillmore County Wind Farm, photo courtesy Clay County News

According to Bluestem Energy Solutions — the company supplying the wind farm — the 6.9-megawatt wind farm was completed in July and will be supplying "clean" electricity to the Perennial Public Power District's distribution system. Wind power from the Filmore County project is capable of meeting the power needs of more than 2,000 households for a year.

The distribution-connected generation project is the central feature of the public-private partnership between Perennial and Bluestem, which is expected to drive economic development well beyond the construction phase.

For example, Perennial Public Power serves an ethanol plant near the village of Fairmont; wind energy from the Bluestem project will allow the ethanol producer to sell fuel to buyers in California and other states at a premium, thanks to cap-and-trade-style programs designed to cut carbon emissions.

Meanwhile, in Kimball County, a new wind farm was completed in June, 2018 by Aspenall Energies LLC and the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN).

The the 30 MW Kimball Wind Farm is made up of 12 - 2.5 megaWatt General Electric turbines, each standing at 485 feet. Located outside of Kimball, the new facility is expected to generate over 125,000 MWh annually to supply enough energy to power approximately 11,000 homes.

Kimball Wind replaces a smaller, 10.5 MW facility, which was decommissioned in 2017.


Kimball County Wind Farm

In addition to delivering energy to the Nebraska electric grid, the Kimball wind facility will also provide tax revenue to the State of Nebraska, Kimball County and Kimball County schools.