Second Nebraska Wind Conference a Success
The Nebraska Wind Working Group hosted the second annual Wind Power Conference at the Kearney Holiday Inn and Convention Center November 9-10, 2009. The conference featured nationally known wind experts and sessions on a wide range of wind related topics including: landowner rights, transmission, project siting, county planning and zoning, economic development benefits, small wind challenges and state and federal policy updates. Conference attendees learned about the current state of wind development in Nebraska from 60 speakers and sessions presenters. Governor Dave Heineman gave the keynote address on November 9th.
Conference proceedings and links to presentations are on the Wind Conference web page.
The sessions during the conference covered all aspects of utility scale and small scale wind energy. Conference-goers learned all aspects of wind energy from net metering legislation and planning to funding and land leases.
According to the American Wind Energy Association, Nebraska is ranked sixth in the nation with the greatest energy potential from wind power. In 2008, more than 200 million kilowatthours were generated by wind energy in Nebraska. The state has 73 operational wind turbines with a total capacity of 152.88 megawatts. The average annual output could power about 46,500 homes.