Windy Day? Great For Iowa Energy Production!

DES MOINES, IA — Iowa is closing in on a milestone and by spring will have its 4,000th wind turbine operating in the state. Churning quietly in rural fields, the massive turbines represent an industry that has grown rapidly over the past decade. Today, more than one-third of the state's power is sourced by wind turbines.

And that energy, in turn, is attracting big business. Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company wouldn’t have chosen Iowa for a $1.4 billion project without renewable energy, the Iowa Wind Energy Association said. Apple will build a data center in Waukee, with work starting in 2018 and completion expected by 2020 — the timeline for Iowa hitting another benchmark of 40 percent of power statewide coming from wind energy.

"Iowa has taken advantage of the benefits wind energy provides, and now, decisions to break ground from top companies such as Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft will only continue to support and foster Iowa’s wind energy vision," the IWEA says on its website.

Iowa got its start in wind energy in 1983, but the resource was barely noticeable in its first two decades. The Iowa Utilities Board, which regulates wind energy usage, said that by 2005 only 5.1 percent of Iowa's total electric generation came from wind. But a decade later that had risen to 31.5 percent — an increase from 2.3 million to 17.8 million megawatts of wind electric generation. Today 36 percent of Iowa's electricity is produced by wind.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, while the U.S. is the world leader in wind energy and is on target to supply 20 percent of electricity in the country by 2030, Iowa leads the country with current wind energy usage. In wind energy production, only Texas outpaces Iowa.

Now, milestones are coming quickly. In addition to the state's 4,000th turbine — expected in early 2018 — MidAmerican Energy, the state's largest utility, told KCCI-TV last month that strong fall winds were able for the first time to produce all the energy needed for Iowa's 670,000 electric customers.

MidAmerican's goal is to produce all of its power using renewable resources. The company is in the midst of a 1,000 turbine project called Wind XI, which will add 2,000 megawatts of wind generation capacity. Sites in Greene, Boone and Mahaska counties were selected this year and the utility is working on additional sites for construction in 2018 and 2019.

How it works

Are wind turbines storing energy or operating with energy as it's generated? Here's how a wind turbine works, according to the U.S. Department of Energy:

The energy in the wind turns the propeller-like blades around a rotor connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator to create electricity.

>>Click here to see a Department of Energy video on how wind energy is produced

So how do wind turbines make electricity? A wind turbine works the opposite of a fan: instead of using electricity to generate wind as a fan does, the turbine uses wind to create energy. The terms "wind energy" or "wind power" describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power, which can be used for specific tasks, or a generator can convert the mechanical power into electricity.

Image via Pixabay