KS Wind Energy
Volume 5, Issue 9 October 2009
Kansas Wind Energy Group Monthly Newsletter
Sierra Club releases wind
Inside this
study for Kansas
Wind farms in central and western Kan-
issue: sas would have substantially helped to
meet high
electricity loads during Kansas City’s
hot summer of 2003, according to a new
Map of proposed and study. Winds speeds, on average, were
strong during July and August of 2003
existing wind projects when area utilities experienced record
in Kansas electricity demand. Had they been in
place at the time, wind farms with state-
of-the-art turbines would have produced
power at a level well above average at
Kansas Wind & three sites studied. The study was per-
Renewable Energy formed by analyzing newly available
“tall tower” wind data mea-
Conference details sured at a height com-
mensurate with the big
turbines now being used in wind farms
in the plains states. The study was done
Wind for Schools in response to concerns expressed by
success stories Kansas utilities that wind power would
in the Great Plains not be available when they needed it
the most, which is during summer heat
waves.
The study was performed by Spec-
trum Technologists, a consultant to the
Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club and
modeled the output of a 1.5 megawatt
General Electric Wind turbine at
sites in Kearny, Logan and Ells-
worth Counties in Kansas. One
particularly interesting result was
that winds were, on average,
stronger on the hottest days in
July and August of 2003 than
on other days. Only on a few
days would the turbines have
performed poorly dur-
ing the afternoon and
evening time
when
loads become ex-
cessive on hot days.
A summary of the report
and the full report can be
obtained on the Kansas
Chapter Website at http://
kansas.sierraclub.org/wind/
wind study.htm.
By Maria Stover

Wind for Schools project pushes on
in Great Plains
Wind Powering America and the
National Renewable Energy Labo-
ratory (NREL) launched the Wind
for Schools project in 2005 by con-
ducting a pilot project in Colorado
that resulted in one small wind tur-
bine installed in Walsenburg, wind
energy curriculum development,
and a great deal of enthusiasm for
the Wind for Schools project’s po-
tential. The Wind for Schools proj-
ect works to replicate the process
piloted in Walsenburg by installing
many more small wind turbines,
engaging local citizens in a wind
energy discussion, and developing
Photographer: Josh Cochran
a knowledge base for wind energy
within schools.
The general approach of the
Wind for Schools project is to
install small wind turbines at rural
elementary and secondary schools
(hosts) while developing Wind Ap-
plication Centers at higher educa-
tion institutions. Teacher training
and hands-on curricula are imple-
mented at each host school to bring
the wind turbine into the classroom
through interactive and interschool
wind-related research tasks. The
students at the Wind Application
Centers assist in the assessment,
design, and installation of the small
A photo of a wind for schools turbine installed
at Greenbush High School, Kansas.
2
wind systems at the host schools,
acting as wind energy consultants.
They also participate in-class work
and other engineering projects in
the wind energy field, preparing
them to enter the wind workforce
once they graduate.
Wind for Schools projects
are currently supported in six Great
Plains states (CO, ID, KS, MT, NE,
SD). At the end of the first year of
full project operation, 17 systems
have been installed at host schools
and over 60 university students
were involved in Wind Application
Center activities.
 3

Proposed and Existing Wind Projects in Kansas

October 2009
Marshall County wind project Nemaha County wind farm
MW 135 MW
Cheyenne Rawlins Decatur Norton Phillips Jewell Republic Washington Marshall ! Nemaha ! Brown
! Smith
Cheyenne County wind farm
40 MW
!Decatur
!Rawlins County
30 MW
County wind farm Smith County wind project
300 MW
Doniphan
300 MW
wnd farm
!
Atchison
Sherman Cloud
Thomas
Sheridan Graham Rooks Osborne Riley Pottawatomie
Sherman County wind project Mitchell Clay
150 MW Solomon Forks wind project Rooks County wind project Meridian Way Wind Farm
! ! 108 MW
! 50 MW ( 200 MW
Jefferson Leavenworth

(! !Thomas
300 MW
County wind project
NE Ellis County wind project
#
7 Jackson

150 MW Lincoln
Wallace Wyandotte
Logan Gove Trego Ellis ! Russell Dickinson (
Hays Wind Project
Smoky Hills Wind Project Ottawa
250 MW
( Munkers Creek Shawnee
100 MW Geary 200 MW
! Saline
! Osage Douglas Johnson
Wabaunsee
Greeley Wichita
( Eagle Rock wind project Lyon Franklin Miami
Scott Lane
!! Ness
! Rush Barton 150 MW
Morris
( Rush County!wind project - 2 Rice McPherson!
Ellsworth
Marion Lyon County wind project
! Ness County wind farm
Chase 250 MW
Central Plains Wind Farm !
200 MW
!49.5 MW !Coffey
99 MW Barton County wind project - 2 Anderson Linn
Hamilton Kearny Finney
Pawnee !150 MW Reno County wind project
Coffey County wind project
.
! Deer Creek wind project
Hodgeman ! Stafford
100 MW
100 MW
! 100 MW

Bear Creek wind farm

!Finney County wind project ! Reno ! Greenwood ! !
405 MW
135 MW Spearville Wind Farm Butler Bourbon
Woodson Allen
! Gray 100 MW Harvey
( Ford ! Reno County wind project
Sedgwick
! Edwards
Pratt
100 MW
Stanton Grant Haskell Gray County Windfarm
! ! ( Elk River Wind Farm
Wilson Neosho
112.2 MW Kiowa
! Kingman 150 MW
Crawford
! ! Elk
Gray County wind project ! Flat Ridge Wind Farm Phase 1

Morton Seward County wind project

101 MW
Barber
100 MW
Sumner Cowley
! Caney River wind project
150 MW
80 MW ! Meade County wind project Elk River II ! Montgomery Labette
( 110 MW
( Comanche Harper
! 300 MW Cherokee
!!
Seward County wind project
Sumner County wind project Chautauqua
800 MW
200 MW
Stevens Seward Meade Clark

Legend For more inf or mation on individual

Status wind pr oject s, go to the Kansas E nergy
Infor mat ion Net work - Wind P roject s page:

§
30 15 0 30 60
Miles Existing ( Status Unknown www.KansasEnergy.org/wind_projects.htm
30 15 0 30 60
Kilometers
Under Construction #
7 No longer operating
Projection Information:
Name: Lambert Conformal Conic ! Proposed
Datum: NAD83 Spheroid GRS 1980
Distance Units: meters

Electrical Transmission Lines also shown

Kansas Wind & Renewable

Energy Conference

Jointly hosted by the State Energy Office

and the Kansas Department of Commerce,
the conference is an opportunity for state
and regional officials and stakeholders to The 10th annual Kansas Wind and
discuss the future of renewable energy in Renewable Energy Conference will
Kansas. be held October 6th-7th at the
Ramada Inn in Topeka, Kansas.
Sign up to receive conference
updates.
When: October 6-7, 2009
Where: Downtown Ramada Inn, Topeka, Kans.