Meadow Lake Wind Farm at a glance

Location: White County, south of Wolcott; west of Chalmers and Brookston

Dimensions: 12 miles by 12 miles; over 92,000 acres

Status: Phases I to IV operating (2009-2010); More construction to begin in 2017

Nameplate capacity: 500 megawatts (Phases I-IV); 600 MW (by 2018)

Number of turbines: 303 (Phases I-IV); 353 (by 2018)

Power generation: 1,535,606 megawatt-hours annually (Phases I-IV); more than 1,860,000 mWhs (estimated) annually (beginning in 2018)

Number of landowners: Over 400 (Phases I-IV); over 450 (by 2018). The wind farm co-exists with the agricultural land use in the area, allowing farmers to continue growing crops while generating revenue by leasing small parcels of land for the wind turbines.

Size of turbines Phases I-IV: Sizes vary between 395 to 410 feet tall (base of tower to tip of blade with a blade upright at 12 o’clock position); 1.5 MW to 2.1 MW generating capacity

Size of turbines in the coming addition: 493 feet tall (base of tower to tip of blade with a blade upright at 12 o’clock position); 2 megawatt generating capacity

Owner/operator: EDP Renewables North America, based in Houston, Texas

Cooperative power purchasers: Hoosier Energy REC — 25 MW (beginning in 2018); 75 MW (beginning in 2020); Wabash Valley Power Association — 25 MW (beginning in 2018); purchase contracts are for 20 years

Environmental benefits: Prevents the annual emission of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas blamed for global climate change), nitrogen oxide (causes smog) and sulfur dioxide (causes acid rain). Annually, Phases I-IV are equivalent to taking about 183,000 cars off the road (using EPA CO₂ equivalency conversion data).

Breezing around Meadow Lake Wind Farm

Here are some photos from around southwestern White County.