Wind farm looking for investors

WHITE LAKE, SOUTH DAKOTA - A $23 million, seven-turbine wind farm to be built next to a larger 101-turbine project near White Lake is opening up investment opportunities for South Dakota residents.

The South Dakota Wind Partners farm will be built, operated and maintained by North Dakota-based Basin Electric Power Cooperative, and Basin will buy the 10.5 megawatts of electricity it will produce.

The smaller farm will be built next to Basin's $363 million PrairieWinds SD1 project, which will encompass 37,000 acres in parts of Aurora, Jerauld and Brule counties.

South Dakota residents can invest in the side project with a minimum of $15,000.

Jim Burg, chairman of South Dakota Wind Partners' board of managers, said the goal is to raise $16 million with the offering.

"It will be available for any person in South Dakota to be able to invest in this project," Burg said. "That's what we're really, really excited about."

The federal government will cover the remaining 30 percent of the project's cost under a provision in the stimulus package. To qualify for the federal assistance, 5 percent of the project's construction must be completed by the end of the year.

The East River Electric Power Cooperative, the South Dakota Corn Growers, the South Dakota Farmers Union and the South Dakota Farm Bureau each contributed $20,000 to the effort and each is contributing three members to the board.

Mike Held, chief executive of the South Dakota Farm Bureau, said wind projects have been great for the state because its wind-rich areas are often in communities that struggle with rural economic development.

"We're at the fringe of the corn belt. We don't get any opportunity for ethanol plants or those kinds of things," Held said. "But some of those areas are the best wind areas in the state."

Basin will send the power to other cooperatives in the Upper Great Plains through Western Area Power Administration transmission lines.

"This is product that is delivered at home for customers who live in the region," said Jeff Nelson, general manager of East River Electric.

The 1.5-megawatt GE turbines are expect to start spinning by the second or third quarter of 2011.

South Dakota Public Utilities commissioners have already granted a permit for the full Basin Electric project.