Xcel Energy closer to doing away with impediments to wind-generated electricity

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA - Xcel Energy moved closer to eliminating a transmission bottleneck that has hampered the use of wind-generated electricity in Minnesota.

The Minneapolis-based electric and natural gas utility said Minnesota environmental regulators have approved routes for two transmission lines linking wind-powered generators on Buffalo Ridge near Pipestone with the rest of Xcel's distribution system.

Xcel still needs approval from South Dakota regulators and easements from landowners along both proposed lines before construction on the $86 million project can begin. The project is the largest transmission line approved in Minnesota in approximately 20 years, according to Xcel.

Xcel says the new transmission lines are needed because existing lines between Buffalo Ridge and the rest of its system are unable to carry more power.

Wind farms on Buffalo Ridge are able to produce approximately 500 megawatts of power, but the existing lines can transmit 425 megawatts, said Pam Rasmussen, an Xcel official who worked on obtaining the permits from the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board.

The new lines would boost capacity to 825 megawatts. One megawatt is enough to power 1,000 homes, though wind power is less reliable and thus Buffalo Ridge is able to power approximately 150,000 homes, according to Xcel.

The state of Minnesota has mandated that Xcel get 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2015; it now gets 6 percent from those sources.

The company agreed to that requirement in 2003 in exchange for extending the useful life of its Prairie Island nuclear plant by allowing more storage of radioactive waste there. Xcel currently is the No. 2 provider of wind power in the country, with about 830 megawatts.

One of the new lines would be approximately 86 miles long and largely follow Interstate 90 between an Xcel substation near Lakefield and Sioux Falls. The second line would connect a substation at Buffalo Ridge with a new substation in Nobles County, Minn., approximately 40 miles to the southeast.

Xcel hopes to begin construction next year, Rasmussen said.