The Glacier Wind Farm spans southwest Glacier County and southeast Toole County in northern Montana. With a total generating capacity of 210 megawatts (MW), it became the largest wind farm in the state when the second construction phase came online at the end of 2009. A portion of the electricity is purchased by San Diego Gas and Electric.
Facility details
The facility is located off of U.S. Highway 2 south of the unincorporated community of Ethridge, between the cities of Cut Bank and Shelby, and spans about 25,000 acres. It was constructed in two phases by Mortenson Construction, starting with a groundbreaking celebration in July 2007. The completed facility consists of 140 wind turbines and their foundations, electrical substations, maintenance buildings, access roads, underground collection lines, and overhead transmission lines.
Phase I entered service in October 2008 and uses 71 Acciona 1.7 MW turbines. Phase II came online in October 2009 and uses an additional 69 Acciona 1.7 MW turbines. The 189 MW Rim Rock Wind Farm was subsequently completed about 15 miles to the north in 2012. In addition to the hundreds of construction jobs and millions of dollars in cumulative land lease payments and tax revenues, about 10-15 permanent local jobs were also created to maintain the facilities over their lifetime.
Electricity production
+Glacier Wind Farm Electricity Generation (MW·h) Year Glacier I(106.5 MW) Glacier II(103.5 MW) Total Annual MW·h 2009 249,079 43,184* 292,263 2010 211,679 215,595 427,274 2011 308,543 321,846 630,389 2012 290,267 286,948 577,215 2013 284,762 276,187 560,949 2014 272,897 259,192 532,089 2015 260,622 258,022 518,644 2016 284,566 290,305 574,871 2017 287,367 286,219 573,586 2018 260,131 248,208 508,339 2019 254,813 264,259 519,072Average Annual Production (years 2010–2019) → 542,243Average Capacity Factor (years 2010–2019) ---> 29.5% (*) partial year of operation
See also
Wind power in Montana List of wind farms in the United States
References
External links Glacier Wind Project