Twin Groves Wind Farm is a wind farm

Wind farm

A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...

 in the U.S. state of Illinois near the villages Arrowsmith

Arrowsmith, Illinois

Arrowsmith is a village in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 294 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bloomington–Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Arrowsmith is located at ....

, Saybrook

Saybrook, Illinois

Saybrook is a village in southeast McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 693 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bloomington–Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, and Ellsworth

Ellsworth, Illinois

Ellsworth is a village in Dawson Township, McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 195 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the Bloomington–Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 in McLean County

McLean County, Illinois

McLean County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 169,572, which is an increase of 12.7% from 150,433 in 2000. Its county seat is...

. It consists of 240 operating wind turbines. Each wind turbine stands 270 ft (65.23 m) tall and has three 85 ft (35.91 m) long blades. The wind farm was constructed from 2007 to February 2008. Twin Groves was the largest utility scale wind farm east of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 upon completion.

Description

The Twin Groves Wind Farm lies in eastern McLean County

McLean County, Illinois

McLean County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 169,572, which is an increase of 12.7% from 150,433 in 2000. Its county seat is...

 just east of Bloomington

Bloomington, Illinois

Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...

 on Illinois State Route 9. The wind farm consists of 240 Vestas 1.65 MW wind turbines and is owned and operated by Horizon Wind Energy

Horizon Wind Energy

EDP Renewables North America is a wind energy developer based in Houston, Texas...

. Total cost of Twin Groves was approximately $700 million. The towers are spread out over 22000 acres (89 km²) of McLean County

McLean County, Illinois

McLean County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 169,572, which is an increase of 12.7% from 150,433 in 2000. Its county seat is...

, near the villages of Arrowsmith, Ellsworth, and Saybrook. The current total capacity at Twin Groves Wind Farm is 398 megawatts. The site produces enough power to power about 120,000 homes, or approximately 1.3 billion kilowatt hours annually.

Revenue

150-200 acres or (1%) of the total 22000 acres (89 km²) will be taken up by the turbines. Royalties are paid to owners of the land at $5,000 per wind turbine. The wind farm pays property taxes, of which Ridgeview School District will start collecting $300,000 a year, while Tri-Valley School District will collect between $200,000-$250,000 a year.

Future

With 240 wind turbines already generating power, Horizon Wind Energy

Horizon Wind Energy

EDP Renewables North America is a wind energy developer based in Houston, Texas...

 is considering an additional 170 wind turbines, to bring the total number of turbines to 410. Test wind turbines are being placed in eastern McLean County

McLean County, Illinois

McLean County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 169,572, which is an increase of 12.7% from 150,433 in 2000. Its county seat is...

 to determine if additional wind turbines can be supported. If constructed, power generation estimates for the wind farm increase from 398 megawatts to 680 megawatts.

External links

• Video of turbines in action (requires Adobe Flash
  Adobe Flash
  Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
  
  )
• Twin Groves Wind Farm official site