World's largest wind farm planned for Iowa.

• Author: Rao, Anand
• Position: Environmental Intelligence

Iowa will soon have the world's largest wind farm, if MidAmerican Energy Company, part of Warren Buffet's MidAmerican Energy Holding Company, goes ahead with plans to build a 310 megawatt (MW) wind farm across 200 acres of the state's farmland. With 180 to 200 turbines and a startup cost of $323 million, the project would have the capacity to supply electricity to 85,000 homes when completed in 2006. MidAmerican Energy Holding Company is an active player in the green energy business, generating 15 percent of its electricity with green energy.

The project makes sound business sense to MidAmerican in several respects. Wind isn't subject to drastic price fluctuations of the kind that have haunted natural gas and oil, so its stable generation costs could provide a hedge against fuel-price increases and help MidAmerican to meet its commitment of no rate increase in Iowa until 2010. The cost of electricity generation from wind is expected to be 4.2 cents a kilowatt hour (kWh), including a 1.8 cents-per kWh federal tax credit. The project would also provide the company with a state tax credit for building and owning wind facilities, thanks to a bill signed into law by governor Tom Vilsack two weeks after MidAmerican's announcement of the wind project.

It's not yet clear to what degree the plan reflects a new commitment to clean...