Walleye Wind Farm comes on line next week

All 40 turbines in Rock County’s Walleye Wind Farm are now spinning and sending “test” energy to NextEra’s collector substation, and on Dec. 22 the project will be officially online.
It marks the end of a nearly two-year process of acquiring land, clearing Minnesota regulations, and construction.
For developers, engineers, technicians and workers, it marks the end of another safe construction period for nearly 200 employees who made Rock County their temporary home.
“Rock County and its communities have been great partners,” said project director Mark Lennox of NextEra Energy, which built the wind farm.
He said Walleye Wind’s nameplate capacity of 109 MW will produce enough electricity to power roughly 1,000 homes per turbine per year, or 40,000 homes in a year considering 40 turbines.
What that means in terms of “green” energy is that Minnesota Municipal Power Agency will be able to offset fossil fuel among its total energy resources portfolio.
In terms of production tax credits for Rock County, the turbines will generate $400,000 to $600,000 in annual local tax revenues, nearly $18 million over 30 years.
Meanwhile, Rock County landowners with turbines on their ground will see lease payments of roughly $17,000 per turbine per year, adjusted for inflation, over the 30-year lifetime of the wind farm.
In addition, they and surrounding affected landowners benefit from wind rights leases.
“We’re really confident that this project, over its lifetime, will make a meaningful contribution to the community,” Lennox said.
Walleye Wind Farm comprises a 49-square-mile (31,000 acres) footprint that relies on an Automatic Detection Lighting System to alert aircraft of the 374-foot-tall towers (577 feet to the tip of the blade).
The technology perches atop a radar tower near the five-acre Walleye Wind operations yard where the full-time technicians are based.
As aircraft approach the windfarm’s warning buffer — three miles of the footprint border and roughly 1,500 feet high, the lights are activated.
Once an aircraft clears the boundary, the lights will automatically stop blinking.
However, as the turbines are still gearing up to go online, company officials explain that the lights have been blinking for extended periods after activation.
“It’s a self-learning system, and the radar is still in the process of understanding what’s a big bird and what’s an airplane,” said NextEra spokesperson Sara Cassidy.
“After a few months they’ll automatically go off when aircraft clear the boundaries.”
She said company officials have enjoyed working with Rock County leaders and landowners on the project.
“The ongoing support we’ve received from the community has been amazing,” Cassidy said.
“We’ve been very proud to be part of that community, and I have to say a big ‘thank you’ to all involved.”