# Wind power in Nebraska

Wind power in Nebraska remains largely untapped in comparison with its potential. In the Great Plains, with more than 47,000 farms and open skies it ranks near the top in the United States in its ability to generate energy from wind. As of 2015, the state had not adopted a renewable portfolio standard. Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is one of the state's largest purchasers of wind energy.
In 2016, Nebraska had 1,335 MW of installed wind power generation capacity, producing 10.1% of the electricity generated in-state. This increased to a capacity of 2,142 MW and a 19.92% of generation in 2019.

## Wind for Schools

An initiative of the Department of Energy, the Wind for Schools program supported the construction of small scale wind turbines at schools throughout state to encourages the incorporation of renewable energy education into the science curriculum. In Nebraska, wind turbines were installed at twenty-five K-12 schools, four community colleges and the Wind Applications Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Locations include various elementary and high schools, and community colleges including those Bancroft, Bloomfield, Cedar Rapids, Crawford, Creighton, Diller-Odell High School, Elkhorn Valley, Hastings, Hayes Center, Hyannis, Logan View, Loup City, Merdian-Daykin, Mullen, Norfolk, Norris, Oshkosh, Papillion-LaVista South High School, Pleasanton, Superior, West Holt and Southeast Community College,

## Utility installations

Nebraska's first utility-scale wind project with two 750 kW Zond wind turbines came on-line in 1998 west of Springview and operated until 2007.
| Site | Location | Coordinates | Commissioned | Size (MW) | Turbines: number, type and model | Notes |
| OPPD/Valmont Industries | Douglas, Otoe County | 40°35′35″N 96°23′14″W﻿ / ﻿40.593056°N 96.387222°W﻿ / 40.593056; -96.387222 | 2001 | 0.7 | 2 Vestas V47 | Valmont prototype Omaha Public Power District |
| Kimball Wind Project | near Kimball, Kimball County | | 2002 | 30 | | MEAN |
| Ainsworth Wind Energy | near Ainsworth, Brown | | 2005 | 59.4 | Vestas V82 | Renewable Energy Systems |
| Elkhorn Ridge Wind Farm | Knox | | 2009 | 81.0 | Vestas V90-3.0 | |
| Flat Water Wind Farm | near Humboldt, Richardson | | 2010 | 60.0 | GE 1.5 | Renewable Energy Systems |
| Laredo Ridge Wind Farm | Petersburg, Boone | | 2010 | 80.0 | GE 1.5 xle | |
| Springview II | near Springview, Keya Paha | | 2011 | 3.0 | Vensys 77 | direct-drive turbine |
| TPE Petersburg Wind Farm | near Petersburg, Boone | | 2011 | 40.5 | GE1.5 xle-ess | |
| Broken Bow Wind Farm 1 | Broken Bow, Custer | 41°24′00″N 99°34′24″W﻿ / ﻿41.400029°N 99.573412°W﻿ / 41.400029; -99.573412 | 2012 | 80.0 | GE 1.5sle | |
| Broken Bow Wind Farm 2 | Broken Bow, Custer | | 2012 | 80.0 | 50 GE Energy 1.5sle | Sempra & Con Ed |
| Crofton Bluffs Wind Farm | Crofton, Knox | | 2012 | 42.0 | Vestas V90 | |
| Steele Flats Wind Farm | Steele City and Odell Jefferson & Gage | | 2014 | 75.0 | | |
| Prairie Breeze Wind Farm | Antelope Boone, & Madison | | 2014 | 200.6 | | Invenergy |
| Prairie Breeze II, III | Antelope and Boone Counties | | 2015 | 109.2 | | Invenergy |
| Grande Prairie Wind Farm | O'Neill, Holt | 42°36′29″N 98°25′42″W﻿ / ﻿42.608056°N 98.428333°W﻿ / 42.608056; -98.428333 | 2016 | 400 | 200 Vestas V110-2.0 | BHE Renewables |
| Cottonwood Wind | Webster | 40°14′25″N 98°24′21″W﻿ / ﻿40.240168°N 98.405956°W﻿ / 40.240168; -98.405956 | 2017 | 90 | Siemans VS 2.3 | |
| Kimball Wind Farm | Kimball | | 2018 | 30 | GE | |
| Upstream | | | 2018 | 202 | GE | |
| Rattlesnake Creek | Dixon | | 2018 | 318 | Nordex | |
| Seward Wind Project | Seward , | 40°53′43″N 97°11′43″W﻿ / ﻿40.895297°N 97.195383°W﻿ / 40.895297; -97.195383 | 2018 | 1.7 | GE 1.7 MW | Bluestem Energy Solutions |

## Statistics

Nebraska Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh) :
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2002 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2003 | 40 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 2004 | 36 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 2005 | 98 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 27 | 26 |
| 2006 | 260 | 28 | 21 | 23 | 25 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 22 | 23 | 25 |
| 2007 | 217 | 31 | 15 | 22 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 18 |
| 2008 | 214 | 22 | 18 | 18 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 20 | 28 |
| 2009 | 382 | 24 | 17 | 39 | 43 | 39 | 19 | 21 | 31 | 36 | 39 | 41 | 33 |
| 2010 | 421 | 36 | 28 | 41 | 42 | 39 | 24 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 36 | 38 | 49 |
| 2011 | 1,050 | 60 | 96 | 90 | 101 | 102 | 85 | 63 | 52 | 59 | 96 | 124 | 122 |
| 2012 | 1,283 | 132 | 105 | 115 | 104 | 104 | 102 | 82 | 84 | 80 | 113 | 120 | 142 |
| 2013 | 1,800 | 152 | 143 | 159 | 157 | 156 | 117 | 101 | 107 | 150 | 169 | 210 | 179 |
| 2014 | 2,738 | 225 | 169 | 211 | 223 | 225 | 200 | 184 | 126 | 226 | 281 | 375 | 293 |
| 2015 | 3,179 | 329 | 283 | 284 | 282 | 261 | 187 | 169 | 215 | 271 | 269 | 316 | 313 |
| 2016 | 3,800 | 310 | 308 | 344 | 387 | 263 | 260 | 215 | 209 | 294 | 336 | 336 | 538 |
| 2017 | 5,085 | 434 | 466 | 491 | 464 | 433 | 374 | 285 | 241 | 396 | 511 | 460 | 530 |
| 2018 | 5,549 | 562 | 461 | 523 | 487 | 391 | 468 | 305 | 355 | 466 | 464 | 461 | 606 |
| 2019 | 7,211 | 524 | 490 | 668 | 686 | 575 | 480 | 488 | 411 | 645 | 769 | 749 | 726 |
| 2020 | 9,115 | 724 | 763 | 737 | 713 | 617 | 791 | 623 | 740 | 805 | 826 | 887 | 889 |
| 2021 | 9,719 | 759 | 595 | 946 | 962 | 817 | 618 | 564 | 718 | 772 | 857 | 998 | 1,113 |
| 2022 | 12,545 | 1,090 | 1,077 | 1,293 | 1,264 | 943 | 846 | 727 | 738 | 883 | 1,045 | 1,397 | 1,242 |
| 2023 | 3,538 | 1,053 | 1,263 | 1,222 | | | | | | | | | |