Dakota Wind Energy Accepted Into Big Stone II Transmission Backfill Study Group

Dakota Wind Energy, along with its managing member, National Wind, has announced that the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (Midwest ISO) has accepted Dakota Wind Energy's 300 MW interconnection request into the Big Stone II Transmission backfill study group.

Midwest ISO has identified wind projects that can utilize, or backfill, the electrical capacity once reserved for the Big Stone II coal plant. As a result, Dakota Wind Energy's interconnection request will move into a more advanced Midwest ISO study phase, in which additional required system upgrades will be identified.

‘Qualifying for Big Stone II backfill status is important for Dakota Wind Energy, since transmission capacity is limited in South Dakota,’ says Ben Kerl, a senior developer of Dakota Wind Energy. ‘We now have an avenue to transmit our project's energy to the market.’

Once all of the upgrades are studied and established, Dakota Wind Energy can enter into a generator interconnection agreement, allowing the company to interconnect the initial 300 MW portion of the Dakota Wind Energy project to the transmission grid.

SOURCE: National Wind LLC