Iowa's Ida and O'Brien counties will be home to two new MidAmerican Energy Co. wind farms.
According to the company, construction on the new Ida Grove and O'Brien wind farms will begin in spring 2016. The wind farms will add up to 552 MW of wind generation capacity. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016.
The Ida Grove project will be the first wind farm built in Ida County, while O'Brien will become the second major development for MidAmerican Energy in O'Brien County. The company's Highland Wind Farm in O'Brien County is the largest land-based wind farm currently under construction in the U.S. and will be MidAmerican Energy's largest wind farm upon completion later this year.
Plans call for approximately 134 turbines and up to 301 MW of generation capacity at the new Ida Grove wind farm and approximately 104 turbines and 250 MW of generation capacity at the new O'Brien wind farm.
With the addition of the Ida Grove and O'Brien wind farms, MidAmerican Energy will operate wind farms in 23 Iowa counties. By the end of 2016, MidAmerican Energy's wind assets in Iowa will include more than 2,000 turbines.
