Wind on Minnesota’s southwestern prairie supplies electricity to Minneapolis and St. Paul. At the time this 143-wind turbine, 107 MW project was brought on line in 1998, it was the largest in the U.S. It was superceded by a project in Iowa that began operating in June of 1999. The turbine blades are 50 meters in diameter and mounted on towers 50 meters high. Each 750 kW turbine generates enough electricity for 260 homes. The 143 turbines are expected to produce about 300 GWhr of electricity per year. Minnesota has led the nation in new wind power installations over the past decade, followed closely by Iowa. California still has the largest installed capacity of any state due to the installation of numerous projects in the early 1980s.

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