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Existing Kansas Wind Farms

(Projects are listed in order of commercial operation)

updatedMap of Existing and Proposed wind projects in Kansas (PDF-548 kb), Source: Kansas Energy Information Network, May 2009.

new  Kansas Commercial Wind Projects Info (PDF),
Source: Kansas Wind Working Group, January 2009.

newKansas Wind Mapper - Kansas Biological Survey

Westar Wind Farm

Pottawatomie County, Kansas - This project includes Kansas' first commercial-scale wind turbines. In 1999, Westar (then Western Resources) erected two 600 KW turbines in the shadow of the Jeffrey Energy Center coal plant. It is possible that Westar may be looking to dismantle these turbines and sell them. (Feb. 2009)

Gray County Wind Farm

Gray County, Kansas - Kansas' first large-scale wind farm was erected near the town of Montezuma by FPL Energy (now Nexterra Energy) in 2001. It produces 112 MW of electricity from 170 Vestas V-47 wind turbines.

Elk River Wind Project

Butler County, Kansas - Kansas' largest wind farm. This 150 MW wind farm came on-line in December 2005.  A project of Elk River Wind Farm LLC of Larkspur, CA. HMH Energy Resources of Larkspur, Calif. and Greenlight Energy, Inc. of Charlottesville, Virginia  co-developed the project and sold it to PPM Energy, Inc. of Portland, OR.  The one hundred 1.5 MW wind turbines are located several miles South of Beaumont.

On Dec. 13, 2004, it was announced that Empire District Electric utility of Joplin, MO, had contracted with PPM Energy, Inc. to buy 150 MW of electricity from Elk River.

Originally, the Butler County Planning Commission approved the project 5-2 at their Jan. 7, 2003 meeting. The Butler County Commission approved the project, 3-2, at their Jan. 28 meeting. On Nov. 24, 2003, a judge ordered a new vote on the project after throwing out the County Commission's previous decision. On Dec. 16, 2003 the Commission took another vote and approved the project 3-2. (May 2006)

Kansas-Smith Wind projects

Meade County, Kansas - In August 2005, Enertech Wind Systems of Wichita contracted and installed the two-turbine project totaling 240 kw at the Kansas-Smith hog farm in Southwestern Kansas near the town of Plains. The 120 kw Vestas V-20 wind turbines were remanufactured and commissioned by Halus Power Systems of Hayward, California. The energy produced is used to off-set the hog farms' electricity consumption.

Spearville Wind Project

Ford County, Kansas - A project of enXco that is 100.5 MW in size, located north of Hwy 50/56 near Spearville. The Ford Co. Zoning Board approved the project 5-0 on August 25, 2003. The Ford County Commission unanimously approved a conditional use permit and development plan for the project on September 15, 2003. It was announced on December 13, 2005, that enXco would develop and construct the project and utility Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) would own it. The project consists of 67 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines with construction beginning  in April 2006 and finished in August 2006 with the formal dedication in October 2006. (Aug. 31, 2006)

newKCPL may be planning to add a 100-MW expansion at Spearville, and have already received some/all of the turbine parts.  See the Jan. 9, 2009 article below for more. Also, KCP&L has acquired Phase 2 of the project from developer, enXco. (April 2009)

Smoky Hills Wind Farm

Ellsworth/Lincoln Counties, Kansas - A project of Lenexa-based TradeWind Energy and Enel North America is located on the Ellsworth-Lincoln County line. The project involves more than 12,000 acres and could be expanded up to 20,000 acres. Phase I of this project went on-line in January 2008 using 56 Vestas V80 turbines (1.8 MW). Phase II went on-line later in year with 99 GE 1.5 MW turbines. Total project size is around 250 MW.

Buyers of the power from the project include Sunflower Electric of Hays, Midwest Energy (Hays) and Kansas City Board of Public Utilities. (March 11, 2009)

Meridian Way Wind Farm

Cloud County, Kansas - A project of Horizon Wind Energy of Houston, Texas. Phase I and Phase II of the project went on-line in 2008.  Both phases of the project involve Vestas V90 3.0 MW turbines.  Phase I involves 35 turbines and 105 MW, which is sold to Empire District Electric Co. of Joplin, Missouri and Phase II involves 32 turbines and 96 MW of power sold to Westar Energy of Topeka. (March 2009)

Flat Ridge Wind Farm

Barber County, Kansas - A 100 MW wind project with possible expansion to 250 MW.  This project was developed by BP Wind Power and the first 100 MW has been contracted to Westar Energy with both BP and Westar owning 50% of the project each. Construction began in 2008 and commercial operation began in March 2009. (March 7, 2009)

Kansas Wind Projects Under Construction

Central Plains Wind Farm

Wichita County, Kansas - This project was originally proposed as the Sunflower Wind project in 2002-3 for 60-75 wind turbines by wind developer RES Americas and Sunflower Electric Power Corp. utility. In July 2006, it was announced that the project was shelved. In 2007, it was announced that this project was to be built and sold to Westar Energy with construction slated for 2008 and operation for early 2009.  The project will be around 99 MW in size using 33 Vestas V90 (3.0 MW) turbines. (March 2009)

Proposed Kansas Wind Projects

(Projects are listed alphabetically by county)

Deer Creek Wind Project

Anderson County, Kansas - A 200 MW proposed project of TradeWind Energy of Lenexa, KS. Few details of this project have been reported. It's not expected that this project will be built before 2010.

newBarton County Wind Projects

Barton County, Kansas - Two projects are proposed in Barton County, one for 150 MW and the other for 199.5 MW - both with a proposed on-line date of September 2011. Both projects are in the SPP interconnection queue. No other details are currently known. (March 2009)

newIowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska Project

Brown County, Kansas and Richardson County, Neb. - A small project on tribal land is planned using Enertech Wind turbine(s). (March 2009)

Leon Wind Project

Butler County, Kansas - A proposed joint project of Kansas Wind Power LLC (now TradeWind Energy), a Kansas-based company with offices in Lawrence and Overland Park, and Padoma Wind Power of La Jolla, CA. The plan was for 68 wind turbines to be located 3.5 miles south of Leon, 30 miles east of Wichita. Butler County Planning Commission approved the project 6-0. The County Commission denied permission for this project, 4-1. A lawsuit was filed to challenge this decision, though by 2005, it appears this project is dead. (2006)

Rosalia Wind Project

Butler County, Kansas - A proposed 73 turbine project of Zilkha Renewable Energy (now Horizon Wind Energy) to be located East of Rosalia, on either side of US-54. The project proposal  was withdrawn and is currently on hold and probably dead. (2006)

Chase County Wind Project

Chase County, Kansas - A project of FPL Energy of Juno Beach, FL. Few details of the project were reported, though the project was originally planned to be built in Southern Chase County as early as Fall 2004.  This project is located in Gov. Sebelius' "Heart of the Flint Hills" area, and is presumably dead until a new administration is in office. See the September 2 newspaper article in the Chase County Leader-News (PDF - 1.7 MB) for more. The Oct. 4, 2004 Wichita Eagle reported that FPL has shelved the plans for this project for now. (2005)

Cheyenne County Wind Project

Cheyenne County, Kansas - A project of Sunflower Wind LLC, which is proposing a 50 MW wind farm with 4-megawatt hydrogen generation plant and a 5- to 25-MW methane-powered generator to provide power when the wind isn't blowing. Sunflower Wind also has projects near Oberline and Sharon Springs, KS. (August 25, 2007)

Coffey County Wind Project

Coffey County, Kansas - Two 100 MW wind projects applied for interconnection with SPP in 2008 No further information is known at this time. (Oct. 2008)

Elk River II Wind Project

Cowley and Elk Counties, Kansas - Originally proposed by Greenlight Energy, Inc. of Charlottesville, Virginia, This is now a project of BP Alternative Energy, which bought out Greenlight. The project could have as many as 167 wind turbines generating from 200-250 MW of electricity.  Two-thirds of the turbines are planned for Cowley County and will be located in the Northeast corner of the county. Both Cowley and Elk Counties are unzoned.

Caney River Wind Project

Elk County, Kansas - A project of TradeWind Energy of Lenexa, KS, located 10 miles west of Howard. The project will interconnect with a 345 kV transmission line in Elk County and will produce around 150 MW of power. (March 2009)

Ellis County Wind Project

Ellis County, Kansas - Originally, a proposed 100-200 MW project of Distributed Generation Systems, Inc. (DISGEN) of Evergreen, Colorado, which was bought out by CPV Wind, which was bought out by Iberdrola Renewable Energies USA of Spain. No word if Iberdrola has/will be been bought out by anybody. This project has run into some controversy in Ellis County (see news below) and the status of the project is not currently known by KEIN. (March 2009)

NE Ellis County Wind Project

Ellis County, Kansas - A project of TradeWind Energy. This project is early in the process and going through zoning to install Met Towers. Plans are for at least 150 MW.
(January 2009)

Geary County Wind Ranch

Geary County, Kansas - This 150 MW project of Distributed Generation Systems, Inc. (DISGEN) of Evergreen, Colorado was first proposed in 2005.  This project is in the "Heart of the Flint Hills" area, as designated by Topeka politicos.  The current viability of this project is not known, nor is it known who, if anybody, is still in charge of project development (see Ellis County Wind project for info on developer situation). (March 2009)

Western Trail Wind Farm

Ford and Kiowa Counties, Kansas - A 400 MW project of Horizon Wind Energy. This project will be located in Ford and Kiowa Counties. (April 2007)

Hamilton County Wind Project

Hamilton County, Kansas - A 135 MW project is being studied in Hamilton County. This project entered the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) queue for a feasibility study in March 2007. No more information is known at this time.

newGreensburg Wind Project

Kiowa County, Kansas - A 12.5 MW project of John Deere Renewables, the City of Greensburg, and the Kansas Power Pool. This project was announced in April 2009 and stated that ground breaking could be as early as summer 2009 with commercial operation as early as 2010. (April 2009)

Shooting Star Wind Project

Kiowa County, Kansas - A 105 MW project of Clipper Windpower Inc. of Carpinteria, CA. The project was first proposed as early as 2002, South of Mullinville with plans to use 42 of the 2.5 MW Clipper Windpower C-93 wind turbines. It apparently made the short list for Westar's Spring 2007 RFP. (August 2007)

newLyon County Wind Project

Lyon County, Kansas - RES Americas proposes a project in east Lyon County, south and west of Reading, that will encompass up to 25,000 acres and produce as much as 250 MW of power. (March 2009)

Eagle Rock Wind Farm

McPherson County, Kansas - A proposed project of Gamesa Energía Southwest, an Austin, Texas based subsidiary of the Spanish Company Gamesa Energía. The project is planned for the Northeastern part of the county and could be between 100-150 MW. McPherson County passed wind turbine siting guidelines in Nov. 2005, which are available here. These guidelines were later revised. This project met more than a little controversy in 2005-2006 and it's current viability is not currently known. (March 2009)

Nemaha County Wind Project

Nemaha County, Kansas - A 135 MW project is being studied in Nemaha County. This project entered the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) queue for a feasibility study in March 2007. No further information is known at this time.

Ness County Wind Project

Ness County, Kansas - A 199.5 MW project is being studied in Ness County. This project entered the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) queue for a feasibility study in March 2009 with a proposed on-line date of September 2009. No further information is known at this time. (March 2009)

Pioneer Wind Project

Pawnee County, Kansas - A 76 MW project is being studied in Pawnee County by Pacific Winds Energy. No further information is known at this time. (Nov. 2008)

Revolution Wind Project

Pawnee County, Kansas - A 105 MW project is being studied in Pawnee County by Pacific Winds Energy. This project entered the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) queue for a feasibility study in 2008. No further information is known at this time. (Nov. 2008)

Pratt County Wind Project

Pratt County, Kansas - A 150 MW wind project is being studied in Pratt County. This is probably a project of Indeck Energy, which is planning to develop a wind energy farm in Pratt County but will likely move the location after running into some airspace issues with the Pratt Airport Authority. (Jan. 2009)

Rawlins County Wind Project

Rawlins County, Kansas - A 300 MW project is being studied in Rawlins County. This project entered the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) queue for a feasibility study in March 2007. No more information is known at this time.

newRush County Wind Project

Rush County, Kansas - Two wind projects are proposed in Rush County, likely by the same company. One is a 19.5 MW project, the other a 49.5 MW project. Both projects entered the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) queue for feasibility studies in April 2009. No more information is known at this time. (April 2009)

British Pastures Wind Project

Riley County, Kansas - A proposed project of Orion Energy of Oakland, CA. Many of Orion Energy's project's were sold to BP Energy, though the status of this one is unknown by KEIN.  The project is planned in SE Riley County and was subjected to a moratorium on wind farm applications in Riley County through Oct. 7, 2004. Having weathered that, perhaps, it has failed to gain any traction since the Governor's "Heart of the Flint Hills" ruling, which includes this project by 5-10 miles.

newRooks County Wind Projects

Rooks County, Kansas - A 50 MW project has applied for interconnection in Rooks County in 2009 with a proposed on-line date of July 2011. This appears to be a project of ICG Aeolian Energy, which has currently installed three meteorological towers southwest of Stockton. (March 2009)

Scott County Wind Projects

Scott County, Kansas - Several projects greater than 150 MW have been applied for interconnection in Scott County in 2008. No further information is known at this time. (Oct. 2008)

Seward County Wind Projects

Seward County, Kansas - An 800 MW project has applied for interconnection in Seward County in late 2008. No further information is known at this time. (Jan. 2009)

Sherman County Community Wind Project

Sherman County, Kansas - ReNewable Energy Resources, a wind energy development company out of Tennessee, announced in Feb. 2005, that they would build a 10-turbine, 6 MW wind project 10 miles southwest of Goodland using NEPC India wind turbines. Originally, this project was scheduled to break ground in Summer 2005 and be completed by November with the City of Goodland purchasing some of the power and a group of irrigators purchasing the rest. However, due to delays the size of the project was downgraded to 4 turbines generating 3 MW for the city of Goodland by Summer 2006 using wind turbines from Denmark. Seeing that 2006 is but a memory and this project is still not built, it's not known what the prospects are for this project and whether those Danish turbines are still sitting on a dock in Texas. (March 2009)

Sherman County Wind Project

Sherman County, Kansas - An 81 MW wind farm is being proposed for Sherman County, southwest of the city of Goodland.  Competitive Power Ventures of Lakewood, Colorado is proposing the project, which competed unsuccessfully for the Sunflower Electric RFP, that was issued in August 2006.  Many of CPV's projects were bought out by Iberdrola in 2007(see Ellis County Wind), so this may be an Iberdrola project now. (March 2009)

Conestoga Winds

Stevens County, Kansas - A project of HMH Energy Resources of Larkspur, CA that was first proposed as early as 2005. The project has been proposed for up to 200 MW. Of this, 50 MW were recently proposed to Springfield City Utilities in an October 2005 RFP. Not much else is known at this time.

Sumner County Wind Project

Sumner County, Kansas - In May 2007, a State Representative from Wellington (D- Wetta) noted that "Westar Energy is considering building a wind farm along the eastern edge of Sumner County to supply power lines in Lincoln County." This project may be as large as 200 MW.  A similar sized project entered the Southwest Power Pool queue in 2008. (January 2009)

Thomas County Wind project

Thomas County, Kansas - A 130 MW proposed wind farm of Air Stream Energy of Scottsdale, Arizona. The proposed project would be built between the towns of Colby and Mingo in Thomas County. This project was proposed to Westar Energy Request for Proposals in April 2007. (4/3/07)

Municipalities Wind Project

Several Towns - A project proposed by Kansas Wind Power LLC (now TradeWind Energy), where ten or more municipalities would have a relatively small number of wind turbines (10-20), rather than one huge wind farm.  By "spreading the wealth", multiple small projects can achieve the same scale of economy as a larger project, but without the limitations of transmission constraints.  Cities and towns that were approached (as reported in local newspapers) include Anthony, Augusta,  Coffeyville, Greensburg, Herington, Hoisington, Larned, La Crosse, Lincoln,  Russell, and Winfield. Not much has been said about these projects in several years and they may be shelved.  (March 2009)

Munkers Creek Windfarm

Morris Counties, Kansas - A 100-200 MW project proposed by JW Prairie Windpower LLC near Alta Vista. The Wabaunsee County Commission issued a decision on June 28, 2004 that effectively will not allow the construction of wind farms in the county.  This project also falls in the "Heart of the Flint Hills" (PDF, 1.7 MB)  area, where Governor Kathleen Sebelius' has discouraged wind farm development.  Project awaits a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). (June 2006)

newElk City Wind Project

Elk City, Wilson County, Kansas - A 200 MW wind project is proposed near Elk City. It's not known at this time which county this project is in - could be Wilson, Chautauqua, or Elk. This project entered the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) queue for feasibility studies in April 2009. No more information is known at this time. (April 2009)

Other Regional Wind Projects

Other regional wind projects - Information on wind projects in  Missouri and Nebraska. (KEIN)




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