A Little Extra Wind Could Help Shield MN Farmers From Instability Overseas

Minnesota has more wind energy than we can handle, and a project in southern Minnesota wants to use the leftover capacity to power the first local, commercially available ammonia fertilizer.

To start, that wind: Minnesota sits in a region that in recent years has had 4-9 million megawatt annual hours of curtailed wind, or wind energy that can’t be used. This region is the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) area, which includes Iowa, North Dakota, and Manitoba, as designated by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Wind turbines here have extra capacity that the electric grid can’t take. So, the turbines get shut off. The energy is there, and it’s cheap, but there’s nowhere to put it.

Next, the project: A three-organization partnership wants to create a clean-energy source of ammonia for farmers in southern Minnesota. For them, the local wind surplus is an opportunity masquerading as a problem.

Click here to read the original article from Twin Cities Business Magazine.