Dear Techno,

I just read your article on ET (which I have signed up for), and I thought I could give you a few tips. . I also worked on the EA2020 project (as deb9). I am also affiliated with for profit and a non-profit groups:

Lake Effect Energy, LLC (my company)  http://www.LakeEffectEnergy.com

Buffalo Wind Action Group:  http://www.greengold.org/wind

See Engineering page (http://www.greengold.org/wind/engineering.php  ---> "A Great Potential" and "NYS Energy Manifesto" are a pair of articles that could get you primed for your very nice posting.

Anyway, here are a couple of quick points:

1. Use smaller turbines - such as 2.5 or 3 MW units. Vestas makes a 3MW unit (V90), Clipper, Fuhrlaender and Nordex make 2.5MW ones, Siemens makes 2.3 MW ones, Mitsubishi makes 2.4 MW ones, and then there are the smaller ones (2.1, 2, 1.8, and the GE 1.5 MW ones).  These are ideally suited for installation on land.

The 5 MW (REPower and Prokon-Nord) and 6 MW (Enercon E-126) are really best suited for offshore installation. They are SO big that getting the parts to the site is a job best done by barge, boat and ship. Besides, Enercon does not do business in the US and won't until we get a Renewable Feed-In Law

2. Get a Renewable Feed-In Law in place, like in Germany and Denmark. This could be implemented in North Dakota by itself, for starts. Then figure out what a decent price for electricity manufacture would be from wind turbines, allowing for a decent rate of return (10% IRR, for example, to 15%), and use that as the price for wind turbine derived electricity. See http://www.wind-works.org for how these RFIL/SOC/ART's work (the process goes by many names).

3. Get serious about finding uses for some of this electricity inside the state. My favorite is the use of electricty from wind turbines to make H2 and O2 from water via electrolysis, and then to use this H2 to make ammonia (NH3). For example, to supply ALL of the US ammonia needs, about 69,000 MW would be needed. This still leaves enormous excess electricity that would need to be used/sold elsewhere.

4. Get the updated potential of North Dakota. The OLD one (as seen on the AWEA project map) is 123 GW for ND, but this assumes using old clunker turbines circa 1990 and with a 50 meter hub height. Using 80 to 100 meter hub heights and modern 1.5 to 3 MW units, I would bet the ND capacity is well in excess of 200 GW average output. ND is really windy

5. Odds are, interconnections with regions outside of ND will be needed - such as via HVDC. While expensive, these would be very worthwhile, especially of state bonding projects. Failing that private companies would do this, but only with guaranteed returns (like liquified natural gas facilities). But this will allow your product (electricity) to get to outside markets, like Minneapolis and eventually, Chicago.

6. In general, about 4  x 90 meter wind turbines per square kilometer (10 per square mile) can be used before losses due to array interference strt getting really big. Often, 2 x 90 to 100 meter rotor diameter turbines per km^2 would be used, or 5 turbines per mi^2. So, at 75,000 mi^2, and assuming only 50% of the land is usable, this would get you a maximum of around 187,500 --> 200,000 turbines. And with an average output of near 1 MW per large turbine in your winds, this gets you a maximum output of 200 GW, or 45% of the entire US average electricity consumption. Lots of potential.

However, just selling this electricity as a bulk commodity is apt to get your state royally screwed. You won't get much of a profit (due to huge supply that has to be matched to a limited demand (for regional reasons)) from this electricity; but all kinds of other entities and regions will be able to use this electricity in value enhancing ways. A good example of this is Niagara Falls, USA - an economic disaster area, even though 1500 MW of the least expensive electricity in this country is made by a state owned entity. You don't want to replicate this economic disaster, which benefits almost only those who don NOT live in Niagara Falls  and nearby Buffalo.

Good luck in this commercialization effort. If done correctly there could be great benefits to the people  of your state. And if not done correctly, you will be an exploited rural colony of corporate America/Corporate Earth.

Dave Bradley