The &uot;Top of Iowa Wind Farm,&uot; planned for western Worth County, signed a power purchase agreement last week, and should begin construction this spring.

Monday, March 05, 2001

The &uot;Top of Iowa Wind Farm,&uot; planned for western Worth County, signed a power purchase agreement last week, and should begin construction this spring.

&uot;This is our largest project in the U.S. and we’re incredibly excited,&uot; said Michael Zilkha, CEO of Zilkha Renewable Energy, the company financing the construction.

Zilkha said the project involves 89 wind turbines mounted on 235-foot tubular towers on 6,500 acres. The wind farm should produce about 80 megawatts of power, supplying more than 50,000 homes with renewable, non-polluting energy.

The wind farm is scheduled to go online Dec. 31 and will sell its energy to Interstate Power, an affiliate of Alliant Energy.

&uot;We’re very pleased to be taking one more step toward increasing Iowa’s generating capacity – especially through an environmentally friendly source like wind power,&uot; said Eliot Protsch, president of Alliant Energy.

Zilkha said the &uot;Top of Iowa Wind Farm&uot; is an example of the kind of project the U.S. needs to explore as an alternative to fossil fuels.

&uot;We’re hoping the U.S. energy policy will eventually make it possible for us to develop many more domestic wind sites,&uot; Zilkha said. &uot;At present, the U.S. lags far behind Europe in implementing policies to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.&uot;

Stephen Dryden, president of Midwest Renewable Energy Corporation, a partner in the project, said northern Iowa is an excellent site for wind farms. Not only does the area have steady winds, but its also close to growing power markets such as the Twin Cities, Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison and St. Louis.

&uot;We’re happy to provide the landowners of the area with another cash crop and the people of Worth County with a new source of energy,&uot; Dryden said. &uot;This is taking place at a perfect time when there appears to be major concern with the national energy supply.&uot;

Both Zilkha and Dryden have high hopes for the project and have more wind farms in the planning stages. Zilkha’s company has developed or invested in several wind projects in the U.S., Central America and Europe. Dryden’s company is involved with several projects in the eastern region of the U.S.