Wind turbines will soon begin dotting the horizon in southern Richardson County.
Construction of the turbines that will form the Flat Water Wind Farm south of Humboldt is set to begin this spring.

Project owner and developer Don Dison of Austin, Texas-based Gallop Power, provided an update on the project development to about 50 people who attended a Falls City EDGE Lunch-and-Learn program Friday at Breadeaux Pizza.

Dison gives a timeline for completion of the project. The preliminary work at the site is well underway.  “The Flat Water Wind farm project has actually started with construction of the substation.  We started that work in November.   We expect to start building roads & improving bridges for access right after the spring thaw in April and then real construction will start in May, June, July.  We will see turbines standing in August and September with project completion by November, December at the latest.” 

J.W. Prairie Wind Power has taken the lead in developing the project thus far. Gallop Power has come onto the project, and will own and manage the Flat Water Wind Farm. Dison says Gallop took on the Richardson County project because it was “shovel ready.”  Dison stated, “They (JWPW) were ready to have someone come in and start construction.  As opposed to all of the environmental permitting, that was in place, and all commercial negotiating with the utilities was in place.  All we needed to do was come in and start construction.”

Gallop Power has a long history with renewable energy, and Dison says they want to be good stewards of the land, and contribute to the financial stability of the community.  “I’ve been building wind farms for 11 years and have installed in excess of 800 machines not only in the U.S. but around the world.  Gallop Power unlike some companies is a builder, owner, operator and we are in this for the very long run,” said Dison.

The Flat Water Wind Farm will consist of 40, 1.5 megawatt, turbines. OPPD will purchase the power generated by the wind farm – which will help the utility meet its goal of generating 10-percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.
OPPD representative Marc Nichols says they’ve been working for several months to prepare the infrastructure to connect the wind farm to the grid.  “Gallop Power graded the site, and our crews have been down here for the last several months, physically building the substation that is underneath the transmission line.  Then we are going to cut into the transmission line so that when that is done and the wind farm is completed they will bring in their extension cord and plug into us and that is how we get into the grid.”  Nichols says weather conditions have definitely slowed work at the site this winter.
Dison says the wind farm will result in 8 or 9 permanent, full-time, jobs in Richardson County when it’s completed. He said Gallop Power is also working with the Boy Scouts in Nebraska to develop three new merit badges in the area of renewable energy and environmental awareness.
The finished wind turbines will be impressive structures. Dison said the hub of the towers will stand 80-meters off the ground, with 122-foot long blades. The foundation of each turbine will be 50-feet wide, 9-feet deep, and consist of 28 tons of rebar steel and more than 450 cubic yards of concrete. The turbines have a projected life of 30 years.
The $100 million project will generate around one-million dollars in additional property taxes annually for Richardson County.