Minot Daily News SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2019
Energy/Technology
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“There’s a lot of talk about what wind energy has done for some of those rural counties.”
Investing in wind
Tammy Ibach, executive director, North Dakotans for Comprehensive Energy Solutions
Turbines associated with New Frontier Wind, south of Velva, came online in December 2018. Capital Power’s 99-megawatt project has 29 turbines. Submitted Photo
Wind blows economic benefits to rural ND By JILL SCHRAMM
Senior Staff Writer • jschramm@minotdailynews.com
The capacity for wind energy production in North Dakota reached about 3,153 megawatts at the end of 2018, and figures from the state Public Service Commission show that number could exceed 10,000 megawatts someday with the continued interest being shown in turbine technology. In comparison, the state supports 4,000 megawatts of lignite and other coal generation at seven plants. One megawatt hour can provide one hour of electricity to about 800 homes. Tammy Ibach, director for North Dakotans for Comprehensive Energy Solutions, said wind energy can be an economic driver for rural communities. The state now has about 1,600 turbines spread over 27 of the state’s 53 counties. In 2016, North Dakota State University calculated the economic impact of wind energy at that time to be $170 million. A 250-
megawatt wind farm over 25 years generates $28 million in tax revenue. “There’s a lot of talk about what wind energy has done for some of those rural counties,” Ibach said. Robert Harms, policy adviser for NDCES, said there’s been discussions during this past legislative session about how wind energy should be taxed by the state. In addition to that potential change, a production tax credit for wind energy will expire at the end of this year. Fifteen years ago, the wind industry would have said without hesita-
tion that its development depended on the federal tax credit, Harms said. Back then, they also would have expected about 30 percent efficiency from its turbines, he added. Today, they get 50 to 60 percent. “So the efficiency is almost doubled in the last decade in terms of wind farm design. The turbine efficiency and design and the design of the blades all have gotten better, more sophisticated,” Harms said. “They’re ready to do business without the fedSee WIND — Page 4
Looking back
Staging for the future
Wind blows supply chain company to Minot By JILL SCHRAMM
Senior Staff Writer • jschramm@minotdailynews.com A company that’s providing a staging ground for a future wind farm is adding value to the region’s energy industry. Watco Supply Chain has leased about 80 acres in Minot Area Development Corp.’s industrial park as a staging area for a northern North Dakota wind farm. Wind equipment components came in from Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, South Dakota, Canada and Mexico over nearly three months. For components arriving by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, cranes were used to offload the equipment, which will remain at the site until the wind farm company is ready to have the equipment See SUPPLY — Page 4
North Dakota’s come a long way in oil development
By ELOISE OGDEN
Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com North Dakota has come a long way in oil and gas development since nearly seven decades ago when the first oil well was drilled and completed in the Tioga area. Today, the state produces more than 1.3 million barrels of oil a day from more than 15,000 producing wells and and also produces more than 2.5 MCF a day of natural gas. “In 1951 the first well was drilled and completed in the Tioga area – the Iverson No. 1,” said Joel Brown, a petroleum engineer from Watford City. Brown and another petroleum engineer, Jeff Kummer, started their own business, McKenzie Minerals Management. “We have a long history of oil and gas in North Dakota – 70 years of oil and gas development in North Dakota – and we’ve experienced booms in the past,” Brown told members of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Committee during a presentation in October 2018. There is a long history of de-
velopment of oil and gas in North Dakota but Brown said “it all pales in comparison to what has happened over the past 10 years,” referring to the development in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations. “Nothing has even scratched the surface of what we’ve experienced in western North Dakota since the year 2008 really,” he said. Brown said most people think the Bakken started in North Dakota. “It actually See OIL — Page 2
ABOVE: Oil development in North Dakota not only impacts western North Dakota and the entire state of North Dakota “but ultimately, it’s relevent and impactful to the entire country. On a global level what we do here impacts the global market for oil,” said Joel Brown of McKenzie Minerals Management. Eloise Ogden/MDN
LEFT: Jeff Kummer, left, and Joel Brown, both petroleum engineers, started their own business, McKenzie Minerals Management, to help North Dakota mineral owners. Submitted Photo