56th largest plant in Illinois · 1381st nationally
California Ridge Wind Energy Llc is a wind power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 217 MW. It generates roughly 676.1k MWh per year — enough to power about 64,387 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 36% reflects intermittent or peaking operation.
| Plant Name | California Ridge Wind Energy Llc |
|---|---|
| Operator | Sunedison Llc |
| City | Fithian |
| County | Vermilion County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 61844 |
| Coordinates | 40.21167, -87.87833 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CR | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 217 MW | Operating | 2012 |
| NERC Region | SERC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.. |
Wind farms harvest kinetic energy from moving air using large rotor blades coupled to generators. Like solar, they produce zero emissions but vary with weather. Onshore wind capacity factors typically run 30–45%; offshore can exceed 50%.