14th largest plant in South Dakota · 1471st nationally
Crowned Ridge Wind Ii Energy Center is a wind power plant in South Dakota with a nameplate capacity of 201 MW. It generates roughly 776.4k MWh per year — enough to power about 73,945 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 44% puts it in the middle range — running steadily but not full-time.
| Plant Name | Crowned Ridge Wind Ii Energy Center |
|---|---|
| Operator | Northern States Power Co - Minnesota |
| City | Watertown |
| County | Codington County |
| State | South Dakota |
| ZIP | 57201 |
| Coordinates | 45.00540, -96.92995 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRW2 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 201 MW | Operating | 2020 |
| NERC Region | MRO |
|---|---|
| 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%.