9th largest plant in Iowa · 732nd nationally
Highland Wind Project (Ia) is a wind power plant in Iowa with a nameplate capacity of 502 MW. It generates roughly 1.6M MWh per year — enough to power about 153,942 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 37% reflects intermittent or peaking operation.
| Plant Name | Highland Wind Project (Ia) |
|---|---|
| Operator | Midamerican Energy Co |
| City | Primghar |
| County | O'brien County |
| State | Iowa |
| ZIP | 51245 |
| Coordinates | 43.08028, -95.65611 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HLWF5 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 115 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| HLWF2 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 101 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| HLWF4 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 89.2 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| HLWF3 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 89.1 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| HLWF6 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 86.8 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| HLWF | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 16.4 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| HLWF7 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 4.7 MW | Operating | 2015 |
| 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%.