143rd largest plant in Minnesota · 5990th nationally
Mountain Lake is a wind power plant in Minnesota with a nameplate capacity of 9.2 MW. It generates roughly 2.3k MWh per year — enough to power about 220 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 3% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 284 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits below the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Mountain Lake |
|---|---|
| Operator | City Of Mountain Lake - (Mn) |
| City | Mountain Lake |
| County | Cottonwood County |
| State | Minnesota |
| ZIP | 56159 |
| Coordinates | 43.94050, -94.94340 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 2.0 MW | Retired | 1968 |
| 6 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.8 MW | Operating | 1998 |
| 7 | Petroleum Liquids | Distillate Oil | 1.8 MW | Operating | 1998 |
| 5 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 1.3 MW | Operating | 1959 |
| 8 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 1.2 MW | Operating | 2007 |
| 2 | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 1.1 MW | Operating | 1954 |
| CO₂ | 328 metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 6 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 284 lb/MWh |
Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.
| 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%.