19th largest plant in South Dakota · 1794th nationally
Prairie Winds Sd1 is a wind power plant in South Dakota with a nameplate capacity of 162 MW. It generates roughly 343.7k MWh per year — enough to power about 32,734 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 24% reflects intermittent or peaking operation.
| Plant Name | Prairie Winds Sd1 |
|---|---|
| Operator | Basin Electric Power Coop |
| City | Crow Lake |
| County | Jerauld County |
| State | South Dakota |
| ZIP | 57382 |
| Coordinates | 43.88639, -98.78750 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SD1 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 150 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| SD2 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 10.5 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| SD3 | Onshore Wind Turbine | Wind | 1.5 MW | Operating | 2011 |
| Owner | Location | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Technical Institute | Mitchell, SD | 10000.0% |
Ownership reported to EIA Form 860. Percentages reflect reported generator-level ownership share, averaged when a plant has multiple generators.
| NERC Region | MRO |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Southwest Power Pool |
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%.