Headwaters Wind Farm is comprised of two phases and is located 70 miles east of Indianapolis along the Ohio border. Located entirely in Randolph County, the wind farm complements the area’s sprawling corn and soybean fields, providing local farmers with a stable, weather resistant cash crop in the form of landowner lease payments.
Headwaters Wind Farm has an installed capacity of 200 megawatts (MW). Headwater's generation is equivalent to the consumption of more than 50,000 Indiana homes.
Headwaters Wind Farm yields significant economic benefits to the community in the form of payments to landowners, local spending, and annual community investment.
Headwaters represents a capital investment of approximately $340 million and has disbursed $3.6 million in cumulative payments to local governments through 2019. The project created 245 full-time equivalent jobs during construction as well as 12 permanent jobs. Through 2019, approximately $21.9 million has been spent within 50 miles of the wind farm.
Headwaters Wind Farm saves more than 355 million gallons of water each year and displaces carbon emissions from fossil fuel power plants, a major contributor to climate change. Wind energy also enhances air quality by helping to mitigate the health effects of harmful air pollutants.
Headwaters Wind Farm is compatible with other land uses and provides a stable form of income to local landowners. More than $15.4 million has been paid to the wind farm’s landowners through 2019. These supportive landowners participate in long-term lease and easement agreements that cover turbines, access roads, and transmission corridors.
Modern wind turbine generators are sophisticated, high-tech machines designed to capture the kinetic energy of the wind and convert it into electricity. A turbine’s blades capture the wind and rotate an internal shaft connected to a gearbox spinning a generator to produce electricity. Tubular steel towers support a hub with three attached blades and a nacelle, which houses the shaft, gearbox, generator, and controls. Wind measurements are collected to automatically rotate the turbine to face the strongest wind and angle, or “pitch,” its blades to optimize the energy captured. Electricity must be produced at just the right frequency and voltage to be compatible with the utility grid.
Headwaters Wind Farm consists of 100 Vestas V110 2 MW wind turbines, and Headwaters II Wind Farm will consist of 30 Vestas V110 2.2. MW wind turbines.
Made in the USA
The vast majority of wind farm equipment is manufactured in the United States.