Iowa to bring on its second-largest hydroelectric facility, continues to rely on wind

摘要

The Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency is expected to cut the ribbon Sept. 2 on its $400 million, 36.4-MW Red Rock Hydroelectric Project on the Des Moines River southeast of Des Moines, Iowa, just outside the town of Pella in the southeast part of the state. The facility, which will be operated by Missouri River Energy Services, has taken six years to build and will be the second-largest hydroelectric facility in the wind power-rich Iowa, a state which has not yet embraced solar generation. Construction on the Red Rock facility began in the third-quarter 2014 and is located at the base of the Red Rock Dam, a US. Army Corps of Engineers flood-control structure that has been in place since 1969. The hydroelectric project will become fully operational before the end of 2020.