Site Identification

IWP’s development and meteorology team determines a potential site by evaluating wind resource quality, ability to obtain permits, access to transmission corridors, impact on the surrounding environment, current land uses and project constructability.

Relationships with Landowners

IWP is a landowner advocate developer that works with private and public landowners to ensure that projects are built with reasonable expectations for long-term benefit. Along with the additional long-term revenue stream the projects will generate for landowners, the overall impact to the land is minimal and allows for continued farming, ranching, and/or mining operations.

Wind Assessment

IWP evaluates wind resource at project sites by monitoring seasonal wind speeds with meteorological towers that are typically placed in several locations throughout a project. IWP’s wind resource studies help determine the appropriate layout of the project, projected power output and the commercial viability of each potential site. The economic viability of the project will be determined by the annual average wind speeds that are recorded by the meteorological towers.

Planning and Permits

IWP works with community members as well as with local, state and federal government agencies to obtain the required permits for each project to ensure compliance with all regulations and requirements. In many cases Environmental Impact Reports, Avian Studies and FAA determinations are a necessary part of the permitting process.

Connecting to the Power Grid

In most cases, a transmission capacity study must be performed to determine the project’s ability to move electricity generated to the power grid. If the transmission capacity is adequate to support additional electricity, interconnection agreements are put in place to allow the project to connect and transmit power to the grid.

Who buys the Power?

A power contract is executed with a participating electric utility, electric cooperative or municipal agency to purchase each kilowatt-hour produced. These contracts typically range from 10-20 years and provide the power buyer with a stable price for power over a long period of time. More recently, some utilities have preferred to own the projects and have engaged the developer for a project purchase.

Wind Park Construction

The construction of a wind farm is generally three to six months, depending on project size and seasonal construction conditions. Construction involves roadwork, underground cabling, foundation pouring, and tower erection. After construction, surrounding property that may have been disturbed during construction is restored to its pre-construction state.