Lake Benton II

Wind power plant in Minnesota, United States of America. Approximate location 44.1294, -96.117.

WindMinnesotaUnited States of America

Lake Benton II is a 100 MW wind power station in Minnesota, United States of America. It is operated by Northern States Power Co - Minnesota. Based on reported annual generation of 57 GWh, it can supply roughly 16,314 homes. It ranks #1946 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1999, it is around 27 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, wind supplies about 10.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

100MW installed capacity
57GWh reported / yr
16,314homes powered
1999commissioned (~27 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0055265.

Reported generation trend

2013: 236 GWh20132014: 272 GWh20142015: 281 GWh20152016: 281 GWh20162017: 272 GWh20172018: 138 GWh20182019: 57 GWh2019281 GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Northern States Power Co - Minnesota. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This wind plant converts the kinetic energy of wind into electricity through turbine rotors. It sits in a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 44.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

6.3°Cannual mean temp
4,476heating degree-days (base 18°C)
220cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
542 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -12 °CJF: -8 °CFM: -1 °CMA: 7 °CAM: 14 °CMJ: 19 °CJJ: 22 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 15 °CSO: 8 °CON: -1 °CND: -8 °CD22 °C

Heating degree-days here run 82% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 90/100 — this site sits in the top third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #441 largest wind power plant of 1139 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 1139 wind power plants in this dataset, together about 104,477 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 44.1294, -96.117 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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