North Dakota and wind energy production

Summary: Energy plays a major role in North Dakota’s economy. The state accounts for nearly 2 percent of all crude oil production in the United States and is the number-one state for potential wind energy production.

North Dakota is a large state located in the upper Midwest of the United States, bordering Canada to the north. It is the third-least populated state in the country, with slightly more than 650,000 residents, and one of few states experiencing declines in population. The state is bordered by Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south, and Montana to the west. The state is formed by significant hills in the Great Plains region of the west, the Badlands to the north, the Missouri Plateau in the central part of the state, and the relatively flat Red River Valley in the eastern part of the state.

Production and Consumption

North Dakota has sizable fossil fuel reserves, with substantial surface mines in the central region of the state and crude oil and natural gas reserves in the western part. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, in 2016 North Dakota’s total energy production was 3,655 trillion British thermal units (Btu), the sixth highest in the country, thanks in part to its substantial crude oil and wind energy production. The state is a major exporter of electricity.

North Dakota has a steadily growing economy, on par with the national average, and ranks among the upper half of all states for per capita income. The state economy is highly energy-intensive, and industry accounts for close to half of the state’s total energy consumption. Despite having a relatively low population, North Dakota ranks as one of the highest energy consumers per capita in the nation (fourth overall), because of high energy demand in the winter. This rate is growing at more than double the average national rates.

The state regulates its market for electricity, and although the primary energy source is coal, North Dakota has already developed substantial wind energy production through the Clean Cities Coalition for the Red River Valley. North Dakota has the highest potential wind energy capacity in the United States.

Petroleum

More than 2 percent of all crude oil production in the United States comes from North Dakota, averaging 212,000 barrels per day in 2009. The state has numerous major pipelines for crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), in addition to many interstate pipelines for natural gas. With Canada at its northern border, the eastern side of the state pipes crude oil from Canada to markets in the Midwest for oil refining. Some crude oil extracted from the Williston Basin, located in the western half of the state, is refined near the capital, Bismarck, in addition to a small amount coming from Canada. Transportation fuel produced there is then distributed to the other northern Great Plains states and metropolitan areas of Minnesota.

North Dakota also has significant capacity for the production of ethanol, with six plants and a series of state-level policies and incentives for renewable energy in place. However, the state is a relatively low consumer of ethanol blended gasoline. North Dakota is one of few U.S. states to lack air quality regulations for the statewide use of nonconventional, blended motor gasoline.

Natural Gas

About 1 percent of the nation’s total natural gas production comes from North Dakota, the majority of which is piped on through Minnesota and South Dakota to be consumed in other midwestern markets. North Dakota is the largest source of synthetic natural gas, thanks to the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, which produces more than 54 billion cubic feet of gas from coal annually. The majority of the state’s natural gas supply is imported from western Canada and Montana, with relatively low overall consumption, most of which is accounted for by industry. While nearly 40 percent of households rely primarily on natural gas to heat their homes, the remaining households use electricity as their primary energy source.

Coal, Electricity, and Renewables

Overall electricity production and consumption are relatively low, and almost all of the state’s electricity supply comes from coal-fired power plants. Several large surface coal mines are located in central North Dakota. These supply the majority of coal used in the state’s coal-fueled power plants, providing nearly all of North Dakota’s electricity production. This coal production is quite significant; imported coal from other states is relatively low.

All other noncoal-generated electricity is supplied by the state’s hydroelectric dams. In fact, the Garrison Dam is the state’s fifth-largest electricity-generating plant.

North Dakota is one of the nation’s leading wind energy producers; it had the eleventh largest installed capacity in the country in 2016. That year it ranked fifth in terms of the percentage of energy generated by wind; 21.5 percent of the energy generated in the state that year was wind energy. In 2009, the state generated more than 4,000 megawatts of wind energy, up from just 0.5 megawatt in 2000. North Dakota also has three ethanol plants, which in 2008 produced 123 million gallons per year.

Bibliography

Dakota Gasification Company. “Great Plains Synfuels Plant.” http://www.dakotagas.com/.

North Dakota State Water Commission. A Review of Alternate Energy Sources. Grand Forks, ND: University of North Dakota, 1974.

U.S. Energy Information Administration. “North Dakota.” http://www.eia.gov/state/state-energy-profiles.cfm?sid=ND.