Days after North Dakota's biggest wind farm began operating, a developer has filed plans to build a larger one in eastern North Dakota. The company hopes to finish the project by year's end.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission was notified this week of FPL Energy's intention to build a 200-megawatt Barnes County wind farm, which would include 133 turbines. It will cost $350 million to build, company project director Scott Scovill said in a letter to the agency.

FPL Energy developed a project in northeastern North Dakota, with Minnkota Power Cooperative of Grand Forks and Otter Tail Power Co. of Fergus Falls, Minn. It has 106 turbines capable of generating 159 megawatts of power. The turbines are about 10 miles south of Langdon in Cavalier County.

The Langdon wind farm became operational last Saturday, and FPL Energy plans to add 27 turbines, capable of generating 40 megawatts, to the project.

FPL Energy, which is based in Juno Beach, Fla., also operates wind farms near Kulm and Edgeley in southeastern North Dakota, and in Wilton, in the west-central part of the state.

The Public Service Commission will be in charge of approving the site for the Barnes County wind project east of Lake Ashtabula. FPL Energy said in a letter to the commission that it hopes to file a formal permit application by Feb. 5.

It wants a permit by May 1, to finish work on the wind farm by year's end, the letter says. The turbines would be on 35 square miles of leased private land.

Proposed turbine locations range from east of Valley City, near Interstate 94, at the project's southern border to the Griggs and Steele County lines to the north, west of Goose Lake and the Barnes County community of Pillsbury.

Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer said FPL Energy already has the leases for its wind towers. A zoning change being considered by Barnes County officials still is needed.

FPL Energy must finish the project by Dec. 31 to qualify for a federal tax break for the wind farm, Cramer said.

The company's letter does not say it has a customer for the electricity, but wind power is in demand from area utilities.

Last month, Xcel Energy Inc., which supplies electricity to Fargo, West Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot, requested proposals from developers to buy 500 megawatts of wind energy. The proposals are due Feb. 29.

Cramer and his two Public Service Commission colleagues, Susan Wefald and Tony Clark, said Wednesday they did not believe Xcel would be FPL Energy's customer for the Barnes County project. A company official did not respond to requests for comment.