The Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA) has entered into a 15-year agreement to purchase 50 MW of wind energy output annually from the Green River Wind Farm in northwestern Illinois.
Once complete, the 194-MW Green River Wind Farm will consist of 74 turbines situated across 13,000 acres in Lee and Whiteside counties. The projected is expected to begin operation in October of 2019.
The new power purchase agreement will boost the amount of wind-generated energy output that IMEA — a joint action agency that supplies wholesale electricity to 32 municipal utility systems across the state — uses to serve its municipal electric systems to 120 MW.
“This project is a win for all involved,” says Kevin Gaden, the President & CEO of IMEA. “As we continue to diversify our resource portfolio, this project fits our needs to cost effectively add another source of green energy.”
He added: “Our portfolio already includes wind-generated power from the Lee-DeKalb Wind Energy Center, two completed solar demonstration projects in St. Charles and Rantoul, three more solar demonstration projects that are under construction in Rock Falls, Naperville and Altamont, and two municipally owned hydroelectric facilities in Rock Falls and Peru, Illinois.”
The IMEA’s share of the zero-carbon emissions output of the Green River Farm is expected to be enough to power approximately 16,000 typical Illinois homes each year. The new power purchase agreement will mean that about 10% of the Agency’s electricity comes from renewable sources.
Filed Under: News, Projects
