TradeWind Energy, LLC and the Alabama Power Company have entered into a long-term energy purchase agreement that provides for the delivery of low-cost electricity from wind-rich Kansas across five states to communities in Alabama.
The 20-year power purchase agreement for 202 MW and all associated renewable energy credits (RECs) was approved by the Alabama Public Service Commission on September 17, 2012. TradeWind Energy’s plan allows flexibility for construction of a wind project between 200 and 300 MW. The Project will be constructed across some 42,000 acres and hosted by over 120 landowners in Grant, Haskell, and Finney Counties in Kansas. Under the agreement, Alabama Power has the flexibility to use the electricity from the wind project to serve its customers and retire the RECs, or it can sell the electricity and the RECs, together or separately, to third parties.
The Buffalo Dunes Wind Project will represent an about $300 million investment resulting in significant economic benefit to the state of Kansas and it will help stabilize and lower energy costs over the life of the contract for customers in Alabama. An estimated 150 new jobs will be created during the construction phase of the project with the fully operational project requiring about15 new full-time workers. Commercial operation is anticipated in December 2013.
The project represents another example of the potential for continued growth of Midwest wind resources to serve the needs of power customers in the eastern United States.
This is the third project developed by TradeWind Energy that will deliver energy from the Midwest into the Southeastern United States.
In total, over the past 18 months, TradeWind has entered long term power purchase agreements that will lead to the construction of four wind projects in Kansas and Oklahoma that combined will deliver about 800 MW of energy to utility customers in the 10 states served by Alabama Power, Tennessee Valley Authority and Western Farmers Electric Cooperative.
TradeWind Energy
www.tradewindenergy.com
Alabama Power Company
www.alabamapower.com
Filed Under: News, Projects, Uncategorized
