US companies Tenaska and Bright Canyon Energy have started commercial operations at a 242MW wind farm in northwest Missouri.
The Clear Creek Energy Center comprises 111 Vestas turbines spread across 12,545 hectares north of Maryville in Nodaway County.
Electricity produced by Clear Creek will be supplied to Associated Electric Cooperative under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
Associated Electric Cooperative provides wholesale power to six regional cooperatives, including NW Electric Power Cooperative, and 51 local cooperative systems in Missouri, southeast Iowa and northeast Oklahoma that serve 910,000 members.
The wind farm is owned by Tenaska Clear Creek Wind, which is comprised of affiliates of Tenaska and Bright Canyon Energy.
Construction started in spring 2019, with Mortenson the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.
Vestas is providing maintenance services for the project.
Tenaska said construction of Clear Creek represented an investment of more than $300m in the regional economy.
Mortenson hired 350 craft workers from the local area and approximately $30m in contracts were awarded to regional businesses.
A team of 16 local employees staffed through NAES Corporation and Vestas is operating the wind farm.
About 160 landowners have long-term leases with Clear Creek, which is estimated to result in more than $1.2m in lease payments each year.
The wind farm is also expected to generate more than $1.2m in tax revenue annually for local units of government.
Tenaska chief executive and vice chairman Jerry Crouse said: “This project was a team effort that involved not just Tenaska but also a number of landowners, community leaders and contractors.
“For us all to come together and bring online this safe and efficient wind farm, that is quite an accomplishment.
“The team achieved many milestones to get here, and we are excited that Tenaska Clear Creek has reached its goal: commercial operation and delivering renewable power to Associated Electric Cooperative.”
Associated Electric Cooperative chief executive and general manager David Tudor said: “Clear Creek helps us advance Associated’s strategy to deliver reliable, affordable and responsible power to our member-owners.
“Power from this resource contributes to our diverse and balanced energy mix and helps ensure we can continue to deliver benefits to our members.”
Bright Canyon General Manager Jason Smith said: “We invested in this wind farm to gain operational experience with wind, and we could not have found a better partner for our first undertaking than Tenaska, a company that brings to the table innovation, commitment and rigor.
“Clear Creek will provide clean energy to customers in the Midwest for years to come and serve as a model resource to make America’s energy mix more and more green through the coming decades. We are proud to be a part of that effort.”
Tenaska is also managing construction of the 250MW Nobles 2 Power Partners wind farm in southwest Minnesota, which is anticipated to be online by the end of 2020.
The company’s development pipeline includes 7GW of renewables projects.