Enel Green Power North America has started construction of the 299MW Aurora wind project in North Dakota.
The $450m (€406m) wind farm is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2020.
Aurora is under construction in Williams and Mountrail Counties and located near Enel’s 150MW Lindahl wind farm in Williams County, which began operations in 2017.
Aurora is supported by a new power purchase agreement with local utility Basin Electric Power Cooperative, which comes after the virtual PPA signed with Gap earlier this year.
The 23-year bundled PPA with Basin Electric Power Cooperative involves the purchase of energy delivered to the grid by a 142MW portion of the Aurora wind farm.
Basin Electric also purchases the full 150MW electricity output of EGPNA’s Lindahl wind farm also located in North Dakota.
Enel Green Power chief executive Antonio Cammisecra said: “The construction of Aurora demonstrates Enel Green Power’s strength as an integrated developer-builder-operator in North America, expanding our presence in key regions and providing flexible solutions tailored to help commercial customers achieve their sustainability goals.
“Given our expertise in renewables and the favourable long-term economic outlook for the sector, this project is another example of corporate and utility partnerships leveraging renewable energy for both its sustainable features and economic profitability.”
Other Enel Green Power projects in the US include the 236.5MW White Cloud wind farm in Missouri, the 66MW Whitney Hill wind project in Illinois and the 450MW High Lonesome wind farm and 497MW Roadrunner solar project, both in Texas.