American Electric Power (AEP) is looking to buy 1485MW of wind capacity in the US midwestern state of Oklahoma.
The utility, through its subsidiaries Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) and Southwestern Electric Power Company, is seeking regulatory approvals to purchase three wind projects in the state being developed by Invenergy, totalling $2bn (€1.75bn).
The projects comprise a 999MW wind farm being built north of Weatherford, a 287MW wind facility being built south-west of Enid, and a 199MW plant under construction south of Alva.
The 199MW project is projected to be completed by the end of 2020, while the other two will be completed by the end of 2021.
The projects were selected after a competitive request for proposals (RFPs) to procure low-cost wind generation options for serving PSO and SWEPCO customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, as well as Oklahoma.
If approved as proposed, SWEPCO would own 810MW of wind generation, approximately 55% of the projects, while PSO would own 675 MW of wind generation, approximately 45% of the projects.
The projects are subject to regulatory approvals in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, as well as from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The amount of generation acquired by PSO or SWEPCO can be scaled, subject to commercial limitations, to align with individual state resource needs as determined by the respective state commissions.
AEP chief executive Nicholas Atkins said: “Purchasing these wind facilities is consistent with our strategy of investing in the energy resources of the future, and it will save our customers money while providing significant economic benefits to local communities.”
The utility recently added 724MW of wind and battery generation to its contracted competitive portfolio and has proposed adding more than 9100MW of new wind and solar generation to its regulated power plant fleet by 2030.