Xcel Energy has taken formal control of the Border and Pleasant Valley wind farms in the US, adding 350MW to its operational portfolio.
The projects were developed by RES Americas and will boost the utility’s wind capacity by 20%.
The 150MW Border wind farm is in North Dakota and was transferred to Xcel on 3 December. The 200MW Pleasant Valley is in Minnesota and was handed over in November.
“Adding these two wind farms to our system is a significant step forward in our work to cut carbon emissions and shows our commitment to deliver 35% renewable energy to our Upper Midwest customers by 2030,” said Xcel regional president Chris Clark.
“This clean energy also comes at a reasonable cost at prices competitive with new natural gas generation,” he added.
The two projects are part of Xcel’s plan to add 750MW of clean wind energy to its Upper Midwest in the next two years. The company will also buy wind power from the Odell wind farm near Windom, Minnesota, which is expected to begin operations by mid-2016. Construction started on the Courtenay wind farm in North Dakota and is expected to be complete in the fall of 2016.
Image: an Xcel project in Colorado (Xcel)
