Avangrid Renewables and WEC Energy have begun commercial operation of the 155MW Tatanka Ridge wind farm in South Dakota, US.
The plant’s 56 wind turbines are located in Deuel County, north east of Brookings.
The facility is jointly owned by Avangrid Renewables (15%) and WEC Energy Group (85%).
Dairyland Power Cooperative has an offtake agreement equivalent to 51.6MW of the wind farm’s output and the balance of the project’s generation is contracted to a large commercial customer.
Dairyland CEO Brent Ridge said: “Dairyland is pleased to work with Avangrid Renewables and WEC Energy Group on an efficient and sustainable facility that supports our transition to a lower carbon future.” “Diversification of resources is a key element of Dairyland’s Sustainable Generation Plan, making Tatanka Ridge a valuable addition to our cooperative’s renewable energy portfolio.”
Dairyland and Avangrid Renewables have collaborated twice before on wind energy facilities, Barton and Winnebago, both in Iowa.
Tatanka Ridge features turbines on land leased from over 100 landowners.
Between land lease payments and taxes, the wind farm will provide $1.7m of local economic benefits annually over the life of the project.
In July 2020, Avangrid Renewables announced the sale of an 85% ownership interest in Tatanka Ridge Wind to WEC Energy Group of Milwaukee.
This transaction closed in December 2020.