Rocky Mountain Power has selected four Wyoming wind farms totalling 1300MW as part of its Energy Vision 2020 plan.
The utility selected a $1.5bn quartet of PacifiCorp projects including a 400MW joint venture with NextEra in Converse County and a 161MW project to be built by Invenergy in Uinta County.
PacifiCorp is the sole interest in a 500MW project across Carbon and Albany counties and a 250MW project in Carbon County.
The projects will expand Rocky Mountain’s owned an contracted wind power by about 60%. They were selected following a request for proposal in September last year.
“The new wind projects are part of the company’s Energy Vision 2020 initiative which will significantly expand the company’s Wyoming wind fleet and benefit the state and local economies,” said chief executive Cindy A Crane.
“The project also includes a 140-mile segment of the Gateway West high-voltage transmission line in Wyoming to connect the new wind energy to Rocky Mountain Power’s grid.”
Completing the projects by 2020 will allow the company to use federal production tax credits to provide net cost savings to customers over the life of the projects. Construction is due to kick off next year.
Image: SXC
Rocky Mountain high for PacifiCorp
By EBS