US renewables developer Scout Clean Energy has completed construction and closed tax equity funding on a 130MW wind farm in Indiana.
The Bitter Ridge wind farm is the fourth utility-scale wind project to be constructed by Scout, which is part of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners.
The wind farm uses GE 2.82MW wind turbines and will bring Scout’s operational portfolio of onshore wind energy generation to 843MW.
The Colorado-based developer has a 4000MW pipeline spanning wind, solar PV, and battery storage.
Bitter Ridge Wind Farm located in Jay County, Indiana.
Scout commenced greenfield development of Bitter Ridge, located in Jay County, in 2016 and has successfully progressed the project through all permitting and procurement activities.
Construction began in August 2019.
Scout CEO Michael Rucker said: “We were able to complete the project safely and still meet most of our schedule. The success is a real credit to Scout’s construction management team, our suppliers, contractors and financiers who have worked tirelessly to get Bitter Ridge completed, especially under the difficult circumstances and widespread disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Safety is always our number one priority, and we are proud to report that-due to diligent health and safety measures put in place for the protection of all workers-construction was completed without a single case of the COVID-19 virus being contracted on site.”
Bitter Ridge has a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation, an Exelon company.
Scout entered into a fixed-price balance-of-plant construction agreement with Mortenson Construction who completed the work on schedule.
The Bitter Ridge asset management and post-construction operations will be undertaken by Scout.
The project has a tax incentive agreement in place with Jay County which will result in $1.56m in economic development payments being made by Bitter Ridge for the benefit of several local community initiatives.
It is estimated that the county will receive more than $18m in tax revenues over the expected life of the project, with over half going directly to Jay County Schools.
The completion of construction of Bitter Ridge follows the final commissioning of Scout’s 180MW Heart of Texas wind farm in McCullough County, Texas earlier in 2020.