Dive Brief:
- Westar Energy announced this week that it will purchase 200 MW from a new wind farm expected to be constructed in Pratt County, Kansas.
- The Ninnescah wind farm will be constructed by an affiliate of NextEra Energy Resources, and is expected to be online by the end of next year.
- The project will boost Westar's renewable resources to almost 1,300 MW, sufficient to power about half of the homes in its service territory.
Dive Insight:
The largest utility in Kansas will back construction of a new wind farm expected to bring about $300 million in capital investment to surrounding communities, up to 200 temporary construction jobs and a few permanent positions as well.
Construction on the Ninnescah wind farm will begin either later this year or early next, with a target inservice date of late 2016.
“Kansas wind provides the best economic fit to make renewable energy available and affordable for all our customers,” Mark Ruelle, Westar Energy president and CEO, said in a statement. “Westar is the state’s largest supporter of renewables, and we are excited to add more clean Kansas wind energy to our energy supply.”
Westar has 7,200 MW of electric generation capacity fueled by coal, uranium, natural gas, wind, solar and landfill gas.
The new wind deal follows on a similarly-sized announcement Westar made in 2013, when it signed contracts for 200 MW of power from Apex Clean Power's Kay Wind project. In March, Apex said it had closed on a $397 million construction loan for the 299 MW project in Kay County, Oklahoma.