Dive Brief:
- The Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) board of directors approved the purchase of an additional 28 megawatts of wind power from the Spring Canyon II Energy Center, adding to a previous 32 megawatt buy that brings’ PRPA’s ownership of Spring Canyon wind to 60 megawatts at a PPA price expected to be $14 million per year.
- The purchase will bring the Colorado not-for-profit utility’s share of wind energy-generated electricity to 9% of the generation it supplies to Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, and Estes Park, the cities which own it -- enough to supply 23,000 average homes per year.
- The new wind capacity brings the non-fossil-fuel generation share of PRPA’s portfolio to about 30%, composed primarily of wind and hydropower. It also supports the utility's larger strategy of generation resource diversification, moving it closer to meeting Colorado’s 30% renewables by 2020 mandate.
Dive Insight:
Platte River's initial 32 megawatt wind buy from the Spring Canyon Energy Center, owned and operated by an Invenergy affiliate, was made in 2013.
Construction on the second of the three-phase Spring Canyon development is underway, and the 35 turbine project is expected to be online by the end of 2014.
A PRPA spokesperson said the utility is looking into co-generation with solar at its Rawhide Energy Station coal plant.
With 2,332 megawatts, Colorado has the tenth biggest U.S. installed wind capacity, with 60 megawatts of wind under construction.
In 2013, Colorado received 13.8% of its electricity from wind, as well as between 3,000 and 4,000 direct jobs in wind energy, over $4.3 billion in capital investment, and over $7.5 billion in land-lease payments.
