Enbridge’s 110 MW Texas wind project will deliver electricity to the ERCOT market under a 20-year agreement with Microsoft Corporation.
On January 6, 2014, Canada’s Enbridge Inc. announced an agreement with Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas) to construct the Keechi Wind Project, a 110 MW wind energy project in Texas, at a cost of approximately $200M. RES Americas will construct the project under a fixed-price, engineering, procurement, and construction agreement. The project, expected to be commissioned in Q1 2015, will receive tax equity financing from MetLife, Inc. after commencing commercial operation. Vestas will operate and maintain turbines for the first five years of the project.
Keechi Wind Project Location (Microsoft)
According to Enbridge, the Keechi Wind Project, comprising 55 Vestas V100-2.0 MW turbines, will supply electricity to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) market under a 20-year purchase agreement with Microsoft Corporation. The wind farm and Microsoft’s San Antonio data center are on the same power grid. The project will be connected to Brazos Electric Power Cooperative’s Joplin substation through a 12-mile generation tie-line. It will increase clean energy generating capacity of Enbridge-involved projects to more than 1,800 MW and also boost Enbridge’s Neutral Footprint commitment to generate one KW of renewable energy for each additional kilowatt of conventional power consumed by its pipeline operations.
According to RES Americas, the Keechi Wind Project will have an annual yield of 430,000 MWh and save approximately 260,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year. American Wind Energy Association statistics show that Texas ranks first among U.S. states for total installed wind capacity, with an installed wind capacity of 12,214 MW. In May 2013, Texas wind generation hit a record 9,674 MW, equivalent to 28 percent of ERCOT’s load.
January 8, 2014 via Energy Solutions Forum
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