ALLETE Clean Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of ALLETE Inc., has entered energy sale agreements with Oshkosh Corp. and Hormel Foods for a combined 100 MW from its Caddo wind site under construction in Caddo County, Oklahoma. The 303 MW project will double ALLETE Clean Energy’s capacity to serve the accelerating corporate demand for clean energy.
“We’re proud to work with two Upper Midwest corporations to help them achieve their sustainability goals with Caddo’s renewable energy,” says Allan S. Rudeck Jr., president of ALLETE Clean Energy. “Projects like Caddo help diversify and decarbonize the nation’s energy supply while strengthening local economies. We are grateful for our partnerships with landowners, communities and lawmakers who have created a business environment in Oklahoma that encourages and enables 21st-century energy infrastructure investment.”
The project has the support of local communities, where benefits include more than $50 million in tax revenue, $54 million in payments to landowners and the creation of about 200 jobs during construction – and 12 to 15 long-term operations jobs.
Caddo’s approximately 110 turbines will increase ALLETE Clean Energy’s total operating, under construction and build-transfer wind energy projects to more than 1,450 MW of nameplate capacity. The company’s recent growth has come through serving new commercial and industrial customers through the Diamond Spring and Caddo projects in Oklahoma. ALLETE Clean Energy purchased both sites from Apex Clean Energy and, as at Diamond Spring, the two companies will work together to finalize the development and construction of Caddo.
The Caddo site is expected to be operational by the end of the year and qualify for the safe harbor provision of federal renewable energy production tax credits. ALLETE Clean Energy continues to own an inventory of safe harbor turbines and is exploring additional opportunities to put more of them to use to serve its customers.
