ENGIE North America and Basin Electric Power Cooperative have entered into a 25-year, 200 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) from ENGIE’s North Bend Wind project, located in Hughes and Hyde counties in South Dakota.
The output from North Bend, which is expected to become operational in late 2023, will provide an addition to Basin Electric’s renewable energy mix, adding to its diverse energy portfolio, which provides affordable generation to support the needs of their 131 member cooperatives across nine states.
According to ENGIE, the renewable electricity generated by North Bend will be enough to help meet the monthly electricity needs of some 73,000 average U.S. households and reduces carbon emissions by up to 620,000 tons of CO2 per year.
“We are excited to add North Bend Wind to our total generating portfolio of over 7,000 megawatts which blends together affordable and reliable generation to meet the needs of our member co-ops over the coming decades” said Todd Telesz, Basin Electric chief executive officer and general manager. “Furthermore, it demonstrates our commitment to utilizing resources that fit our all-of-the-above energy strategy.”
ENGIE will develop, build and operate North Bend Wind consisting of 71 wind turbines on some 47,000 acres of land just outside Harold, SD, which is located in the cooperative’s service area. During construction ENGIE estimates over 250 jobs are expected to be created, with 8-10 longer term operational roles anticipated to be locally based.
ENGIE currently operates or is building almost 5 GW of wind, solar and battery storage projects across the U.S. and Canada and added 12 GW of wind, solar and storage to its pipeline in 2022.
“We are proud to have been selected by Basin Electric to help meet their needs for more renewable power in their overall generation mix and supporting them in delivering low-cost and reliable power to their members” says Dave Carroll, chief renewables officer of ENGIE North America. “The fact that we are able to provide completely locally produced power from South Dakota to supply members across Basin Electric’s service territory, underpins our focus on being part of the community for at least the next quarter century. Maybe it’s not quite ‘farm to table’, but Basin Electric’s members continue to buy local.”
