BP Wind Energy has begun construction on the first phase of the Titan Wind Farm in Hand County, S.D. The first phase of the project is expected to have a capacity of 25 MW.
Located on a 7,500-acre site, the Titan I Wind Farm will utilize 10 Clipper C89 wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of 2.5 MW. The project will employ up to 175 workers during peak construction and is expected to be in commercial operation in the first quarter of 2010. The balance-of-plant contract has been awarded to Mortenson Construction.
The power from the Titan I Wind Farm has been sold to NorthWestern Energy under a long-term power purchase agreement. It represents phase one of a much larger project. If built out to its full capacity, the Titan Wind Farm has the potential to be the largest wind development in the world at 5,050 MW.
‘Large wind farms such as Titan are the long-term future of the wind energy business, but to deliver on this opportunity, we have to address the transmission challenges,’ says John Graham, president of BP Wind Energy. ‘The solution will require new thinking, outside of traditional approaches, from the developers, utilities, local and state governments, and many others.’
BP and Clipper Windpower are joint development partners for the remaining 5,025 MW of the Titan Wind Farm, which is expected to be built in multiple phases.
SOURCE: BP Wind Energy
