Marshall Wind Energy LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of RPM Access, has commenced construction of its 74 MW wind farm in Marshall County near Beattie, Kan.
Marshall Wind Energy began developing the project in 2009 and executed a high-voltage transmission interconnection agreement with Westar Energy and the Southwest Power Pool in mid-2011. Under the terms of this arrangement, the two companies are coordinating their efforts to pursue all design, engineering and construction activities related to the Westar 115 kV Marshall County Wind Farm Switching Station and the Marshall Energy Rock Substation. Energization is scheduled for August 2014, with wind farm commercial operations expected by year-end 2014.
A contract has also been signed with Mortenson Construction to provide balance-of-plant design and construction management activities. Marshall Wind, which has established a local business office in Beattie, anticipates the project will create more than 150 jobs during the construction phase and approximately four permanent positions.
In September, Marshall Wind signed a 20-year power purchase agreement for 20 MW with the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission, and the company says it will seek long-term contract(s) for the remaining available capacity.
