National Grid subsidiary Geronimo Energy has initiated commercial operations for its Crocker Wind Farm, a 200 MW project located in Clark County, South Dakota.
Crocker, which has virtual power purchase agreements in place with Walmart and Cargill, was built by Wanzek Construction and uses GE 2.7-116 wind turbines.
“Crocker coming online represents the culmination of many years of collaboration with the community and has and will continue to bring economic development to rural South Dakota,” says Blake Nixon, CEO of Geronimo Energy. “Crocker is unique in that it is 100 percent contracted by corporate virtual power purchase agreements. Increasingly more corporations are making the choice to include renewable energy procurement in their sustainability goals – and Geronimo is proud to be playing a role in our industry’s continued growth and expansion into corporate power purchasing.”
“Sourcing from wind energy projects – like the Crocker Wind Farm – brings Walmart closer to our goal to be supplied by 50 percent renewable energy by 2025,” says Mark Vanderhelm, vice president of energy for Walmart. “The energy we’ll procure from this facility represents a significant step in our renewable energy journey.”
Geronimo began working with local landowners to develop Crocker with the intent to positively impact its local and state host communities. Crocker is estimated to have provided hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact throughout the development and construction phases, including job creation, increased local spending, and capital infrastructure improvements. In the first 20 years of operation, the project is anticipated to further benefit the economy with tens of millions in tax revenue, landowner payments, and new full-time job creation, as well as $800,000 in charitable funding.
