DTE Energy, a Detroit-based diversified energy company, says that its Pinnebog Wind Park in Huron County, Mich., has now begun commercial operation.
According to DTE, the wind project features 30 turbines and has the ability to produce 50 MW of renewable energy – enough to power more than 22,000 homes. Specifically, the Pinnebog Wind Park is located in Chandler, Oliver and Colfax Townships and is an expansion of the existing Echo Wind Park.
DTE Energy says it began work on Pinnebog in early 2016, and this project completion brings the number of DTE-owned or -operated wind parks to 13 across Michigan – the most in the state and enough to power more than 400,000 homes.
Irene Dimitry, vice president of business planning and development at DTE Energy, comments, “We view renewable energy as an important part of a diversified and balanced energy portfolio. Projects like this increase our renewable energy generation capacity and our ability to provide our customers with energy that is affordable, reliable and clean.”
Approximately 150 people were employed to work on various aspects of the project during construction. DTE says it now has a total of 30 full-time employees working at its Huron County Renewable Energy Center, located in Bad Axe, Mich.
In addition to the creation of construction and operations jobs and local economic development, DTE says its wind projects in Huron County will generate tax revenue of more than $20 million by 2020. This is in addition to payments made to participating landowners through wind energy easement agreements.
DTE is Michigan’s largest investor in renewable energy, including wind and solar, having driven investments of more than $2 billion in renewable energy since 2008. In 2015, more than 10% of the energy provided by DTE was generated from a renewable source in Michigan. Currently, DTE’s renewable energy portfolio includes 13 wind parks and 28 solar arrays.
