Edison Mission Group's (EMG) 80 MW Broken Bow Wind Project, located in Custer County, Neb., is nearing completion, Charley Parnell, the company's vice president of public affairs, tells NAW.
The $145 million wind project, which consists of 50 GE 1.6 MW wind turbines, will be 100% owned and operated by EMG. The turbines are scheduled to be commissioned in the first week of September.
Nebraska Public Power District is purchasing the output and constructing a $5.4 million, nine-mile transmission line to connect the wind farm's substation with an existing substation near Broken Bow. EMG anticipates the transmission line and substation will be completed by Sept. 1.
After the lines are energized, the commissioned turbines will start ‘hitting the grid’ by the second week of September, Parnell notes. While construction has gone according to plan, Parnell did say the project was plagued by several ‘high-wind days,’ which delayed construction.
Per an agreement with EMG, Midwest Wind Energy, a developer of wind projects in the Midwest region, was responsible for the early stages of project development, which began in 2009.
Broken Bow is not EMG's only wind project in the state. The company's other Nebraska wind projects include the 40 MW Crofton Bluffs wind farm, located in Knox County. The project is currently under construction, and EMG anticipates it to be operational by the end of the year.
