Kansas City Light and Power (KCP&L) has announced plans to purchase an additional 500 MW of power from two new wind farms in its service region. According to KCP&L, that’s enough energy to power up to 170,000 homes.
KCP&L has signed a 20-year agreement with two providers and will source the new wind energy from the Osborn wind farm and Rock Creek wind farm.
Osborn is a 200 MW wind farm that is being constructed by NextEra Energy Resources in DeKalb County, just east of St. Joseph, Mo. Osborn is expected to reach commercial operation by the end of this year.
Rock Creek is a 300 MW wind farm that is being constructed by Tradewind Energy in Atchison County, near Tarkio, Mo. Rock Creek is expected to reach commercial operation by September 2017.
Both of these projects are located within the KCP&L service area, and the close proximity was one of the primary reasons for choosing both of these projects.
“Being close to our service area allows us to invest back in the communities we serve,” says Terry Bassham, KCP&L president and CEO. “The developers have committed to hiring locally for the construction and ongoing operation of these facilities, which will boost the local economies in this region.”
The location of these facilities also minimizes the transmission risk that many utilities are facing with renewable energy. Both of these projects will connect directly to the Midwest Transmission Project transmission line.
Once these two projects are complete, it will grow KCP&L’s total wind energy portfolio to nearly 1,400 MW.
