Tenaska Clear Creek Energy Center, a 242 MW wind farm in northwest Missouri, has achieved commercial operation.
Located north of Maryville in Nodaway County, Tenaska Clear Creek comprises 111 Vestas turbines across approximately 31,000 acres.
Tenaska, an energy company based in Omaha, Neb., is a developer and operator of generating facilities across the U.S. Tenaska Clear Creek is the 18th power project that the company has brought online.
“This project was a team effort that involved not just Tenaska but also a number of landowners, community leaders and contractors. For us all to come together and bring online this safe and efficient wind farm – that is quite an accomplishment,” says Jerry Crouse, vice chairman and CEO of Tenaska.
“The team achieved many milestones to get here, and we are excited that Tenaska Clear Creek has reached its goal: commercial operation and delivering renewable power to Associated Electric Cooperative,” he adds.
The wind farm produces renewable energy under a 25-year power purchase agreement with Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., an electric generation and transmission cooperative based in Springfield, Mo., that provides wholesale power to six regional cooperatives, including NW Electric Power Cooperative Inc. of Cameron, Mo., and 51 local cooperative systems in Missouri, southeast Iowa and northeast Oklahoma that serve 910,000 members.
The wind farm is owned by Tenaska Clear Creek Wind LLC, which comprises affiliates of Tenaska and Bright Canyon Energy.
Construction of the wind farm began in spring 2019. Vestas, a global manufacturer of wind turbines, supplied the wind turbines and is providing maintenance services for the project. Mortenson, a builder and provider of energy and engineering services, was the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
Construction of Tenaska Clear Creek represented an investment of more than $300 million in the regional economy. Through Mortenson, 350 craft workers were hired from the local area, and approximately $30 million in contracts were awarded to regional businesses.
During operation, Tenaska Clear Creek is supported by a team of 16 local employees staffed through NAES Corp. and Vestas. Approximately 160 landowners have long-term leases with Tenaska Clear Creek, which is estimated to result in more than $1.2 million in lease payments annually. Tenaska Clear Creek is expected to generate more than $1.2 million in tax revenue annually for local units of government.
Photo: A map of Tenaska’s plants, projects and offices
There is only one issue with this article. Which is the 350 craft workers were not hired locally. Actually Mortenson done everything they could to keep from hiring local craft employees.