NorthWestern Corp., doing business as NorthWestern Energy, has reached an agreement to purchase 25 MW of wind power from a planned Hand County wind farm to serve electric customers in South Dakota.
The agreement with Rolling Thunder I Power Partners, which is owned by BP Wind Energy and Clipper Windpower, is the first renewable source of energy to be made available to customers in NorthWestern Energy's South Dakota utility.
‘Power purchase agreements like this one announced by NorthWestern Energy are a necessary component for wind energy development in South Dakota,’ says South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Chairman Dusty Johnson.
Under the 20-year agreement, NorthWestern will purchase 25 MW from the Rolling Thunder I Power Partners project that will be built in Hand County south of the town of Ree Heights. The 2.5 MW Clipper Liberty wind turbines will be manufactured at a plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Constructin of the wind farm is anticipated to begin in the first half of 2009, with commercial operation expected by early 2010.
SOURCE: NorthWestern Energy
