Invenergy Wind LLC has announced the completion of construction and the start of commercial operations of its Prairie Breeze II Wind Energy Center, located in Nebraska’s Antelope and Boone counties.
Prairie Breeze II, which officially began operating in mid-December, is located near the Town of Elgin, approximately 100 miles northwest of the City of Lincoln.
The facility has the capacity to generate approximately 73 MW of power from 20 GE 1.79 MW turbines. Project output will be sold to the City of Grand Island, Neb., under a long-term power purchase agreement.
Prairie Breeze II is the second phase of Invenergy’s Prairie Breeze Wind Energy Center. Prairie Breeze I, a 201 MW facility in Antelope and Boone counties, began operations in 2014. Prairie Breeze III, a 36 MW facility in Antelope County, completed financial close in the fourth quarter of 2015 and is currently under construction.
As announced in December, TerraForm Power Inc. will acquire approximately 90% of Prairie Breeze II and III as part of the second closing of its acquisition of wind projects from Invenergy. The second closing is expected to occur in the second quarter of this year after Prairie Breeze III commences operations.
A full-time staff of 18 Invenergy employees will operate and maintain the entire Prairie Breeze Wind Energy Center.
Mick Baird, vice president of business development for Invenergy’s west region, says, “When complete, Prairie Breeze will provide more than 300 MW of clean energy to our customers in Nebraska, a state with tremendous wind resources.”
