Wind Quarry LLC recently reached two major milestones in the development of its 103 MW Willow Creek Wind Energy Facility, to be located in Butte County, S.D. Wind Quarry is a privately held wind development company with headquarters in Wyoming and offices in Montrose, Colo.
In November, the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) issued its record of decision on the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project. WAPA, the federal agency administering the environmental review, issued a finding of no significant impact. In turn, the environmental and cultural evaluations of the project are now complete, says Wind Quarry.
The Willow Creek project also marks the first completion of an environmental review using WAPA’s programmatic EIS, a streamlined review process – developed by WAPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – to simplify the EIS process for wind power projects in the western U.S.
In October, Wind Quarry executed a generator interconnection agreement (GIA) with WAPA and the Southwest Power Pool, the transmission operator that manages the power grid in the region. The GIA outlines the terms and conditions to connect the Willow Creek facility to the grid.
These two milestones complete the permitting phase of the development process and allow Wind Quarry to break ground on the project in the near future. Additionally, negotiations are under way for project financing and a power purchase agreement.
