As part of the agreement, HCE will purchase 100MW output from the Arriba wind farm in Lincoln County
Image: HCE and Guzman Energy announce the 150MW Arriba Wind Farm in Colorado. Photo courtesy of Free-Photos from Pixabay.
Holy Cross Energy (HCE) and Guzman Energy have signed an agreement with NGC Partners for the development of the 150MW Arriba wind farm in Lincoln County, Colorado, US.
As part of the agreement, HCE will purchase 100MW output from the wind farm, which is about 30% of the company’s annual energy requirements. Guzman Energy will use the remaining 50MW of the energy to serve its customer base.
Guzman also has an option to commission another 50MW in increased project size and bring its share in the project to 100MW.
The Arriba wind farm is expected to come into operations in 2021.
The power purchase is part of HCE’s Seventy70Thirty renewable energy goal
Under its Seventy70Thirty renewable energy goals, HCE aims to achieve 70% annual energy from clean and renewable sources, with a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions from 2014 levels no later than 2030.
The two companies HCE and Guzman entered into a partnership last December to speed up HCE’s progress towards its goals without increasing power costs for their members.
In December 2018, Guzman Energy, a wholesale power provider based in Colorado, issued Requests for Proposal (RFP) to add nearly 250MW of renewable energy to serve its expanding load portfolio in the Rocky Mountain region.
Holy Cross Energy power supply and programs vice president Steve Beuning said: “The agreement we have signed today with Guzman Energy and NGC Partners is an important step in fulfilling our Seventy70Thirty commitment to clean energy, while maintaining reliable and affordable energy supply for our members and the communities they live in.
“These new and additional renewable energy resources extend our leadership of the responsible transition to a clean energy future, well in advance of our stated 2030 goals.”
Guzman Energy external affairs director Kathleen Staks said: “This new project is the culmination of a lot of hard work to implement a creative partnership and solution that will help western Colorado communities transition toward a cleaner, more affordable energy future.
“We are proud to help HCE meet their ambitious energy goals and are excited to add more clean energy to our portfolio to benefit all of our customers.”
Holy Cross Energy is a nonprofit rural electric cooperative, established in 1939. The cooperative claims to offer affordable energy and services to more than 43,000 members and their communities in Western Colorado.