GE Renewable Energy will supply 190 turbines for Alliant Energy’s English Farms and Upland Prairie wind farms to be built in the US state of Iowa, with a combined capacity of 470MW.

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Image: GE's 2MW-127 wind turbine under construction in Lubbock, Texas. Photo courtesy of: Rich Crowder/General Electric.

While the 170MW English Farms wind farm will be located in Poweshiek County in central Iowa, the 300MW Upland Prairie wind farm will spread across the Clay and Dickinson counties in the northwest part of the state.

The Upland Prairie wind farm will feature 121 turbines while the English Farms wind farm will be equipped with 69 turbines.

GE will be supplying its 2MW platform type turbines which include its 2.3-116, the 2.5-116 and the newly introduced 2.5-127 range for the two new wind farms in Iowa.

GE Americas onshore wind business general manager Vikas Anand said: “Both projects will provide power for the equivalent of 180,000 homes in Iowa. Alliant Energy and GE are making a real difference for consumers in Iowa and we are delighted to be providing our 2MW class turbines, including our brand new 2x 127m model.”

Terry Kouba, Alliant Energy Vice President of Operations in Iowa said: “This cutting-edge technology will help us advance cost-effective clean energy for our customers. As we add more wind energy, we’re working to keep Iowa a leader in renewable energy.”

Upland Prairie, which is developed by Alliant Energy, is anticipated to begin operations in late 2018 and early 2019. The English Farms wind farm on the other hand is expected to be placed into service in early 2019.

The two new wind farms are part of a larger plan of Alliant Energy to add 1GW of new wind generation capacity in Iowa by 2020.

Last month, Interstate Power and Light, the Iowa energy company of Alliant Energy was granted approval by the Iowa Utilities Board to move ahead with the plan.

Alliant Energy will be spending $1.8bn to install the 1GW new wind capacity which will provide enough power to cover 430,000 homes in Iowa.