Appalachian Power has filed for the approvals from Virginia State Corporation Commission and the Public Service Commission of West Virginia for its acquisitions of the Hardin and Beech Ridge II wind facilities with a combined capacity of 225MW.
The Hardin Wind Facility is of 175MW capacity and will be build in Ohio in the Hardin County. On the other hand, the Beech Ridge II Wind Facility will have a capacity of 50MW and will come up in West Virginia in Greenbrier County.
The two wind projects acquired by the American Electric Power subsidiary are being developed by the Illinois-based Invenergy.
Appalachian Power president and chief operating officer Chris Beam said: “We are continuing our transition to an energy company of the future and further diversifying our power generation portfolio. These acquisitions move us in that direction.
“Direct ownership and operation of these facilities will give our employees new experiences in the planning, production and delivery of power from diverse generating assets as Appalachian continues to add renewable resources in the years ahead.”
As of now, Appalachian Power has a total of 375MW as far as its wind generation capacity is concerned. The capacity is expected to go up by another 120MW in 2018 with the addition of the Indiana-located Bluff Point Wind Farm.
Overall, Appalachian Power would cross the 1GW mark in wind and hydro generation once the Hardin and Beech Ridge II wind facilities are approved. The 1GW portfolio of clean energy projects would power more than 230,000 households.
Appalachian Power serves about a million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee states.