EDF Renewable Energy (EDF RE) said that its 200MW Red Pine wind project in the US state of Minnesota has entered into commercial operations.
Located in Lincoln County, the wind project features 100 turbines manufactured by Vestas, each having a capacity of 2.0MW.
The Red Pine wind farm interconnects to the Hawks Nest Lake Substation of Northern States Power and produces enough clean wind power to cover 92,000 average households in Minnesota, as per the US Energy Information Administration.
EDF RE north region development vice president Kate O’Hair said: “The support of the Ivanhoe community has been tremendous. We are pleased to recognize the positive impact with over $18 million in supplies, equipment, utilities and fuel sourced from local businesses during the construction phase and more than $20,000 contributed to local organizations to assist in their missions.”
EDF RE said that the Red Pine wind farm will additionally invest an estimated $1m per year during its production life to the county and townships through the Minnesota Wind Energy Production Tax.
EDF Renewable Services will provide balance-of-plant operations and maintenance for the Red Pine facility.
The Red Pine project was acquired by EDF Re from Infinity Wind in 2015, when it was in the early stages of development. It is the 11th wind facility developed by EDF Re in Minnesota.
EDF RE’s other wind projects in Minnesota include the 205.5MW Lakefield Wind project, the 201MW Nobles Wind project and the 205.5MW Fenton Wind project.
The company has so far developed 9GW of wind, solar, storage, biomass, and biogas projects across the US, Canada, and Mexico.
Recently, in December 2017, the company announced that its 154MW Rock Falls wind project in northern Oklahoma had entered into commercial operations.
Built in the Kay and Grant counties, the Rock Falls project is supported by a power purchase agreement for a capacity of 120MW with Kimberly-Clark.
Image: Red Pine Wind Project in Minnesota generates 200 MW of wind power. Photo: courtesy of Business Wire.