The Traverse wind energy centre is a 998MW onshore wind power generation project in operation in Oklahoma, US.  It is claimed to be the biggest wind park built in a single phase in North America.

The wind farm is developed by Invenergy and is owned by American Electric Power (AEP) through its subsidiaries Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) and Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO).

The construction of the Traverse wind facility involved a total investment of £976m ($1.3bn) and the project became operational in March 2022.

At full capacity, the Traverse wind centre is estimated to generate approximately 3.8 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity per year, which is enough to power 300,000 households.

Project Gallery

The project is one of the three wind farms that constitute the 1.48GW North Central Energy Facilities owned by SWEPCO and PSO. The Traverse wind farm supplies electricity to the customers of the two utilities in the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Location and site details

The Traverse wind energy centre is located in the counties of Blaine and Custer in north- central Oklahoma, US.

The project site lies towards the north of Weatherford city.

Traverse wind energy centre make-up

The Traverse wind energy centre is installed with 356 units of General Electric (GE) 2MW platform wind turbines.

GE’s 2MW turbines have rotor diameter options of 116m, 127m and132m. The rated power outputs of the turbines vary between 2.3MW and 2.8MW.

Each three-blade turbine utilises a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) with a partial power converter system and is designed to operate at variable speeds.

Project financing

The Traverse wind energy centre received financing from Santander, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Natixis, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). The lenders provided a construction loan along with a letter of credit.

GE Energy Financial Services (GE EFS) also invested in the project during the construction phase on a build and transfer basis.

Contractors involved

GE Renewable Energy was selected by Invenergy to manufacture and supply a total of 531 onshore wind turbines of the 2MW platform with varying nameplates and hub heights for the 1.48GW North Central Energy Facilities including the Traverse wind farm in March 2021.

The contractual scope included the delivery of 492 turbines with 127m rotor diameter and 39 turbines with 116m rotor diameter.

Invenergy Services, a subsidiary of Invenergy, is responsible for operations and maintenance (O&M) and balance of plant (BOP) services for the onshore wind farm under a 10-year agreement.

North Central Energy Facilities

The North Central Energy Facilities comprise the 998MW Traverse wind farm, the 287MW Maverick wind farm, and the 199MW Sundance wind energy centre.

The Maverick wind project, located south-west of Enid city, is equipped with 103 turbines to produce enough electricity to power 85,000 households. It started commercial operations in September 2021.

The Sundance wind energy centre is situated in the Woods County and consists of 72 wind turbines. Commissioned in April 2021, it is estimated to generate enough energy to power 55,000 homes.

Constructed at an estimated investment of £1.5bn ($2bn), the three facilities are capable of producing approximately 5.7 million MWh of electricity a year, which is enough to power approximately 440,000 US homes.

SWEPCO owns 54.5% or 809MWof the total wind power generated by the facilities, while PSO holds the remaining 45.5% output.

The total investment made by SWEPCO in the project is approximately $1.01bn. The company’s share of output from the facilities includes approximately 464MW of electricity for its Louisiana customers, 268MW for Arkansas customers and the remaining 78MW for wholesale customers.