Otter Tail Power asked the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on May 9 for approval of a draft Wind Energy Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Ashtabula Wind III LLC.
Otter Tail said this draft PPA covers the purchase of renewable energy from 39 turbines located in Barnes County, N.D. The turbines have an aggregate nameplate capacity of 62.4 MW.
“This purchase is cost-effective and consistent with Otter Tail’s Resource Plan, the relevant portion of which has been approved for up to 100 MW of additional wind generation,” the company told the commission. “The turbines were erected in December 2010 by NextEra and are currently producing energy.”
A redacted version of the PPA was attached to the filing.
Otter Tail noted that it currently has two other PPAs for energy from wind generation facilities that have been approved by the commission: one for a facility near Edgeley, N.D., and the other for a facility near Langdon, N.D. Both projects are owned by NextEra subsidiaries. The commission approved the Edgely PPA in 2006 and the Langdon PPA in 2008.
In addition to these wind generation PPAs, Otter Tail owns three major wind projects: the Langdon Wind Farm, the Ashtabula Wind Energy Center and the Luverne Wind Energy Center.
