Renewable Energy Systems Americas (RES Americas) announced June 30 that it has received notice to proceed (NTP) for construction on the Border Winds Project in Roulette County, N.D.
RES Americas is the developer and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor of the Border Winds Project. The company purchased the partially developed project from Sequoia Energy in August 2013 and, upon completion, will transfer ownership of Border Winds to Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL), which will own and operate the project through its Northern States Power subsidiary.
Located near the U.S./Canada border, the 150-MW project is comprised of 75 V100-2.0 MW Vestas turbines. Construction of Border Winds is expected to begin in June 2014 with completion in October 2015.
Xcel Energy estimates that Border Winds will reduce customer costs by approximately $45 million over the project’s life and avoid approximately 320,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. The Vestas V100-2.0 MW turbine, launched in 2013, generates approximately 13% more energy than earlier models at medium wind speeds. It is expected that the cost of energy generated by the project will be competitive with or below wholesale power prices in the region, RES Americas noted.
“Technological improvements in the wind industry continue to drive down the cost of generating clean, carbon-free electricity for consumers,” said Andrew Fowler, Chief Operating Officer of RES Americas. “RES Americas is committed to playing a leading role in developing and constructing wind and solar projects that will further advance a sustainable energy future for North America. Border Winds puts us one step closer.”
“We are committed to meeting our customers’ needs in clean and affordable ways,” said Dave Sparby, president and CEO of Northern States Power Co.-Minnesota. “The Border Winds project is one of four new wind projects under development in our Upper Midwest region. These projects will add 750 megawatts of clean wind energy to our system and demonstrate that we can achieve both environmental and economic benefits for our customers.”
RES Americas currently has more than 770 MW of wind and solar power under construction in the United States and Canada. The company recently completed construction on Canada’s largest wind farm, the 270-MW South Kent Wind Project in Ontario, and Texas’ largest solar photovoltaic project, the 41-MW Alamo 1 facility in San Antonio.
