The Cimarron Bend Wind Farm is a 599

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

(MW)

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

spanning northwest

Clark County Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *Clark County, ...

in the U.S. state of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. It became the second largest wind generating facility in the state upon completion of the first two construction phases in early 2017. The facility allowed the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to obtain more than 45% of its electricity needs from renewable sources. A wind turbine at the Cimarron Bend Wind Farm

A wind turbine at the Cimarron Bend Wind Farm

Details

The project was developed by the Kansas-based firm Tradewind Energy, which previously built a strategic partnership with the Italian-controlled firm Enel Green Power North America (EGPNA) that resulted in the construction of several wind farms throughout the state, including the

Smoky Hills Wind Farm The Smoky Hills Wind Farm (Phase I & Phase II) is a 250 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Lincoln and Ellsworth Counties, 140 miles west of Topeka in Kansas, north of Ellsworth. The farm is operated by Enel Green Power. Highway K-14 and Interstate 70 ...

. The electricity and

tax credits A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "disc ...

from the first 200 MW phase are contracted with Google Inc., and those from the second 200 MW phase are contracted with the Kansas City BPU. A third 200 MW phase was also planned for development. The facility's first two phases span about 60,000 acres of farm and grazing land in the southwest region of the state near the town of Minneola. It includes 200

Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Un ...

V110-2.0 MW

wind turbines A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each y ...

for which many components were manufactured in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Construction of the facility started in April 2016 and employed about 350 local workers. Phase I was completed year end 2016 and phase II in late March 2017. The ongoing operation and maintenance activities employ about 15 people. Construction was financed by Enel Green Power North America Renewable Energy Partners, an equally owned

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between EGPNA and

GE Capital GE Capital was the financial services division of General Electric. Its various units were sold between 2013 and 2021, including the notable spin-off of the North American consumer finance division as Synchrony Financial. Ultimately, only one div ...

’s Energy Financial Services. EGPNA obtained further investor financing throug
tax equity
agreements with other U.S. financial institutions including

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

, J.P. Morgan Chase, and

MetLife MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produ ...

. In early 2019, EGPNA acquired Tradewind Energy and its portfolio of future projects under development. It also purchased GE's interest in their joint venture facilities, including the operating Cimmaron Bend Wind Farm. The facility was expanded to 599 MW in 2020, making it EGPNA's largest US wind farm.

Electricity production

(*) partial year of operation
(NR) not yet reported

References

{{Wind power in the United States Energy infrastructure completed in 2017 Wind farms in Kansas Buildings and structures in Clark County, Kansas

Details

Electricity production

See also

References