The first wind farm will be located in North Shade and New Haven Townships in Gratiot County, Michigan. It will include a total of 75 wind turbines and is expected to have a generation capacity of 150MW after the completion of its construction.
The two companies will sign a Development Asset Acquisition agreement where the Consumers Energy will acquire development package and then manage the wind farm construction. The transaction needs approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission.
As per the agreement, Tradewind Energy will continue to perform studies, secure permits, acquire real estate and carry out other functions required to take the project to the construction stage.
Consumers Energy expects to own the wind farm by next May and will be responsible for the construction and operation of the Gratiot Farms Wind Project. The wind farm is expected to begin operations in late 2020.
CMS Energy president and CEO Patti Poppe said: “CMS Energy is committed to our triple bottom line of people, planet and prosperity, and we are excited to support all three by increasing the renewable energy we supply using wind power.
“We are showing it is possible to provide affordable world-class products and service to customers while being responsible corporate citizens.”
The second project, a 105MW Northwest Ohio Wind project, will be acquired by CMS Energy’s subsidiary CMS Enterprises from Starwood Energy Group Global. The project is still under construction. Once the transaction is completed, CMS Enterprises will finish construction and own and operate the facility.
CMS Enterprises has agreed to sell the electricity generated from the wind farm to General Motors for a period of 15 years.
General Motors global renewable energy head Rob Threlkeld said: “CMS Enterprises’ ownership of the Ohio project enhances the longstanding relationship between GM and CMS Energy.
“The Ohio project will play a key role in offsetting carbon emissions from seven GM plants in the Midwest and help enable GM to use renewable energy to power 20% of our facilities globally, demonstrating GM’s commitment toward meeting our goal of 100% renewables by 2050.”
