Silver Sage will be adjacent to Duke Energy’s Happy Jack wind farm located west of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Under a separate 20-year purchase power agreement, Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power and Black Hills Power, also a Black Hills utility subsidiary, currently purchase all of the output from the 30 MW Happy Jack wind farm that began commercial operation in September 2008. The two Black Hills utilities expect to enter into a similar sharing agreement for the output from the Silver Sage wind farm.
The Silver Sage project will consist of 20 Suzlon wind turbines, each capable of generating 2.1 MW of electricity. In a separate 20-year purchase power agreement, Colorado-based Platte River Power Authority will purchase 12 MW of electricity generated by the Silver Sage project.
“We are pleased to continue our partnership with Duke Energy in developing wind resources,” said David R. Emery, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Black Hills. “Black Hills Corp. is committed to exploring cost-effective renewable energy opportunities.”
“This agreement adds more renewable energy into our utility generation portfolio,” said Linn Evans, president and chief operating officer of Utilities for Black Hills. “Through the Silver Sage and Happy Jack wind power purchase agreements we have secured renewable energy for our customers for the next two decades.”
