The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved the wind project last year. The closure of the WPPSA transfers the project ownership to Northern States Power, an Xcel Energy operating company.
The agreement between enXco and Xcel Energy builds on the experience the two companies attained through their joint developments of nearly 500MW over the past several years including Grand Meadow wind farm, Fenton wind project, Viking wind project and Chanarambie wind project all located in Minnesota, as well as, Peetz wind project in Colorado.
Steve Peluso, vice president of development for enXco’s midwest region, said: “Closing the WPPSA is an important milestone in the development of the Nobles Wind project. The Spring weather allows us to step up construction efforts, generating 150 jobs in the next few months. We are pleased to once again partner with Xcel Energy to bring economic and renewable benefits from the Nobles Wind Project to their customers in the Upper Midwest.”
Judy Poferl, president and CEO of Northern States Power-Minnesota, said: “The Nobles wind project advances our commitment to provide clean, renewable energy at a reasonable cost to our customers. We are pleased to move ahead on this project which will underscore our commitment to the communities we serve, increase our ownership of wind facilities, and help us meet aggressive renewable energy requirements.”
The Nobles wind project, consisting of 134 GE 1.5MW turbines, will produce electricity to power approximately 50,000 homes. The wind farm is expected to be operational by the end of 2010, helping Xcel Energy to reach its renewable portfolio standard target of generating 30% of its retail electrical sales with renewable power by 2020.
