Development of the project is being spearheaded by the American Wind Alliance (AWA), a joint venture founded by Mesa Power with the support of General Electric. Till date, AWA has reached agreement on seven other wind power project transactions totaling more than 750MW – four in Ontario, Canada, and one each in Minnesota, Michigan and Missouri.
The commission gave AWA the go-ahead on the Goodhue initiative in a recent approval of the project’s purchase power agreement, draft site permit and its structure as a community-based project.
Mesa Power, as an owner of the Goodhue wind project, is helping finance the project and is also supplying the project with 52 GE wind turbines. The project encompasses 12,000 acres and is expected to generate enough electricity to power approximately 31,000 to 70,000 homes.
AWA expects to award a construction contract to a Minnesota-based firm in the coming weeks with a goal of breaking ground in the fourth quarter, and delivering power by late 2011. Northern States Power, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy, has signed an agreement to buy the project’s electricity.
