Through the 20-year agreement, Southwestern Electric Power Company (Swepco) will purchase all of the output, including renewable energy credits, of the 79.5MW Majestic wind farm located northeast of Amarillo in Carson County, Texas.
According to the company, the project, consisting of 53 GE 1.5MW SLE wind turbines and associated equipment, is expected to be on line by the end of January 2009. Pricing terms are confidential.
The agreement with Majestic Wind Power brings American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) renewable-energy purchase commitments up to 455MW since the 1,000MW goal was established. AEP companies have additional requests for proposals out for up to 500MW of renewable energy.
Michael Morris, AEP’s chairman, president and CEO, said: “We diversify AEP’s power generation mix with wind and other renewables, along with baseload generation, in order to meet our customers’ future electricity needs. This latest agreement is part of AEP’s plans, announced in 2007, to add 1,000MW of new wind energy by 2011 as a component of our strategy to address greenhouse gas emissions.”
Swepco claims to serve more than 473,500 customers in three states, including 113,500 in western Arkansas, 180,000 in Northwest Louisiana, and 180,000 in East and North Texas.
