Blue Creek Wind Farm is an onshore wind farm located in north-west Ohio, the US. The 304MW project is the first modern, commercial-scale wind project in the state.
It was developed by Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID and part of the Iberdrola Group.
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Construction works started in September 2010 and the wind farm was commissioned in June 2012. The development entailed an investment of $600m.
Blue Creek generates clean power for around 76,000 homes annually. It offsets approximately 725 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, equivalent to taking 114,000 cars off the road.
Every year, the project pays around $2m in lease payments to local landowners and $2.7m to local taxing bodies.
Blue Creek Wind Farm Location
The Blue Creek Wind Farm is located in Van Wert and Paulding counties, in northwest Ohio. The site is nearly 6km north of the town of Van Wert.
It includes an area of nearly 80 square miles (207.2km2). According to Iberdrola, the total impact of the project is less than 1 acre per turbine.
The project shares space with agricultural fields in the townships of Tully, Union, and Hoaglin in Van Wert County, as well as in the towns of Benton, Blue Creek, and Latty in Paulding County.
Blue Creek Wind Farm Details
Blue Creek Wind Farm comprises 152 Gamesa G90 2.0 wind turbines. The turbines are installed on 100m (328ft) towers, providing each structure with a height of 476ft.
The turbines have a hub height of 100m with blades 45-m long. Each nacelle weighs 85 tonnes.
The 2MW wind turbines are equipped with a 90m rotor, covering a swept area of 6,362m². The rotor can operate at speeds between 9 and 19 rpm.
Blades are composed of pre-impregnated epoxy glass fibre and carbon fibre. The entire turbine, including hub, weighs about 36 tonnes.
Around 60 truckloads of concrete and 60 tonnes of steel rebar were used to build every foundation.
Majority of the equipment used in the wind farm was produced and assembled in the states of Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota.
During the peak construction phase, the project employed more than 500 people.
A network of underground cables and overhead lines receives the wind power generated by the turbines and then feeds it into the transmission grid via substation.
Key Contractors
Gamesa supplied the wind turbines and associated components for the Blue Creek Wind Farm.
PAR Electrical was selected as the electrical contractor, while Dashiell was in charge of providing the electrical interconnections.
The O&M building was built by Wortman Bros and CH2M Hill served as the environmental consultant for the project.
Several subcontractors and suppliers were from Ohio.
This includes Continental Secret Service for project site security; Deitering Landscaping Insurance for erosion control and seeding; Gattshall Excavating and Trucking for onsite equipment and material trucking; J&B Steel Erectors for rebar installation; All Purpose Contracting served as site prep subcontractor; and Fastenal supplied hardware material.
Other contractors included Hite Concrete Pumping; Jones Farm Drainage; Professional Service Industries; Sekel Management Group; Stoneco; The Shelly Company; True Vine Tree Trimming; Mobile Mini; Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative; Kirby Risk and Westwood Professional Services.
Blue Creek Wind Farm Energy Customers
FirstEnergy Solutions, a subsidiary of electric utility FirstEnergy Corp, buys 100MW of electricity from Blue Creek Wind Farm.
The energy company’s ten electric distribution companies serve customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York.
The Ohio State University purchases 50MW of electricity, which represents nearly 25% of the entire Columbus campus electricity load.
Nonprofit wholesale electric supplier American Municipal Power (AMP) procures 26MW of clean power from the wind farm. The entity serves 130-plus members in nine states.
In February 2025, AMP and Avangrid signed a short-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to ensure Blue Creek Wind Farm continues to supply energy for the region and economically support rural Ohio communities with jobs, lease payments and tax revenue.
