Fowler Ridge Wind Farm, US

The Fowler Ridge Wind Farm (FRWF) is an operational 750MW wind project located in the US state of Indiana.

The onshore wind project in Benton County of Indiana was built in four phases- Fowler Ridge I, Fowler Ridge II, Fowler Ridge III, and Fowler Ridge IV (Amazon Wind Farm).

bp Wind Energy (bpWE) is the owner/ operator of the first three wind farms, while Amazon Wind Farm is operated by energy storage company Pattern Energy Group.

The first, second and third phases of the project became operational in 2009. The three wind assets, with a total of 355 turbines, can power 160,000 homes annually.

With 65 turbines, Fowler Ridge 4 commenced operations in 2016 and can power 46,000 homes each year.

Fowler Ridge I Details

The 301MW Fowler Ridge Phase I was constructed in 2008 and it became operational in January 2009. The onshore wind farm comprises 40 Clipper C96 2.5-MW wind turbines and 122 Vestas V82 wind turbine generators (WTG) with a capacity of 1.65MW per WTG.

In July 2020, bpWE signed a deal to acquire the remaining 50% interest in the wind asset from Dominion Energy subsidiary Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind. The completion of the deal made bpWE the 100% owner of Fowler Ridge I.

Fowler Ridge II Features

The 199.5MW Fowler Phase II wind farm is located on a 17,000-acre site towards the west of Phase I. It is owned by a joint venture (JV) of AEP Renewables and bpWE.

Construction of Phase II started in 2009 and it became operational in December 2009.

The Fowler Ridge II Wind Farm consists of 133 1.5MW General Electric (GE) SLE turbines. These turbines have a hub height of 80m and a rotor diameter of 77m.

Power generated from the Fowler Phase II is sold under four 50MW contracts for 20 years. Three of these contracts are with American Electric Power and one with CenterPoint Energy Delivery of Indiana.

Fowler Ridge Wind Farm III Specifications

The 99MW Fowler Phase III was constructed in 2008 and it began operations in January 2009. It is situated approximately 3.2km east of Fowler, Indiana.

The project comprises of 60 Vestas V82 WTGs, each with a power generating capacity of 1.65 MW.

Amazon Wind Farm Details 

In May 2015, Pattern Energy Group acquired the 150MW Amazon Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge IV) project.

The project consists of 65 Siemens Gamesa 2.3MW wind turbines. The turbine blades, nacelles, towers, and transformers were made in the US.

In January 2016, the wind farm became operational.

The project has a 13-year power purchase agreement with Amazon to provide electricity to the grids that serve Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centres. The PPA can be extended up to 20 years.

Contractors Involved

Fowler Ridge I is equipped with Clipper and Vestas turbines, while the second phase features General Electric (GE) SLE turbines.

Fowler Phase III has Vestas V82 WTGs and Amazon Wind Farm procured the turbines from Siemens Gamesa.

A post-construction casualty study of birds and bats was conducted by Western EcoSystems Technology (WEST) in Phases I and III in 2009.

Mortenson Construction was selected as the construction contractor for phase two of the wind project, while HDR Engineering provided structural engineering services.

Steinberger Construction was engaged to provide design and build construction services for the operations and maintenance centre building for the Fowler Ridge wind farm.

Stantec worked as a third-party contractor with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and provide related National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance services for the Fowler Ridge wind farm’s Incidental Take Permit (ITP).