Located near Maryville in Nodaway County, Missouri, US, Tenaska Clear Creek Energy Center is a 242MW onshore wind farm being developed by Tenaska, a private independent energy company based in Nebraska, US.
Construction of the wind farm began in 2019 with the aim of commissioning by the end of the same year. The total construction cost of the project is estimated to be $302m, the financial closure for which was achieved in April 2019.
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Tenaska will build, own, and operate the wind farm through its subsidiary Tenaska Clear Creek Wind for a period of 30 years from the date of commencement of commercial operations.
Tenaska Clear Creek wind farm location and make-up
The onshore wind farm will be located in north-west region of Missouri, which is known for the best wind resources in the state.
It will be installed with 111 V116 2.1MW wind turbines from the Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas.
With 116m-diameter rotor and 57m-long blades, each turbine will have a swept area of 10,568m². The turbines are designed to operate at 3m/s cut-in and 20m/s cut-out wind speeds and have a rated capacity of 2.1MW each.
The wind power project will optimize land use with turbines and access road occupying an area of approximately two-third of an acre. The remaining area will be unaffected and continue to be used for cattle grazing and farming.
Power purchase agreement for Tenaska Clear Creek
Tenaska signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Associated Electric, an electric generation and transmission co-operative based in Springfield, for the Tenaska Clear Creek wind energy facility, in February 2018.
The wind farm will utilize the existing transmission interconnections of Associated Electric, which provides wholesale electricity to six regional co-operatives including NW Electric Power Cooperative of Cameron, Missouri, and 51 local co-operatives in Missouri, south-east Iowa, and north-east Oklahoma serving more than 910,000 American households.
Financing
Tenaska secured $302m financing for the 242MW wind farm project in April 2019. The debt financiers for the project include BNP Paribas, CoBank, Credit Agricole, Helaba, and KeyBank.
Socio-economic benefits
The Tenaska Clear Creek wind power project is expected to yield approximately $1.2m in annual local tax revenue to the government.
The project is expected to generate approximately 200 jobs during the construction period and 15 full-time jobs during its operations.
It will also diversify land usage and provide stable incomes of up to $1.2m a year to the landowners through lease payments.
Key players involved
Mortenson, a construction company based in the US, is the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the Tenaska Clear Creek Energy Center.
Vestas supplies 111 onshore wind turbines and will also provide maintenance service for the project.
Energy consulting firm Merrigan Energy Group is providing consulting services to Tenaska on the development, construction, and operation of the project.
NAES, an independent services company based in Issaquah, US, provides operation and maintenance management services for the Tenaska Clear Creek Energy Center.
