Company developing small wind farm in North DakotaXcel Energy Inc. plans to buy power for next 20 years
Subsidiaries of a Danish wind developer plan to construct 18 wind turbines just north of Velva, N.D., and sell the electricity to Xcel Energy Inc.
The 12 megawatts of power is enough to provide electricity for a town of 6,000 people, and the project could be expanded in the future, said Laurence Greene, a vice president of Global Renewable Energy Partners Inc.
Greene, Gov. John Hoeven and Mark Nisbet, Xcel Energy's top North Dakota executive, spoke at a Tuesday news conference held in Minot to announce the project. PlainStates Energy, a Fargo wind developer, is another partner in the Velva project, Greene said.
Greene said construction on the $10 million development should begin in June, and be completed by year's end. The site has been monitored for wind energy potential for two years, and lease agreements signed with eight landowners for rights to use almost 2,000 acres of land.
Xcel Energy has about 85,000 North Dakota electric customers, mostly in Fargo, West Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot. Xcel has agreed to buy the project's electricity for 20 years, Nisbet said.
Global Renewable Energy Partners, which has a U.S. office in La Jolla, Calif., is a subsidiary of Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Copenhagen, Denmark. Vestas also is providing the wind turbines.
It is the second wind farm project planned for the area. An American subsidiary of ScottishPower PLC of Glasgow has notified the state Public Service Commission that it may construct as many as 100 wind turbines east of Rugby this summer.
From The Associated Press
