Midwest independent power producer buys 475 MW of wind projects

Dive Brief:

Tenaska, an independent generator typically focused on gas-fired projects, announced this week it was purchasing three in-development wind farms in Minnesota and North Dakota from PRC Wind, Platts report.s
The projects include 270 MW in Minnesota and 200 MW in North Dakota. All three will interconnect to the Midcontinent ISO, and one will also have access to the Southwest Power Pool.
Tenaska has developed approximately 10,000 MW of gas-fired and renewable power generation, and manages another 7,000 MW. Its focus has been on natural gas plants, and broke ground in August on a 925 MW project in Pennsylvania.

Dive Insight:

The declining cost of renewables is helping shape the portfolios of independent power producers. While Tenaska is still heavy into gas-fired plants, this week it announced the acquisition of three Midwest wind projects and last week it began operating its second large-scale solar plant.

"We successfully leveraged our expertise in natural gas-fueled power generation to solar, and now we are excited to build on our renewables record with these wind development projects," Tenaska President of Development Greg Kelly said in a statement.

In addition to the three new wind projects, the company also has begun operating the 150-MW Tenaska Imperial Solar Energy Center West, a new solar plant in Southern California. The project, capable of powering 55,000 homes, will supply power under a 25-year agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric.

The company also disclosed that some individual Tenaska employees also have an investment in Elkhorn Ridge Wind, an 81-MW wind facility in northeast Nebraska.

But the company is not abandoning fossil fuels. Work began last month on the 925-MW Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station, a natural gas-fueled power plant in southwest Pennsylvania. Construction is expected to be completed in 2018; the plant will supply power to the PJM Interconnection market and be capable of powering almost 1 million homes.

Tenaska also has approximately 2,500 MW in additional projects in pre-financing development, though it did not offer specifics on what types of projects.