Xcel Energy has signed a contract with NextEra Energy to build a 200 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Colorado.
Xcel says the arrangement will result in some of the cheapest wind power in the utility’s portfolio.
"Our contract with NextEra Energy Resources is one of the lowest we’ve ever seen and results in a savings of nearly 40% for our customers," says David Eves, president and CEO of Public Service Co. of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company.
"The addition of this 200-megawatt wind farm demonstrates that renewable energy can compete on an economic basis with more traditional forms of generation fuel, like natural gas, and allows us to meet the state’s Renewable Energy Standard at a very reasonable cost to our customers," he adds.
Xcel Energy originally put out the bid for the project in January 2009, but saw an opportunity in November 2010 to rebid it at significant savings to customers, because of the slowdown in wind energy markets and a surplus of turbines nationwide.
With the addition of the Limon Wind Energy Center, NextEra Energy will have built four wind projects in Colorado with a combined generating capacity of more than 774 MW.
The footprint for the 125 turbines and related equipment, plus a buffer zone, is roughly 35,000 acres. Construction will begin in early 2012 and be finished by the end of the year.
It will give Xcel Energy a portfolio of 1,943 MW of wind generation in Colorado.
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