Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Inc. (RES Americas) has completed the construction of a wind farm in Oklahoma.
Located in Dewey County, the Crossroads Wind Farm is comprised of 98 Siemens wind turbines that when combined can generate up to 227.5 MW of renewable energy. Crossroads, which took 12 months to construct, is RES Americas' first wind development in Oklahoma.
With this announcement the Colorado-based company increases its installed wind capacity to just under 4,900 MW and has another 800 MW under construction. Although the majority of the project was completed late 2011, the last of the turbines are now delivering electricity to Oklahoma Gas & Electric's customers.
Crossoads will produce enough electricity to power an estimated 70,000 homes, which OG&E Retail Energy Vice President Jesse Langston says "can meet approximately 10 percent of our customers' energy needs with wind generation."
OG&E purchased the wind farm from RES Americas in August of 2010, three months after Oklahoma passed its first renewable energy legislation which encourages utilities to source 15 percent of electric generation from renewables by 2015. The Oklahoma Energy Security Act is not a mandate requiring utilities to comply with the state's goal.
Last week state Senator Tom Invester (D) submitted the Oklahoma Energy Security Act II which would require state utilities to source 30 percent of their electricity by 2020 - a measure that OG&E is vehemently opposed to. Company spokesman told NewsOK “We're historically opposed to government mandates. Typically, mandates fail to take into account the price they will have on consumers.”
For RES Americas, Oklahoma has an abundance of untapped wind energy potential and the Crossroads project is part of what VP of Construction Chris Hills calls the state's "Wind Power Revolution".
"Oklahoma has proven to be a leader in wind energy generation. We look forward to bringing more clean, renewable energy to the citizens of Oklahoma, and to working on future projects in the state," said Hills.
If Senator Invester's bill passes market demand for wind generation will likely bring more projects for developers like RES Americas.
Image Credit: smeurrens via Flickr
Joseph Baker is a freelance writer living in Vancouver BC. His areas of focus include renewable energy, sustainability and climate change.
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