Renewablegiga-project Wind Catcher Energy Connection tolink more than 1.1 million South Central U.S. customers withcost-saving wind energy harvested from Oklahoma.
The2,000-megawattWind Catcher facilitywill be world’s second-largest wind farm, onceoperational in 2020.
CHICAGO(July 26, 2017) – Invenergy, North America’s largest independent,privately-held renewable energy company, along with GERenewable Energy, todayannounced a 2,000-megawatt wind farm that will be the largest in theU.S. and second-largest in the world, once operational. The WindCatcher facility is currently under construction in the Oklahomapanhandle and willgenerate wind electricity from800 state-of-the-art GE 2.5 megawatt turbines.
Thewind facility is part of the $4.5billion Wind Catcher Energy Connection that also includes anapproximately 350-mile dedicated, extra-high voltage power line.American Electric Power (AEP)utilitysubsidiaries Public Service Co. of Oklahoma (PSO) and SouthwesternElectric Power Co. (SWEPCO) are asking utility regulators in inLouisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahomato approve plans to purchase the wind farm from Invenergy uponcompletion of construction and to build the power line to serve PSOand SWEPCO’s more than 1.1 million customers.
“WindCatcher showsAmerican leadership in bringing low-cost clean energy to market atgiga scale,” said Invenergy’s Founder and CEO Michael Polsky.“This project reflects Invenergy’s innovative spirit andunparalleled execution ability, and we are proud to be working withforward-looking utilities like PSO and SWEPCO whose customers andcommunities will benefit from this project for decades to come.”
WindCatcher Energy Connection is expected to save SWEPCO and PSOcustomers more than $7 billion, net of cost, over 25 years.AEP estimates thatthe project will support approximately 4,000 direct and 4,400indirect jobs annually during construction and 80 permanent jobs onceoperational. It also will contribute approximately $300 million inproperty taxes over the life of the project.
The2.5 megawatt GE turbines that will power the project are GE’slatest model, designed to enhance siting efficiency, offerindustry-leading reliability and allow for higher energy production.GE will also implement its Digital Wind Farm solutions, providingsoftware to support wind operations including Asset PerformanceManagement (APM) and Operations Optimization (OO). All machine headsand hubs will be manufactured in the U.S., and additional componentswill be manufactured in Louisiana,Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma.
“GEis delighted to be a part of the groundbreaking Wind Catcher projectwith Invenergy and American Electric Power,” said Pete McCabe,President and CEO of GE’s Onshore Wind business. “We look forwardto putting our teams to work in these communities as we continue tomove toward our goal of ensuring that no one has to choose betweensustainable, reliable and affordable energy.”
Constructionof the Wind Catcher facility started in 2016, and it is expected tobe fully operational in mid-2020. Invenergy is contracted to operate the facility for the first five years. Visit WindCatcher.Invenergyllc.comfor more information. AboutInvenergyInvenergydrives innovation in energy. Invenergy and its affiliated companiesdevelop, own, and operate large-scale renewable and other cleanenergy generation and storage facilities in the Americas, Europe andAsia. Invenergy's home office is located in Chicago and it hasregional development offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico,Japan, Poland and Scotland.
Notincluding Wind Catcher, Invenergy and its affiliated companies havedeveloped more than 15,900 megawatts of projects that are inoperation, construction or under contract, including wind, solar,natural gas-fueled power generation and energy storage projects. Formore information, please visit www.invenergyllc.com. AboutGE Renewable EnergyGERenewable Energy is a $10 billion start-up that brings together oneof the broadest product and service portfolios of the renewableenergy industry. Combining onshore and offshore wind, hydro andinnovative technologies such as concentrated solar power and morerecently turbine blades, GE Renewable Energy has installed more than400+ gigawatts capacity globally to make the world work better andcleaner. With more than 22,000 employees present in more than 55countries, GE Renewable Energy is backed by the resources of theworld’s first digital industrial company. Our goal is todemonstrate to the rest of the world that nobody should ever have tochoose between affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy.