GE Renewables says the project is the “largest combined onshore wind project” in its history. The wind farm cluster includes three individual wind farms – the 999-MW Traverse Wind Energy Center, the 287-MW Maverick Wind Energy Center, and the 199-MW Sundance Wind Energy Center, according to Renewables Now.
GE will equip the plants with 492 of its 2.X-127s turbines and 39 2.X-116 machines with varying nameplates and hub heights. The wind farms are all currently under construction and the Sundance and Maverick are expected to be finished this year. The Traverse wind farm is planned to become operational in early 2022.
Once the wind farms are completed, all three will be jointly owned by American Electric Power (AEP) subsidiaries Public Service Co. of Oklahoma (PSO) and Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO). The combined capital investment for all three is estimated at $2 billion, according to Power Magazine.
The coronavirus pandemic has created some pressure on getting the project completed in a timely manner due to the global supply chain backlogs, as Invenergy noted on Wednesday. “It is critical that Invenergy work with trusted partners as we develop and build the North Central Wind Energy Facilities; including Traverse, the largest wind farm in the country, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jim Shield, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Invenergy.
TheNorth Central Wind project is the second onshore project in the Western Hemisphere that is larger than 1 GW that GE will build out continuously, noted Tim White, CEO of GE Renewable Energy’s Onshore Wind Americas business.
Citing the uptick in larger projects, this reinforces “both the demand for clean, renewable wind energy and GE’s strong position in the market,” he said.
In a statement, GE pointed to recent recognition by the American Clean Power Association (ACPA)—an organization known until January as the American Wind Energy Association—as the top manufacturer of wind turbines in the U.S. in 2020 for the third year in a row.
