Caney River Wind Farm Begins Operations

There is something eminently pleasing about reporting on yet another wind farm that has completed construction and been put into operation, as can be said for the Enel Green Power Caney River wind farm in Elk Count, Kansas, which brings the company’s total installed capacity in North America to 986 MW.

The new facility is made up of 111 V-90 wind turbines, each measuring in at 1.8 megawatts, creating a total installed capacity of approximately 200 MW. The farm will generated some 765 million kilowatt hours per year, which meets the annual consumption of around about 70,000 American households and avoids the production of some 580,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

“We pursue our organic growth in the USA fully in line with our schedule” Commented Francesco Starace, Enel Green Power CEO. “Caney River represents a major evidence from EGP to carry out in a limited amount of time power plants of significant sizes in such an important market.”

Now that’s all good and well, but a move which is sure to endear the company to many more locals is the 8.5 million dollars which is earmarked to protect the tallgrass prairie in Kansas, specifically establishing environmental restrictions needed to protect over 18,000 hectares, restore another 6,000 hectares, and conduct research on the the Tallgrass Prairie Habitat’s wind patterns and wildlife.

This latest project goes towards many more currently in operation underneath the umbrella of parent company Enel Green Power, which currently generates 22 billion kilowatt hours of electricity “from a well balanced mix inclusive of water, sun, wind and geothermal sources.”

Source: Enel Green Power
Image Source: TradeWind Energy