Wind Energy News (Humungous Crossroads Wind Farm Complete; 70-MW Wind Farm Planned for Northern Chile; Steel Winds II Expansion Complete; Vestas Lands Big Orders from Italy & US…)

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Some top wind energy news from the past week — several announcements from the past couple days, several big wind power projects (or wind farms), and a mysterious wind turbine order for the US.

227.5-Megawatt Crossroads Wind Farm Complete

Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas) announced the completion of the 227.5-megawatt Crossroads Wind Farm. If you’re unfamiliar with wind farm or power plant sizes, that’s HUGE. It will create enough electricity for approximately 70,000 homes, offsetting about 400,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.

“During the 12 month construction period the project had an average of 150 people working on site each day, for a total of 650 temporary construction jobs, and the project also created 10 permanent jobs,” RES Americas writes.

“Located inDewey County, Oklahoma, the 227.5 megawatt (MW) project consists of 95 Siemens 2.3 MW turbines and three Siemens 3.0 MW direct-drive turbines, the first of their kind in the United States.”

70-MW Wind Farm Planned for the North of Chile

Global renewable energy developer Mainstream Renewable Power (Mainstream) and wind turbine manufacturer Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology (Goldwind) signed “a 50/50 joint venture to build the first phase of the Ckani Wind Farm in the Antofagasta region of Northern Chile” on Monday.

“The Ckani wind farm, which received environmental approval in December 2011, has a total potential capacity of 240MW and has been developed by Mainstream since 2009. It will be connected to the SING Electrical System and this first 70MW phase is expected to start construction by end of 2012. Mainstream plans to have all 240MW operational by 2015.”

First Wind Has Completed Its Steel Winds II Expansion

The completion of Steel Winds II, located just south of Buffalo (NY), was celebrated yesterday by wind energy company First Wind, U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, and local leaders. “With Steel Winds II now in commercial operations, the 35 MW cumulative Steel Winds project will have the capacity to generate enough clean electricity to power approximately 9,000 New York homes—and help bring the state closer to its goal of 30 percent renewable energy sources by 2015.”

Vestas Signs 56-MW Order with Italy

“Vestas has received an order for a total capacity of 56 MW consisting of 28 units of the V90-2.0 MW platform for the “Castellaneta” wind farm, which will be located in the Apulia region, Italy,” Vestas has announced.

“The contract comprises supply and installations of the turbines, a VestasOnline® Business SCADA system, as well as a 12-year service and maintenance AOM 4000 agreement (Active Output Management). The AOM 4000 is a full-scope service contract, consisting of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and consumables, which offers solid risk management for customers, who want an availability guarantee measured against an agreed threshold.”

Vestas Signs 150-MW Order for US Wind Project

While almost no details could be disclosed, Vestas announced that it had received an order for a 150-MW wind power project in the US yesterday.

Iberdrola Sells 50 MW of Wind Power to City of Santa Clara

Iberdrola Renewables announced last week that it had “sold 50 megawatts (MW) from its Manzana Wind Power Project – now under construction in California – to the City of Santa Clara’s Silicon Valley Power (SVP), a repeat customer for Iberdrola Renewables.”

The power will supply enough electricity for about 20,000 Santa Clara homes while “the total project will provide up to 189 MW of energy, representing a reduction in green house gas emissions comparable to removing more than 21,500 cars off of California’s roads for one year.”

“The contract will provide 50 MW to Santa Clara for a term of 20 years beginning upon the commercial operation of the facility, expected in the fourth quarter of 2012. Iberdrola Renewables owns the Manzana Wind Power Project in Kern County, California, in the wind-rich Tehachapi area near the town of Rosamond. The project includes 126 General Electric (“GE”) SLE 1.5-MW wind turbines, a 34.5kV collector system, an operations and maintenance building, a new collector substation and a 220kV five-mile gen-tie line to interconnect the project to the new Whirlwind 220kV substation that is being constructed by Southern California Edison.”

Cape Wind Secures Contract for 75% of Its Power

Last but not least, Cape Wind announced last week that it has secured contracts with energy companies Northeast Utilities and NStar to buy more than a quarter of the projects power. “With 50 percent of its power previously under contract to National Grid, the terms of the merger agreement between the two companies means Cape Wind will have a buyer for more than three-quarters of its electricity, paving a clearer path for the company to generate the investments that will allow construction to begin,” Michael Conathan and Kiley Kroh wrote on Climate Progress.

Cape Wind got its ocean lease in October 2010, about half a year after the Obama administration approved the project, and its construction plan was approved in April 2011, but it has faced a rocky sea of opposition and continues to face that today.

Photo Credits: Antofagasta, Chile photo via shutterstock; all other photos via companies/sites linked above.