Alliant Energy’s Iowa power company has finalised an agreement with Tradewind Energy to acquire the 170MW English Farms windfarm in the US.
Under the deal, Alliant Energy will develop and own the project, which is located in Poweshiek County, Iowa.
With major construction work expected to begin next year, the facility will help the power company provide more cost-competitive clean energy to its customers.
The energy company’s president Doug Kopp said: “The benefits of this project help customers through reductions in emissions and fuel cost.
“It gives landowners lease payments to help on the farm and it helps communities through increased local tax revenue for schools and community services.”
Once completed, the English Farms windpower project will be equipped with a total of 69 wind turbines. It will be able to supply electricity to approximately 50,000 households each year.
Last year, Alliant Energy received approval to build windpower projects of up to 500MW in Iowa.
In addition, the company has requested another similar windpower expansion from the Iowa Utilities Board.
These combined power projects will enable customers to receive more than one-third of their electricity requirements from wind by the end of 2020.
The overall expansion involves a $1.8bn investment and adds up to 1,000MW of generation capacity.
