Construction has been completed and commercial operations initiated for the 60 MW Busch Ranch II wind project in southern Colorado, according to the Black Hills Corp.
The $71 million wind project was developed by the Black Hills Electric Generation LLC, for its affiliate electric utility, Colorado Electric. The project is on 13,000 acres south of Pueblo, Colo., in Huerfano and Las Animas counties. All of the wind energy will be delivered to Colorado Electric through a 25-year power purchase agreement.
“The Colorado wind project continues our 21st century generation model of clean energy development,” says Linden “Linn” R. Evans, president and CEO of Black Hills Corp. “For over a decade, we have been modernizing our electric system and growing our renewable energy portfolio to build one of the cleanest energy grids in Colorado, fueled by wind, solar and natural gas generation.”
With the completion of Busch Ranch II, Black Hills Corp. now owns and operates 150 MW of wind generation in southern Colorado. The project will help Colorado Electric achieve the state’s renewable energy standard of delivering 30% of its energy from renewable resources by 2020.