ACCIONA inaugurates a 123 MW windpark in Oklahoma (USA)

The facility consists of 82 ACCIONA Windpower turbines.

The electricity generated by the windpark is purchased by an agricultural cooperative that covers two thirds of the rural territory of the state.

This weekend ACCIONA inaugurated the Red Hills windpark in Oklahoma (USA), a 123-megawatt (MW) facility equipped with 82 wind turbines of its own technology.

The windpark, located in Roger Mills and Custer counties in western Oklahoma, will generate electricity equivalent to the consumption of around 40,000 homes every year, avoiding the emission of 294,000 metric tons of CO2 from conventional power plants to the atmosphere in the process.

The power produced is supplied to the Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC) under a long-term supply contract. With 68 years’ history, WFEC supplies electricity to 19 associates representing approximately two thirds of the rural surface area of Oklahoma, and also to other customers such as the Altus US Air Force base.

The United States is one of ACCIONA's strategic markets. The company already has 489.63 MW of wind power capacity installed in five windparks in the US, four of them 100% owned. These facilities are: Red Hills, Tatanka (180 MW, in North and South Dakota), Velva (11.8 MW, in North Dakota) and EcoGrove (100.5 MW, in Illinois). The company holds a minority stake in the Blue Canyon windpark (74.25 MW) in Oklahoma.

ACCIONA also has a wind turbine production plant in the state of Iowa, which will supply a significant part of the eighty-two AW-1500 turbines (1.5 MW each) installed en the Red Hills windpark.

In other renewable technologies, the company built, operates and owns the biggest solar thermal plant in the world in the last 18 years (64 MW, in Nevada).

The opening ceremony of the Red Hills windpark was attended by a number of state and local authorities, together with a large community representation from Roger Mills and Custer counties.

ACCIONA Energy North America CEO Pete Duprey highlighted that "Oklahoma is known for its oil and natural gas reserves, but it is also becoming known for its vast capacity for renewable energy".

Commerce and Tourism Secretary for Oklahoma Natalie Shirley congratulated ACCIONA for "developing a world-class facility that will soon transform the Oklahoma wind into clean energy that people can use to power their homes and their lives".

For his part, WFEC CEO Gary Roulet said he considered it "a privilege to be a part of the Red Hills project".

During the ceremony the creation of a fund by ACCIONA was announced to fund grants for students from the area.