Renewable Energy
Colorado G&T Buys Wind Power
A new wind farm in eastern Colorado is now helping to provide electricity for co-ops serving more than 1.5 million consumer-members in four states.
Co-op consumer-members in four states are getting renewable energy from a new wind farm in eastern Colorado. (Photo By: Tri-State G&T)
On Nov. 29, nearly three dozen 1.5 megawatt capacity wind turbines began turning and electricity started flowing into an existing 230-kilovolt transmission line and two substations owned by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.
Power production at the 51-megawatt Kit Carson Windpower Project near Burlington, Colo., began less than six months after 150 construction workers began erecting the 34 towers at the site last June.
“The Kit Carson Windpower Project is another component in the continuing diversification of Tri-State’s resource portfolio,” said Ken Anderson, executive vice president and general manager of the Westminster-based G&T.
Located nearly 4,200 feet above sea level, the wind farm’s towers are spread across a 6,000 acre site. The area also is served by K.C. Electric Association of Hugo, a Tri-State member distribution co-op.
“This project serves as a good example of our ability to harness one of the abundant renewable energy resources that exist in our member system service territory,” said Anderson. The G&T serves 44 co-ops in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska.
Tri-State has a 20-year agreement to purchase the wind farm’s full output from Duke Energy. Under Colorado’s renewable energy standard, co-ops and municipal utilities must obtain 10 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. Investor-owned utilities face a 30 percent requirement.
The facility is the first wind project for Tri-State and Duke Energy in Colorado, said Gov. Bill Ritter, adding it “will continue to drive our state’s new energy economy forward for years to come.”