FORT COLLINS, COLO - Platte River Power Authority has signed a contract with Silver Sage Windpower, LLC for 12 megawatts of new wind-powered generation to be installed by the end of 2009. Under the contract, Platte River will purchase a portion of a 42 megawatt project near Cheyenne, Wyoming and another utility will purchase the remaining output.
This is part of Platte River's ongoing plan to acquire new renewable energy from sources like wind, geothermal, biomass, small hydropower and solar. Platte River issued a Request for Proposals in December 2007, for 12 megawatts of new wind energy, an amount that is about one and a half times the maximum output of Platte River's Medicine Bow Wind Project.
The preferred bidder was Silver Sage Windpower, LLC, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, selected in March 2008.
"Compared to our first project we did over 10 years ago, this project is much more complicated," said John Bleem, Platte River's division manager of customer services & environmental programs. "The development time was particularly lengthy due to the multiple parties involved, large number of contracts required, transmission issues and uncertainties in the financial markets."
"We’re exceptionally pleased that clean, renewable electricity from our Silver Sage Windpower Project will serve Platte River Power Authority’s customers," said David Marks, senior vice president for wind energy at Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a business unit of Duke Energy that owns and develops renewable power assets.
Currently, over 20 percent of Platte River's electricity supply comes from renewable energy sources--wind and hydropower.
Platte River's long-term planning calls for adding about 75 megawatts of renewable energy by 2020.
Platte River Power Authority generates and delivers reliable, low-cost and environmentally responsible electricity to its owner communities of Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland, Colorado, where it is distributed by each municipal utility to residents and businesses. For more information, please visit, www.prpa.org.