Ameren Missouri to acquire largest wind farm in state
Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, announced Monday that it signed an agreement to acquire after construction a 400-megawatt wind farm in northeast Missouri, which will be the largest in the state.
“We are excited to take this transformative step to bring more renewable generation to our customers,” Michael Moehn, president of Ameren Missouri, said. “Adding more wind energy will help us achieve our goal to reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.”
An affiliate of Terra-Gen, LLC will construct the facility in Adair and Schuyler counties. The facility will consist of 175 wind turbines.
Groundbreaking is scheduled for summer 2019 with the project expected to enter operation by 2020.
“This major wind development would benefit our customers, the communities we serve and the environment,” Ajay Arora, vice president of power operations and energy management at Ameren Missouri, said. “Missouri-based wind generation recently became an affordable option. These planned investments in wind energy would help keep customers’ rates more stable over time. Our state would also benefit from continued investment and economic growth, including hundreds of construction jobs, as well as permanent jobs when the turbines are in service.”
The project will utilize the expanded transmission capacity made possible by Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois’ Mark Twain Transmission Project, which has a targeted in-service date of December 2019.
It is the first significant step in implementing Ameren Missouri’s 20-year Integrated Resource Plan.
The transaction is subject to various conditions, including approval by the PSC and obtaining a Midcontinent Independent System Operator transmission interconnection agreement.
