Ameren Missouri announces agreement to acquire third in-state wind generation facility

Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, recently announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire, after construction, a 300 megawatt (MW) wind generation facility developed by Tradewind Energy to be located near Tarkio, Mo.

“Adding home-grown renewable energy in Missouri benefits our state by integrating more renewable resources onto the grid and boosting local economies,” Michael Moehn, chairman and president of Ameren Missouri, said. “We anticipate that over 300 high-quality jobs will be created while the project is being built.”

The facility would be Ameren Missouri’s third wind generation facility in Missouri. In the last eight months, Ameren Missouri has entered into commitments to acquire up to 857 MW of wind energy, representing an investment of approximately $1.4 billion.

The two other planned Ameren Missouri-owned wind generation facilities would be in Atchison County near the town of Rock Port and in Adair and Schuyler Counties.

Ameren Missouri must obtain the approval of the Missouri Public Service Commission before beginning construction on the Tarkio project. The facility is expected to become operational in 2020.

“This third facility is planned to be the most advanced in the state by harnessing more wind with fewer turbines,” Ajay Arora, vice president of power operations and energy management, said. “In taking advantage of this new technology, we’re taking another step in transitioning our generation fleet to cleaner resources and achieving our goal of reducing carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.”

All three planned facilities are subject to several conditions including obtaining transmission interconnection agreements from the applicable regional transmission organizations.