Evergy eyes 199 MW Oklahoma wind farm for $250 million

For a purchase price of $250 million, Evergy announced this week that it will add Scout Clean Energy and Elawan Energy’s 199 MW Persimmon Creek Wind Farm in western Oklahoma to its portfolio, and use it to supply its Missouri West service area.

Consisting of 80 turbines spread over 17,000 acres, the wind farm has been operational since 2018. While still subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, acquisition is expected to go through by early 2023.

“Evergy’s commitment to affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity drives our planning, and Persimmon Creek Wind Farm supports those three tenants,” David Campbell, president and CEO, said. “This addition is part of our responsible transition to cleaner energy that includes maintaining a balanced mix of generation sources to ensure we reliably deliver the power our customers need.”

This declared commitment also comes with a longer-term plan: Evergy intends to add more than 3,500 MW of renewable energy over the next decade while retiring more than 1,900 MW of coal-based generation. Persimmon is a sizable step in that direction. Additionally, transitioning to renewable projects like that Oklahoma wind farm will help the company to achieve a goal of 70 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, and net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.

Those emissions goals are based relative to 2005 levels.