Invenergy, GE Renewable Energy announce 2,000 megawatt wind farm in Oklahoma’s panhandle

A new 2,000 megawatt (MW) wind farm that will be the largest in the United States and second largest in
the world once operational was recently announced by Invenergy and GE Renewable Energy.

The Wind Catcher facility will be constructed in Oklahoma’s panhandle and will generate wind electricity from 800 state-of-the-art GE 2.5 megawatt turbines. The project is part of the $4.5 billion Wind Catcher Energy Connection initiative and includes a 350-mile extra high voltage power line.

“Wind Catcher shows American leadership in bringing low-cost clean energy to market at giga scale,” Michael Polsky, founder and CEO of Invenergy, said. “This project reflects Invenergy’s innovative spirit and unparalleled execution ability, and we are proud to be working with forward-looking utilities like [the Public Service Company of Oklahoma] and [the Southwestern Electric Power Company] whose customers and communities will benefit from this project for decades to come.”

Both the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) and the Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) will be asking utility regulators in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma to approve plans to purchase the facility from Invenergy upon completion and to build a power line to serve each company’s consumer base.

According to GE, the Wind Catcher Energy Connection is expected to save PSO and SWEPCO customers more than $7 billion, net of cost, over the a period of 25 years. American Electric Power, the owner of SWEPCO and PSO, estimated that the project will directly support 4,000 jobs and indirectly support an additional 4,400 during construction. Once operational, a total of 80 permanent jobs will stay on to the facility.

The project is expected to contribute a total of $300 million in property taxes over the life of the project.