Brisk winds across the Illinois plains began blowing power into the Tennessee Valley today.
The Streator Cayuga Ridge wind park, owned by Iberdrola Renewables Inc., in Livingston County, Ill., is now supplying up to 300 megawatts of renewable wind power to customers in the seven-state TVA region, the utility announced today.
The Illinois generator is the first of seven contracts TVA recently signed to purchase up to 1,380 megawatts of renewable wind energy from the Midwest.
Collectively, the new wind generation should supply power to 325,000 homes.
“Activation of this new wind-power source is an important milestone in our plans to expand TVA’s clean and renewable energy options,” TVA Senior Vice President John Trawick said today.
The next purchased wind addition to the TVA power grid will be 115 megawatts scheduled to arrive this fall from Horizon Wind Energy LLC’s Pioneer Prairie wind farm in Iowa.