Apr 17, 2009
Wind Capital plans Missouri’s largest wind farm
BY Jeffrey TomichST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
04/17/2009
Jefferson City — The renewable energy company founded by St. Louisan Tom Carnahan announced plans to build the state's largest wind farm in northwest Missouri.
Carnahan's Wind Capital Group LLC will build the 150-megawatt project in DeKalb County, about an hour northeast of Kansas City.
The project, called Lost Creek, is Wind Capital's fourth wind farm in Missouri — all of them are located in the state's northwest region.
Springfield-based Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. has agreed to purchase power from the Lost Creek wind farm. GE Energy will make the turbines, and ABB Inc. will supply 100 transformers from its plant in Jefferson City, Carnahan said.
It was at the ABB factory where Carnahan and executives from GE Energy, AECI and the United Auto Workers were joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Commerce Secretary Mark Locke to announce the project.
Biden and Locke told ABB workers that the intent of stimulus projects such as Lost Creek is to bolster the middle class by providing jobs that can't be outsourced.
"This new economy isn't going to be created by Wall Street investors, it's going to be created by you," Biden said.
Under the stimulus act, the Department of Energy will award nearly $3.4 billion in grants to install smart electricity grid technology and more than $600 million for smart grid demonstration projects, Biden said.
Smart electricity grids can allow consumers to both use and sell electricity to utilities.
The stimulus plan also included a two-year extension of a federal production tax credit for wind projects as well as loan guarantees for renewable energy projects that offers better access to capital.
The stimulus package "gave Wind Capital group and our investors the confidence to proceed" with its latest project, Carnahan said in a statement.
Wind Capital will break ground on the new farm in August.
The Associated Press and Roseann Moring of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
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Posted by Cars For Sale on 01/13 at 03:58 AM
Missouri does not have enough wind capacity, if you want cheaper energy prices, reduce your overall demands, wind projects providing a steady income stream to farmers with wind turbines on their land