Enel Green Power Begins Construction of Two New US Wind Farms

Enel Green Power has begun construction on two new wind farms in the US, reaching 300 MW worth of new added capacity.

Enel Green Power North America, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Enel Green Power, the renewable arm of Italian energy firm Enel, has announced that it has begun construction on two new wind farms in the US, reaching 300 MW-worth of new added capacity.

Namely, these two latest projects are the 66 MW Whitney Hill wind farm in Logan County, Illinois and the 236.5 MW White Cloud wind farm in Nodaway County, Missouri.

The 66 MW Whitney Hill is located in Logan County, Illinois, adjacent to the existing 185 MW HillTopper wind farm that began commercial operation in December 2018. Whitney Hill is slated to begin operations by the end of 2019, generating around 246 GWh-worth of clean energy each year, offsetting approximately 167,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

The 236.5 MW White Cloud, Missouri wind farm is expected to come online by the second half of 2020, generating annually around 950 GWh-worth of green energy, offsetting approximately 643,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. White Cloud will be Enel Green Power’s second wind farm in Missouri after Rock Creek, which became operational in 2017.

Georgios Papadimitriou, Head of Enel Green Power North America said that the announcements reinforce the firms’ commitment to continued growth throughout the country. 

“These projects will enable us to further capitalize on the abundant wind resource in the central US as we continue to expand our footprint in this region and increase the geographical diversification of our portfolio.”

The firm has issued in a statement that it will use innovative tools and construction techniques to build these new wind farms, ensuring the highest safety levels are met both in the construction and management stages. With Whitney Hill and White Cloud coming online, EGP’s total capacity in the United States will soar to approximately 1250 MW from both wind and solar power.

Last month, the firm announced that its subsidiary Enel Green Power RSA, has started construction on its 140 MW Garob wind farm located near the town of Copperton in South Africa’s Northern Cape province.