Sempra buys into BP's Fowler Ridge II wind farm

9/18/2009 9:48:32 AM

RechargeNews.com

BP began construction of the 200 MW Fowler Ridge II development in Benton County 90 miles northwest of Indianopolis in late July and the wind farm is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2010.

This is the second sale of assets by BP in a week. On 16 September BP sold its BP Energy India Private Limited subsidiary, sold three wind farms in India with a total capacity of around 100 megawatts (MW), to Green Infra Limited for a total of 4.622 billion Rupees ($95 million). BP says it is concentrating its wind assets in the US, but the stake of the Fowler Ridge II stake may cast some doubt over its commitment even to the US market.

Fowler Ridge II’s power output already has been sold under four, long-term 50-MW contracts. Three contracts were signed with units of American Electric Power and, one, with Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana for terms of 20 years each.

The project will use 133 wind turbines, each with the ability to generate 1.5 MW.

The Fowler Ridge II development is an expansion of Fowler Ridge I, a 400-MW wind farm that commenced operations in March 2009. BP is a partner with Dominion for 301 MW of Phase I, and has sole ownership of the remaining 99 MW. Together, the two projects will comprise the Midwest's largest wind farm, with a capacity of 600 MW.

"Fowler Ridge II will be our first operating wind-farm investment and expands our portfolio of renewable-energy assets," said Michael Allman, president and chief executive officer of Sempra Generation.

In 2008, Sempra Generation completed the construction of North America's largest thin-film solar power plant, the 10 MW El Dorado Solar facility, near Las Vegas. Sempra is also planning an additional 48 MW of solar power at an adjacent site.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2008 revenues of nearly $11 billion.