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Second grader Katie Jones, 7, takes a photo of one of the speakers at the dedication of the Cedar Creek wind farm east of Grover Tuesday.
DENVER — One of the largest wind farms in the country has begun operating in north-central Weld County. The $500 million project in Grover is expected to generate enough electricity to serve 90,000 houses.
BP Alternative Energy which dedicated the plant Tuesday opted to build the 274-turbine plant in the state because of its wind resources.
The plant is one of several renewable energy projects under way in Colorado. Another wind farm is being constructed near Peetz and a manufacturing plant for wind turbine blades is in the works near Windsor. There also is a solar power plant in the San Luis Valley south of Denver.
For ranchers Gene and Sharon Hahn, the near completion of the Weld County facility meant some easing of stress of trying to run cattle on ground that has been parched by drought the past few years.
“We have 18 of them (turbines) on our ranch. It might help things just a little,” Gene Hahn said with a wry smile on his face.
Ranchers and farmers like the Hahns are a major reason the facility was built east of Grover, for it’s their land where the almost 275 wind turbines sit on 32,000 acres on the bluffs above Grover, stretching to the north toward Hereford. Ranchers lease land where the turbines are constructed.
David Giordano of Babcock & Brown, which built the facility in partnership with BP Alternative Energy, said the facility is the largest wind energy built as a single project in the world.
The facility is expected to be fully operational by year’s end, with the first phase up and running by the end of October. The turbines will generate 300 megawatts of carbon-free electricity which is enough to power 90,000 average-sized homes annually.
The electricity will be bought by Xcel Energy of Denver.
Sharon Hahn said she doesn’t mind the change in the landscape.
“I’d rather have turbines than a housing development. To us it hasn’t changed the view; it’s like looking through a window. And with the drought we’ve been dealing with, it’s been a blessing,” she said.
Greeley Tribune reporter Bill Jackson contributed to this article.
BP Alternative Energy which dedicated the plant Tuesday opted to build the 274-turbine plant in the state because of its wind resources.
The plant is one of several renewable energy projects under way in Colorado. Another wind farm is being constructed near Peetz and a manufacturing plant for wind turbine blades is in the works near Windsor. There also is a solar power plant in the San Luis Valley south of Denver.
For ranchers Gene and Sharon Hahn, the near completion of the Weld County facility meant some easing of stress of trying to run cattle on ground that has been parched by drought the past few years.
“We have 18 of them (turbines) on our ranch. It might help things just a little,” Gene Hahn said with a wry smile on his face.
Ranchers and farmers like the Hahns are a major reason the facility was built east of Grover, for it’s their land where the almost 275 wind turbines sit on 32,000 acres on the bluffs above Grover, stretching to the north toward Hereford. Ranchers lease land where the turbines are constructed.
David Giordano of Babcock & Brown, which built the facility in partnership with BP Alternative Energy, said the facility is the largest wind energy built as a single project in the world.
The facility is expected to be fully operational by year’s end, with the first phase up and running by the end of October. The turbines will generate 300 megawatts of carbon-free electricity which is enough to power 90,000 average-sized homes annually.
The electricity will be bought by Xcel Energy of Denver.
Sharon Hahn said she doesn’t mind the change in the landscape.
“I’d rather have turbines than a housing development. To us it hasn’t changed the view; it’s like looking through a window. And with the drought we’ve been dealing with, it’s been a blessing,” she said.
Greeley Tribune reporter Bill Jackson contributed to this article.
