Ribbon-Cutting Held At Prairie Breeze Last Week

Invenergy Wind LLC (“Invenergy”) last week welcomed local, state, and federal government representatives, and business and community leaders, to a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the commencement of commercial operations at its Prairie Breeze Wind Energy Center (Prairie Breeze).
Prairie Breeze is a 118-turbine, 200.6 MW project located in Antelope, Boone, and Madison Counties.
The project interconnects into a 230 kV transmission line of the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) and output is purchased by the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) under long-term agreement.
“This wind farm is indicative of Nebraska’s commitment to energy independence and rural economic development,” said Gov. Dave Heineman. “Wind energy helps our local economy and our state economy. This is another important step toward controlling our own energy future.”
“As we look to the future, OPPD remains strongly committed to providing affordable, reliable and environmentally sensitive services to our customers,” said OPPD Vice President of Corporate Service Sherrye Hutcherson.
“With Prairie Breeze, OPPD has surpassed its voluntary goal of producing ten percent renewable energy for retail sales by 2020. We’re delighted, in fact, that by 2017-2018, OPPD’s renewable energy portfolio will surpass thirty percent.”
“This is an exciting day for Invenergy as we celebrate our first energy generation project in Nebraska,” said Jim Shield, Chief Development Officer at Invenergy. “We appreciate the great alliance of local support that made this wind farm possible, including working with OPPD and NPPD. We’re proud that Prairie Breeze makes good business and environmental sense for all involved.”
Located on approximately 25,000 acres of private land, Prairie Breeze:
• Commenced commercial operation on May 1, 2014

For the complete story, see the print edition of The Elgin Review