US: Westar Energy breaks ground on Western Plains Wind Farm

“We are committed to modernizing the power supply that serves our customers, and wind energy has an important role. We believe that using a variety of generation sources – traditional fossil fuel plants, nuclear, and renewable wind and solar – all working together is the best way to keep energy prices low, make sure electricity is there when our customers need it and care for the environment,” John Bridson, senior vice president, generation and marketing, told the crowd of about 75 people.

Westar in collaboration with Infinity Wind Power will develop Western Plains Wind Farm in Ford County, Kan., which will bring Westar’s renewable energy total to more than 1,700 megawatts when it’s online early next year. Westar selected turbines from Siemens, key components of which will be assembled in the Siemens facility in Hutchinson, Kan. Mortenson Construction will build the wind farm. Representatives from Infinity, Siemens and Mortenson, also welcomed the crowd.

The Western Plains Wind Farm will stimulate economic development in Ford County through land lease royalties paid to local landowners and payments to local and county government, expected to be about $75 million during the first 20 years of operation. Additionally, this project creates more than 200 construction jobs, followed by about three dozen permanent jobs, and involving $435 million capital investment.