Ørsted starts operations on 200 MW wind farm in Kansas

It's Ørsted’s 13th operational wind farm in the United States and will provide economic benefits to its host community and state economies. Sunflower Wind will utilise a new aircraft detection lighting system so that the night-time lights on the wind turbines blink only when aircraft are detected to reduce light pollution for residents. 

David Hardy, Group Executive Vice President and CEO of Region Americas at Ørsted, said: “We’re thrilled to celebrate this achievement and our first clean energy project in Kansas with the community, legislators, and our participating landowners. With Sunflower Wind, we now have 13 operational wind farms in the US, generating 832 MW in the Southwest Power Pool.” 

Working with Schneider Electric, Ørsted entered into PPAs with Amcor, PepsiCo, Stryker, Citizens, and Walmart’s Project Gigaton cohort, which includes Amy’s Kitchen, Great Lakes Cheese, The J.M. Smucker Co., Levi Strauss & Co., and Valvoline Global Operations.

Ørsted is committed to building its renewable energy projects sustainably with a goal of ensuring that all the projects it commissions from 2030 onwards have a net-positive biodiversity impact. Working with The Conservation Fund, Ørsted is supporting voluntary land conservation efforts for up to 3,000 acres (approx. 12 square kilometres) located within the Flint Hills in central Kansas. In addition, Ørsted is partnering with the Kansas Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to restore additional land under conservation easements.