Kansas City, Mo.-based EPC firm Black & Veatch will provide services for construction at a new wind power facility planned in Illinois.
Black & Veatch will provide engineering, procurement and construction for Capital Power’s 150-MW wind project in McDonough and Warren counties. Capital Power announced the Cardinal Point Wind project in April 2018 and hopes to reach commercial operation by March 2020, according to the company’s earlier report.
Cardinal Point Wind will be another example of Black & Veatch’s relationship with Capital Power. The companies earlier partnered on the 243-MW gas-fired Clover Bar Energy Centre in Alberta, Canada, with B&V designing the peaking units.
Black & Veatch also has expanded its services within the renewable energy sector. It worked on an offshore wind project for Deepwater Wind that was completed and connected to the mainland grid several years ago.
“Sustainability and resilience have become market drivers that are reshaping how the industry views the economics of renewable energy,” said Dave Leligdon, global director of Black & Veatch’s renewable energy group. “Growing demand for wind and solar PV and the need to integrate renewable solutions with conventional generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure have changed the dynamics of the power market and are introducing incredible new opportunities.”
The 150-MW Cardinal Point Wind facility will span 19,000 acres of privately owned lands in Illinois. The cost is estimated at between $236 million to $246 million U.S.
“Adding Cardinal Point Wind to Capital Power’s generation assets continues the growth of our renewable portfolio across North America and demonstrates continued execution of this core element of our strategy,” said Darcy Trufyn, Capital Power’s senior vice president for operations, engineering and construction. “We are excited to work with Black & Veatch again to deliver this wind power project in Illinois.”
Capital Power will operate Cardinal Point Wind under a 12-year fixed price contract with an investment grade U.S. financial institution covering 85 percent of the facility’s output. Under the contract, Capital Power will swap the market revenue of the facility’s generation for a fixed price payment over a 12-year term.
In addition, the Cardinal Point Wind project has secured 15-year, fixed-price Renewable Energy Credit (REC) contracts with three Illinois utilities.
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Utility-scale wind projects will be part of the content delivered next November at the POWERGEN International conference and exhibition in New Orleans.
