Wind contract goes live at beginning of 2023

Basin Electric’s contract with a wind project in northwestern North Dakota went live on Jan. 1.

The power purchase agreement with the Aurora Wind Project, located near Tioga, North Dakota, totals 142 megawatts (MW). The owner of the project is Enel Green Power, a multinational company with a subsidiary headquarters in Andover, Massachusetts. This company also owns the Lindahl Wind Project, a 150-MW wind project near the Aurora Wind Project, from which Basin Electric also has a power purchase agreement.

Becky Kern, Basin Electric vice president of Resource Planning and Rates, said the agreement will help serve Basin Electric’s membership needs.

“The Aurora Wind power purchase agreement brings our total wind portfolio to more than 1,900 MW,” Kern said. “Basin Electric’s service territory is one of the best areas in the nation for wind generation and the cooperative receives the output from several efficient, well-maintained and -sited wind projects.”