Cimarron Bend Wind Farm is a 599-MW wind farm in Clark County, Kansas. The farm has 274 wind turbines.
Kansas is no stranger to commercial wind farms, as the state ranks fourth in the United States on installed wind power technology. Texas is the state that leads the wind energy industry, followed by Iowa, Oklahoma, and then Kansas.
Although ranking fourth in the U.S., wind energy is the leading source of electricity for the residents of Kansas. The landlocked state uses plenty of natural wind resources throughout its territory.
Cimarron Wind Farm added more renewable energy to the state, specifically to Minneola, a small town that 750 people call home.
Ownership of the Wind Farm
Enel Green Power North America (EGPNA) owns and operates the 599-MW wind farm. The size of the project makes it the company’s largest wind farm and renewable energy project in North America.
In 2016, Tradewind Energy of Kansas developed the wind farm using the financing capabilities of EGPNA. EGPNA partnered with G.E. Energy Financial Services (GE EGS) to fund the wind farm.
Other investors in the project also secured tax equity from the wind farm. These investors include J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and MetLife. Tax equity is a way for investors to receive a return via tax benefits from the state of Kansas.
In 2019, EGPNA purchased Tradewind Energy and its future portfolio plus the share of GE EFS in the Cimarron Bend Wind Project.
Project Details
EGPNA implemented the Cimarron Bend Wind Farm in two phases of 200 MW each, plus 199 MW for an expansion project.
The wind farm successfully expanded in 2020 via a 199 MW addition to its capacity. The 2020 extension project pushed the wind farm’s operating capacity to its present capacity of 599 MW.
In the expansion, the farm added 74 wind turbines to the original 200 turbines, increasing the total number of turbines to 274. The wind power generation of the wind farm now stands at 2.7 terawatt-hours annually.
| Cimarron Phase | Year | Turbines | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 2016 | 100 | 200 MW |
| Phase 2 | 2017 | 100 | 200 MW |
| Expansion | 2020 | 74 | 199 MW |
| Total | Active | 274 | 599 MW |
Power Purchase Agreements
Google helped finance the first phase by investing in the first 200 MW of the wind farm to power its servers.
EGPNA secured the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities as the PPA partner in the second phase. Thanks to the project’s second phase, the Kansas City Board is now powered mostly with renewable energy.
EGPNA also partnered with Missouri Public Utility Alliance and Evergy for the expansion project. The two customers helped the 199-MW expansion take off and push the capacity to 599 MW.
Giving Back to the Community
During the Covid-19 crisis of 2020, EGPNA responded by helping food security organizations and first responders to receive aid.
The company and corporate employees directly sponsored the aid given to the beneficiaries. The aid reached the amount of $77,000.
The local economy benefits directly from the farm’s community investments as well. In 2019, EGPNA invested $130,000 into local programs in Minneola. The beneficiaries are the ShopKo building renovation, Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, and Tarkio Volunteer Fire Department.
The wind farm also secured project site sanitation during the pandemic via practices and health guidelines for the employees and site workers.
Economic Benefits
The company hired 50 local people to build and prepare the Cimarron Bend site during the project’s construction phase.
The foundations, walls, and raw materials for access roads also used aggregates sourced from the site. In total, the local investment of EGPNA is $281 million.
Wind Power in Kansas
Kansas is a high-powered city in terms of its wind resources. Being a landlocked state, its options to build wind farms can be profitable when they export the electricity to other states. Tennessee Valley Authority, for example, inked a purchase deal with Cimarron Bend Wind Farm to buy renewable electricity from the farm.
Kansas has an installed capacity of 8.2 GW from its wind power portfolio. At 45%, the wind leads all electricity sources in the state. The second largest source of electricity is coal which contributes 34%. Nuclear stands at 15%, and the remaining renewable sources and oil each contribute single digits to the overall electricity generation mix.
Potential for Expansion
Kansas has doubled its renewable portfolio standard target of 20% in 2020. Even at 45%, it has plenty of potential to grow. The state has the right pieces to complete the puzzle–strong adoption of wind energy, vast wind resources, and the infrastructure.
According to the Kansas Department of Commerce, $11.4 billion has been invested in project capital for wind farms as of 2019. The jobs directly employed by the industry were more than 5,000 jobs in 2019.
Cimarron Wind Farm is an example of how the industry can expand–via a mix of purchase agreements with utilities and private customers like Google. As the wind is now the largest source of renewable electricity in the U.S., Kansas is paving the way for states to expand into this sector.
Natural Wind Resources
The state of Kansas sits right in the wind tunnel corridor from North Dakota down to Texas Panhandle. The wind blows freely for the state and the counties. On NREL’s map, almost half of the state has a good to fair wind speed rating, representing 6.8 to 8.1 meters per second of wind speeds.
At a 50-meter elevation, the wind speed measurements of NREL are only at the tip of the iceberg. Newer wind turbines can be built at 80 meters and expand the electricity output of a wind farm significantly.
Kansas Policies for Wind Turbines
One of the main features of the wind industry in Kansas is that it has no set statewide rules for setbacks of turbines. Depending on the county’s regulations, the turbines can either have a setback from a road or structure or none. There are six counties without setback requirements, while some counties like Pratt can be as strict as requiring 2,500 feet of setback.
So far, the policy has worked in favor of building a robust wind industry in the state. The developers and surrounding communities find a viable way to develop the turbines within county rules while getting support from residents. This arrangement means fewer obstacles for developers and represents an opportunity for more development.