RES Americas selected to construct phase II of Lower Snake River wind project

Greentech Lead America: Renewable Energy Systems Americas (RES Americas), a company specializing in the construction of wind and solar projects in North America, announced it has been selected as the balance of plant (BOP) constructor for phase two of the Lower Snake River wind farm.

The 267 MW project in Washington is expected to be complete by 2015, the company said.

Earlier this week, Portland General Electric (PGE) announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the development rights to the wind project from Puget Sound Energy (PSE), and that RES America Construction will serve as general contractor.

Located near Dayton, Wash, phase two of the Lower Snake River wind farm is expected to employ up to 300 construction workers, and once operational, create about 18 full-time jobs.  The project will utilize 116 wind turbines manufactured by Siemens Energy, each with a nameplate generating capacity of 2.3 MW.

When complete in 2015, the project will provide enough clean, renewable energy to power 84,000 homes.

RES Americas was the original developer of the Lower Snake River wind farm, and in 2009 sold the development assets to PSE, at which time PSE assumed the role of owner and developer of the project.  RES Americas also performed the BOP construction on the 343 MW Lower Snake River Wind Project – Phase I, which was completed in 2012. PSE owns and operates that project.

PGE’s acquisition of phase two of the project from PSE is the result of a request for proposals for renewable resources that PGE issued last fall.  PGE found that of the 64 bids representing 39 distinct generating projects that were submitted in response, phase two of the Lower Snake River wind farm was the best-performing proposal.

Andrew Fowler, chief operating officer, RES Americas, said, “The acquisition of this project is a significant addition to PGE’s renewable energy portfolio, and will ensure that PGE’s customers receive even more power from clean, renewable resources.”

Combined with PGE’s existing owned and contracted renewable power generating resources, PGE’s acquisition of phase two of the Lower Snake River wind farm will allow PGE to comply with state standards requiring the utility to supply 15 percent of the power it delivers to customers from qualifying renewable sources beginning in 2015.

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