Bismarck-based Basic Electric Power Cooperative has reached a 25-year deal to buy power from a new South Dakota wind project being developed by a Houston-based company.
The 200 megawatts of power Basin will purchase will help meet the monthly electricity needs of about 73,000 households, reducing climate-warming carbon emissions by up to 620,000 tons per year, officials said Thursday.
ENGIE North America’s North Bend Wind project in central South Dakota is expected to begin operations late next year, with 71 wind turbines on about 47,000 acres outside Harold, South Dakota, near the co-op’s service area. The power Basin will buy will help support its 131 member cooperatives across nine states.
“We are excited to add North Bend Wind to our total generating portfolio of over 7,000 megawatts which blends together affordable and reliable generation to meet the needs of our member cooperatives over the coming decades,” Basin Electric CEO and General Manager Todd Telesz said in a statement. “Furthermore, it demonstrates our commitment to utilizing resources that fit our all-of-the-above energy strategy.”
ENGIE North America is a regional hub of the French energy company ENGIE.
“The fact that we are able to provide completely locally produced power from South Dakota to supply members across Basin Electric’s service territory underpins our focus on being part of the community for at least the next quarter century,” Chief Renewables Officer Dave Carroll said.
ENGIE operates or is building almost 5 gigawatts of wind, solar and battery storage projects across the U.S. and Canada.