Geronimo Energy puts 200-MW South Dakota Wind farm into operation

A newly acquired subsidiary of National Grid Plc. has started commercial operations at its 200-MW wind energy project in South Dakota. Geronimo Energy announced that the Crocker Wind farm was now operational in Clark County. Crocker already has virtual power purchase agreements (VPPA) in place with Walmart and Cargill. Under a VPPA, the customer often does not directly off-take the energy produced at the wind farm, but finances the project’s activity and entry of the generated energy into the market. The Crocker project was built by Wanzek Construction and utilizes GE 2.7-116 wind turbines. “Crocker coming online represents the culmination of many years of collaboration with the community and has and will continue to bring economic development to rural South Dakota,” said Blake Nixon, CEO for Geronimo Energy. “Crocker is unique in that it is 100 percent contracted by corporate Virtual Power Purchase Agreements.