ST. LOUIS, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ameren (NYSE: AEE) subsidiary AmerenUE, announced today its first-ever venture into wind power. UE has chosen to purchase 100 megawatts (MW) of wind power from Horizon Wind Energy's Rail Splitter Wind Farm located near Delavan, Illinois. The power would tie into AmerenUE's transmission system, fulfilling AmerenUE's commitment to add 100 megawatts of renewable capacity to serve its Missouri customers by 2010.
"This is an exciting day for AmerenUE," says AmerenUE President and CEO Tom Voss. "It is our first venture into wind development. We will be looking for additional opportunities as we increase the amount of renewable resources in our generating portfolio. This is a significant first step toward further diversifying our fuel mix and demonstrating our commitment to environmental stewardship."
Today's announcement is a culmination of a thorough, year-long review of proposals UE sought earlier this year. AmerenUE intends to sign a 20-year purchased power agreement (PPA) for the wind farm's output. The PPA has not yet been signed, and terms are still subject to negotiation. Once the agreement is signed, construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2008, with the project completed by the end of 2008. Sixty seven turbines will be located on the site, with each turbine capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of electricity.
Horizon Wind Energy is a wind project developer based in Houston, TX, with regional offices in New York, Oregon, California, Minnesota and Illinois. The company is owned by Energias de Portugal, S.A. (EDP), a major Portuguese utility. EDP is one of the leading generators of electricity from renewable sources globally, with more than 1,700 MW of renewable energy in Iberia and France and an additional 3,000 MW expected to be installed or under construction by year-end 2008. Including The Rail Splitter project, EDP expects to have a total capacity of 5,200 MW of installed renewable energy by year-end 2008.
With assets of over $20 billion, Ameren serves approximately 2.4 million electric customers and nearly one million natural gas customers in a 64,000 square mile area of Missouri and Illinois. Ameren owns a diverse mix of electric generating plants strategically located in its Midwest market with a generating capacity of more than 16,400 megawatts.
SOURCE: AmerenUE
CONTACT: Tim Fox of Ameren, +1-314-554-3120, tfox@ameren.com
Web site: http://www.ameren.com/