ACCIONA Energy Begins Construction on Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm

ACCIONA Energy announced today that it has commenced construction on the Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm located in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma. The 132-megawatt (MW) wind farm will take approximately one year to build and is expected to generate hundreds of temporary construction jobs and bring added business to the community.

The Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm will be ACCIONA Energy’s sixth wind farm in the United States and the third in Oklahoma. The project is located just 15 miles west of ACCIONA Energy’s 123-MW Red Hills Wind Farm that was put into service in June 2009. The project will create enough clean energy to power around 46,000 homes in Oklahoma and surrounding states and will avoid the emission of approximately 339,000 metric tons of CO2 per year from conventional power plants.

“Oklahoma is a state that understands energy and has embraced wind as a plentiful and lucrative resource for the future. We are pleased to extend our commitment to this state and this community with the construction of the Dempsey Ridge project. Oklahoma already ranks in the top 10 U.S. states for wind energy potential and this project is another step in the direction of realizing that potential,” said Dan Foley, Chief Development Officer, ACCIONA Energy North America.

ACCIONA Energy’s Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm is expected to generate more than $20 million in tax revenue for Roger Mills County. The project will consist of 66 2.0 MW wind turbines located over 10,888 rural acres. There are 44 lease agreements in place that will provide added income to landowners during the development and operation of the project. Additionally, the wind farm will provide increased revenues for Roger Mills County and vicinity through investments in local infrastructure and property tax revenues paid over the life of the project.

ACCIONA Energy has selected M.A. Mortensen to lead the construction of the Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm. Mortensen built ACCIONA’s Red Hills Wind Farm and has deep expertise in wind farm construction and Roger Mills County.

ACCIONA Energy currently operates 489.6 MW of wind power capacity in the U.S. in five wind farms, four of them 100 percent owned. These include Tatanka Wind Farm (180 MW, North and South Dakota), Velva Wind Farm (11.8 MW, North Dakota), EcoGrove Wind Farm (100.5 MW, Illinois) and Red Hills Wind Farm. The company also has a stake in the Blue Canyon Wind Farm (74.25 MW) in Oklahoma.