Cedar Creek Wind Farm

The Cedar Creek Wind Farm is a 551.3 megawatt (MW) wind farm located about 8 miles east of the town of Grover in north-central Weld County, Colorado. It consists of 397 wind turbines and was constructed in two phases, Cedar Creek I and Cedar Creek II, becoming fully operational in 2010. The electricity is sold to the Public Service Company of Colorado.

Cedar Creek Wind Farm I & II
One of the Pawnee Buttes with the wind farm in the distance.
Country
  • United States
Location13km E of Grover, Colorado, United States
Coordinates40°52′16″N 104°5′35″W
StatusOperational
Construction began2007
Commission date21 November 2007
Construction costUS$480 million
Owner(s)Cedar Creek I - ArcLight Capital
Cedar Creek II - BP Wind Energy (50%) & Sempra Generation (50%))
Operator(s)Cedar Creek I - Infigen Energy
Cedar Creek II - BP Wind Energy
Wind farm
TypeOnshore
Site elevation1674m
Power generation
Units operational397 - Total
274 - Cedar Creek I
123 - Cedar Creek II
Make and modelMitsubishi, GE, Nordex
221x 1MW Mitsubishi MWT-1000
53x 1.5MW GE 1.5s/sle
63x 1.6MW GE
60x 2.5MW Nordex
Nameplate capacity551.3MW - Total
300.5MW - Cedar Creek I
250.8MW - Cedar Creek II
Capacity factor31.6% (average 2011-2019)
Annual net output1,526 GW·h

Details

The initial 300.5 MW Cedar Creek I installation was completed on time, within budget, and without incident - with the operation commencing on 21 November 2007. Cedar Creek I is an important contributor to Colorado's New Energy Economy, providing enough wind-powered electricity for 81,135 homes.[1] Cedar Creek II has an additional 250.8 MW of generating capacity, and was commissioned in 2010.

The first phase has 221 1 MW wind turbines from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and 53 1.5 MW turbines from General Electric.[2] The second phase has an additional 63 1.6 MW SLE turbines from General Electric, and 60 2.5 MW from German wind turbine supplier Nordex.

Cedar Creek I is currently owned by ArcLight Capital.[3] Cedar Creek II is owned by BP Wind Energy (50%) and Sempra Generation (50%).[4]

Electricity from Cedar Creek II reaches the grid through approximately 20 miles of new transmission lines that connect to the Cedar Creek I substation. From there, the project utilizes an existing 76-mile (230kV) transmission line to deliver the electrical power. The Cedar Creek II project employed some 350 workers during peak construction, and some 19 jobs have been created to monitor and maintain the facility.

Electricity production
Cedar Creek Electricity Generation (MW·h)
YearCedar Creek 1
(300.5 MW Unit) [5]		Cedar Creek 2
(250.8 MW Unit) [6]		Total Annual MW·h
2007 106,803- 106,803
2008 972,787- 972,787
2009 913,282- 913,282
2010 841,206- 841,206
2011 891,305508,691 1,399,996
2012 837,374801,121 1,638,495
2013 879,922811,375 1,691,297
2014 842,744758,709 1,601,453
2015 744,451654,254 1,398,705
2016 852,867751,628 1,604,495
2017 794,301713,395 1,507,696
2018 813,126713,611 1,526,737
2019 707,748661,089 1,368,837
Average Annual Production (years 2011-2019) --->1,526,412
Average Capacity Factor (years 2011-2019) --->31.6%

See also

References
  1. Cedar Creek Wind Farm I Project Info PDF
  2. Cedar Creek Wind Farm page, power-technology.com
  3. "ArcLight Capital buys out 301-MW Colorado wind park". renewablesnow.com. 3 June 2016.
  4. "The Cedar Creek 2 Wind Farm Weld County, Colorado" (PDF). BP website. BP. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  5. "Cedar Creek 1, Annual". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  6. "Cedar Creek 2, Annual". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
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