Construction has begun on a 299 megawatt wind farm in Williams and Mountrail Counties.
The Aurora wind farm is expected to be up and running by the end of 2020. It’s being developed by Enel Green Power. The company is building it near its existing Lindahl wind farm, a 150 megawatt facility that began operating in 2017.
"We have had a good experience from the Lindahl project," said Enel senior project manager Georg Becker-Birck. "And there is continued strong interest from the area."
Becker-Birck said it is an area with a strong wind resource.
"A lot of positive things came together, so we decided to build this project," Becker-Birck said.
Bismarck-based Basin Electric Power Cooperative will buy 142 megawatts of the project. Basin also buys the output from the Lindahl project.
Becker-Birck said most of the new turbines will be 4.8 megawatts, and a few will be 2 megawatts.
"Essentially, we're building fewer turbines to get the same amount of output and capacity," Becker-Birck said.
Becker-Birck said Enel is looking at future wind projects in that area – but has no plans at this time.
"We have no specific location at this time that we can announce," Becker-Birck said. "But we are continuously scanning the area. And ther might be potential for future projects."