RES Begins Building Wind Farm in Kansas Owned by GE and Enel

Source: By Andrew Herndon, Bloomberg • Posted: Friday, April 19, 2013

RES Americas Inc., a unit of the U.K.’s Renewable Energy Systems Ltd., started construction on a 250-megawatt wind farm in Kansas that’s owned by units of General Electric Co. (GE) and Italian utility Enel SpA. (ENEL)

The Buffalo Dunes project southwest of Garden City, Kansas, will use 135 GE wind turbines, Broomfield Colorado-based RES Americas said today in a statement. Southern Co. (SO)’s Alabama Power utility has agreed to buy “most of the electricity” for 20 years, RES said.

GE unit GE Energy Financial Services acquired a 51 percent stake in the $370 million project from Enel Green Power North America for $40 million and is funding construction, Kossara Marchinkova, an Enel spokeswoman, said in a phone interview. Enel is investing $180 million and owns the remaining 49 percent, she said.

Buffalo Dunes is expected to be completed by December, GE said April 8.