Cedar Creek II wind farm under construction in Weld County, Colorado

Full construction began in September 2010 on the Cedar Creek II Wind Farm in Weld County, Colorado. Located on 300 acres north of the town of New Raymer, the $300 million, 250 MW farm is adjacent to the existing 300 MW Cedar Creek I wind farm, which has operated since 2008.

The project is a joint venture between BP Wind Energy/Sempra Generation and Infigen Energy. The site will have a total of 23 turbines, 63 of which are 1.6 MW GE turbines and 60 of which are 2.5 MW Nordex turbines.

Power from Cedar Creek II was sold under a long-term power purchase agreement to Public Service Company of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company. The electricity generated from the facility will reach the grid through 20 miles of new overhead transmission lines which will tie into the existing Cedar Creek I's interconnection with Public Service Company.

Cedar Creek II is expected to be fully operational by June 2011 and will generate enough clean electricity to power 75,000 homes, helping Colorado reach its agressive renewable energy standard of 30 percent by 2020.

The project will employ up to 350 construction workers at peak buildout, with 12-14 new jobs planned to operate the facility.