IEA Announces Award for 250 MW Wind Project in Illinois

IEA a leading infrastructure construction company with specialised energy & heavy civil expertise has announced a wind energy project award in Illinois.

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, (IEA), a leading infrastructure construction company with specialised energy and heavy civil expertise has announced a wind energy project award in Illinois. The award is for the construction of the Blooming Grove Wind Energy Center in McLean County. The project’s planned 94 turbines will generate an estimated 250 MW of power that will be delivered into the Illinois electrical grid. It is estimated that the project will generate enough energy to power 69,000 homes annually.

Work began in September 2019 and the project is expected to be fully operational in late 2020. The scope of IEA’s work includes the construction of project roads, turbine foundations, and erection of turbines. White Construction, a division of IEA that performs the construction of heavy civil infrastructure projects, secured the contract.

Chicago-based Invenergy developed the Blooming Grove project. The company owns and operates large-scale renewable and other clean energy generation and storage facilities across North America, Latin America, Asia and Europe. It has developed 150 projects with more than 24,000 megawatts of power capacity.

JP Roehm, IEA’s Chief Executive Officer, said the Illinois project is an excellent example of the size and scope of wind farm developments completed, underway or planned across much of the United States.

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), there are now more than 100,000 megawatts (MW) of wind energy operating in the country, with more than 57,000 wind turbines spinning across 41 states and two US territories.

“Momentum in wind energy is substantial across more than a dozen states and in several regions of the country, providing IEA both strong demand and geographic diversity,” Roehm said. “We expect activity to remain robust in 2020 and beyond.”

To date, the firm has assembled more than 7,200 wind turbines across North America.

Last month, the firm had announced the award for a pair of substantial wind energy projects in Texas. Together, the awards are valued at more than USD 115 million.

One award is for the construction of the Raymond Wind Farm in Willacy and Cameron counties. The project’s planned 91 Vestas turbines will generate 200 megawatts (MW) of power. The other award in Texas is for the West Raymond Wind Farm in Willacy, Hidalgo and Cameron counties. The approximate USD 62 million project involves 109 Vestas turbines that will produce nearly 240 MW of power.