Missouri’s Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved the construction of the 400-MW High Prairie wind farm, which Ameren Missouri agreed to acquire earlier this year.
The wind park will be built by TG High Prairie Holdings LLC, part of Terra-Gen LLC, under a build-transfer agreement (BTA) with Ameren. Located in Adair and Schuyler counties, northeastern Missouri, the plant is expected to be the largest in the state, once commissioned in 2020.
After completing construction, TG High Prairie will merge into Ameren Missouri.
The certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN), awarded by PSC last week, gives Ameren the right to build and operate the plant, the regulator said. The commission also gave the green light to Ameren’s request to establish a Renewable Energy Standard Cost Recovery Mechanism (RESRAM).
Ameren Missouri, a unit of US power company Ameren Corp (NYSE:AEE), agreed to buy the 175-turbine project in May in a drive to provide more renewable energy to its customers and comply with state renewable energy requirements. Under Missouri’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES), utilities need to meet 15% of their annual retail sales with renewables by 2021. Ameren plans to add at least 700 MW of wind generation in Missouri by the end of the decade.
