Dec 20 2010
Nordex USA has pronounced that it has been granted a 41 MW order along with RPM Access for a Elk Wind Farm in Delaware County in Iowa. The turbines would be manufactured in the new manufacturing plant in Jonesboro in Arkansas, owned by Nordex, and a 10 year service contract has also been signed along with the commissioning, delivery, testing and installation of the 17 Nordex N100 turbines.
The Elk farm is Nordex’ second order and this project takes the number of employees in Arkansas to 70 with a possibility of increasing to 700 during the next four years. This would also be the first project with RPM Access.
According to Ralf Sigrist, CEO and President of Nordex, RPM was a highly knowledgeable and experienced developer in the Midwest region and would be a great partner to Nordex, a pioneer in wind energy, and together they would build new clean energy sources with cost-effectiveness and the best technology skills.
The Elk Wind Project is to be completed by October 2011. The farm would be owned and operated by RPM Access and the energy produced would be sold to the Central Iowa Power Cooperative through a 20 year power purchase agreement. RPM, a company based in West Des Moines has been the cause of six wind projects in Iowa with a total capacity of 370 MW during the past ten years.
According to Stephen Dryden, RPM Access’ Prinipal, the N100 was the ideal match for the wind system in the Elk Wind site in Iowa and he also mentioned that the global record was in favor of Nordex with regard to efficiency, service and reliability. The company was also happy to support the American economy by bringing in green energy and green jobs to the Midwest region. Iowa has a total wind energy of 3,500 MW and is the second largest wind energy generator in the US mainly because of its long term and advanced public policies. Nordex has both completed and unfinished installations in many states including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Colorado and Maryland.