Jan 29 2011
Affinity Wind, a wind power company based in St. Louis, Missouri, has announced its plans to build a 150-MW wind power farm in Pike County, west of Pittsfield, Illinois. The estimated cost of development is between $250 million and $300 million.
The Chief Executive Officer at Affinity Wind, Trey Goede, said that the company is proposing a 36-MW wind power farm, which could commence operations in the fourth quarter of 2011 and expand to 150 MW in 2012. The company plans to install 75 2-MW wind turbines in the farm.
Affinity Wind has completed a joint venture deal with Suzlon Wind Energy, a Chicago-based subsidiary of Indian-based Suzlon Energy, to establish a new company called Surity Wind. Surity Wind will construct the Pike County wind power farm. The company has finished site evaluation and is now taking efforts to obtain connection to the power grid and a purchase deal for the produced power.
Affinity Wind expected that over $44 million would be invested in the region during construction and $3 million per year once construction is over. The company will create about 600 jobs during the course of the project.