Buffett company to buy wind farm in Illinois
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s energy business agreed to buy an 81-megawatt wind power project from Invenergy Wind LLC to expand production in Illinois.
The Bishop Hill II project, which is under construction, will use 50 General Electric Co. 1.62-megawatt turbines, according to a statement Friday from Berkshire’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. in Omaha, Neb.
Berkshire, led by Warren Buffett, has been expanding renewable production at the energy unit, which also produces power with coal and natural gas. Mid-American has invested about $6 billion in wind generation and built or acquired more than 3,300 megawatts of the renewable energy source in states including Iowa, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon since 2004. Last month, the unit agreed to buy the $2 billion Topaz solar project in California from First Solar Inc payday loans guaranteed no fax.
Wind “meets current and future energy needs in an environmentally efficient and cost-effective manner,” said MidAmerican Chairman and Chief Executive Greg Abel.
The Bishop Hill II wind project is near the town of Galva, Ill., about 40 miles northwest of Peoria. The project is expected to be in commercial operation in the fourth quarter. A unit of Ameren Corp. in Illinois has agreed to buy electricity from the project under a 20-year power-purchase agreement. Terms of the Invenergy deal weren’t disclosed.