NorthWestern Energy has received approval to build and operate a 40 MW wind farm between Raynesford and Geyser in Judith Basin County, east of Great Falls. The Montana Public Service Commission voted 3-2 to approve the $86-million dollar Spion Kop wind facility. Compass Wind is set to develop the project and place it into rate-based utilities for NorthWestern’s electric customers. The wind farm is projected to
produce cheaper electricity, costing $5 less per megawatt hour than the current methods.
Nstar agreement to purchase 129 MW of capacity from the planned 468 MW project as part the Boston-based Cape Wind Associates LLC’s $4.8 billion acquisition by Northeast Utilities, in a deal approved by Massachusetts regulators, may lead to financing of the first U.S. offshore wind project. That means the developer has lined up buyers for 77.5% of the wind farm’s total output and will be enough to seek financing, said a Cape Wind spokesman. State regulators must approve the Nstar contract, as they did with National Grid Plc’s 2010 agreement to buy 234 MW of capacity from the project off the coast of Nantucket.
Malaga Inc., the Canadian mining company, will build a hydroelectric plant with 20 MW of capacity at its Pasto Bueno tungsten mine in northern Peru. Malaga may start building the project in the first quarter of next year, the Montreal-based company said. The project, which may be expanded to 38 MW, will be developed with Hidropesac, a joint venture between Malaga and Swiss companies Emerging Power Developers and Stucky SA, according to its statement.