US wind farm on former coal mine

The wind farm is the fifth such project successfully completed this year. The new wind farm brings E.ON’s installed wind power capacity in the US to nearly 1,700 megawatts (MW).

Only a few weeks ago, E.ON Climate & Renewables, which is responsible in the E.ON Group for renewable energies and climate protection projects, completed the fourth and last section of the world’s largest wind farm (782 MW) in Roscoe, Texas.

Stony Creek is the first wind farm of E.ON Climate & Renewables located in Western Pennsylvania. It has been set up on the site of a former surface mine, which has now been put to new use. The project comprises 35 General Electric wind turbines with an installed capacity of approximately 53 MW. The wind farm can supply about 16,000 homes with electricity.

The US is considered one of the best markets for wind energy because of the natural conditions. In states like Texas and Pennsylvania, operators can find not only sizable areas but also excellent weather conditions. E.ON has therefore identified the US as one of the key markets for the expansion of wind power.

In the period from 2007 to 2011, E.ON is investing around EUR 8 billion worldwide in renewables, especially in wind energy and solar projects. E.ON currently has around 15 gigawatts (GW) of wind projects in the development pipeline, about half of them are in the US.

www.eon.com/renewables