DEVELOPMENT FACTS
Key Facts
Located about an hour and a half west of Billings, MT, the Beaver Creek Wind Farms will be comprised of four separate projects that deliver significant economic and environmental benefits to the State of Montana:
- Beaver Creek I
- Beaver Creek II
- Beaver Creek III
- Beaver Creek IV
The four wind farms deploy 128 wind turbines across 20,000 acres to generate 320 megawatts of clean energy, enough to power 227,000. The $500 million combined facilities will play an important role in harnessing the power of wind to strengthen Montana’s economy, advance the state’s renewable energy capacity, and bolster America’s energy security.
In June 2018, the four Beaver Creek entities, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into a single Large Generator Interconnection Agreement (‘LGIA’) with NorthWestern Energy (‘NWE’). A total of 315 MW will be deliverable using the existing capacity on the 230 kV line that is four miles from the projects. The projects will be designated as a network resource.
Wind with Storage Used to Avoid Peakers
- Energy from the four 80 MW wind farms will be used to:
- First, to shift production from the off-peak to the on-peak periods using the 160 MWh storage system;
- Second, provide ‘firm’ deliveries to the grid;
- Third, self-provide ancillary services.
Benefits of Wind with Storage
- The storage resource will provide products and services such as:
- A fully renewable energy storage solution (independent of grid charging)
- Frequency regulation
- Frequency response
- Firming
- Ramp rate control
- Voltage control
- VAR control