The Beaver Creek Wind Farms have contracted with Caithness Beaver Creek, LLC for the development and administrative management of four independently owned wind farms, located in Stillwater and Sweet Grass Counties, Montana. Together, the four Beaver Creek Wind Farms will consist of 128 GE-2.5 MW wind turbines and up to 160 MWh of battery storage for a total installed wind renewable capacity of 320 MW.
Each of the four 80 MW Beaver Creek Wind Farms will incorporate battery storage and, unlike traditional wind-only projects, will be able to provide firm, schedulable power to NorthWestern Energy’s (‘NWE’) system. The wind farms will provide much needed capacity on NWE’s self-acknowledged capacity deficient system. Their operational flexibility will increase the reliability of NWE’s system.
Cumulatively, the projects will be the largest wind facility in Montana, and will represent 9% of the 3,375* MW total installed renewable energy capacity in Montana, and will provide important economic benefits to the state.
Caithness Beaver Creek, LLC, the project developer, is a subsidiary of Caithness Energy, L.L.C. (‘Caithness’). Caithness is a privately held Independent Power Producer specializing in the development, acquisition, operation, and management of renewable energy and natural gas development projects and is the indirect owner of two of the four wind farms. Caithness’s diverse portfolio has included natural gas, wind, solar and geothermal power generation projects. Caithness recently partnered with Moxie Energy, LLC to develop the Caithness Moxie Freedom Generating Station, an approximately 1,029 megawatt natural gas fired greenfield power project in Salem Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Caithness developed and constructed the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, one of the world’s largest wind-energy facilities. Located in eastern Oregon, the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm began commercial operations in September 2012 and is comprised of three separate projects with a combined generation output of 845-MW. Caithness also developed and constructed the Caithness Long Island Energy Center, a 350 MW gas-fired facility which has been providing Long Island with reliable power since 2009. Built on-time and on-budget, the CLIEC is the cleanest and most water-conserving power plants on Long Island.
*Includes 2,665 MW hydro, 687 MW Wind, 17 MW Solar and 5 MW Biomass