Enel Green Power (EGP), the renewable energy arm of Italy's biggest utility Enel, has agreed to sell power to be generated by its new 200 megawatt U.S. wind farm as it aims to expand on the U.S. market.
The U.S. government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will buy the annual output of the farm to be built and operated by EGP in Elk County, Kansas, EGP said in a statement, without giving commercial details of the power purchase agreement.
Enel, which aims to raise up to 3.4 billion euros with the sale of a minority stake in EGP in Europe's biggest initial public offering in 3 years, has said EGP's geographic and technological diversification is its advantage against rivals.
In the $350 million Caney River Wind Project, EGP and its U.S. development partner TradeWind Energy will erect wind turbines on nearly 14,000 acres to provide clean energy to 60,000 homes in the south-eastern United States.
The wind farm is expected to start commercial operation in 2011. Enel has an agreement to buy the project from TradeWind.
The TVA which provides power for utilities and business customers in most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia — an area with a population of 9 million — will be Enel's largest customer to date in North America.
