Ørsted cuts ribbon on 200-MW wind park in Kansas

September 29 (Renewables Now) - Danish clean energy group Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) on Thursday inaugurated its 200-MW Sunflower Wind power plant in Kansas, bringing the number of its operational wind farms in the US to 13.

A final investment decision for the project was announced in April 2022.

Sunflower Wind will deliver renewable energy benefits to a number of companies. Partnering with Schneider Electric, Ørsted signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Amcor, PepsiCo, Stryker, Citizens, as well as five Walmart suppliers -- Amy’s Kitchen, Great Lakes Cheese, The JM Smucker Co, Levi Strauss and Co, and Valvoline Global Operations -- which participate in the supermarket chain’s Project Gigaton, aimed at reducing supply chain emissions.

The company highlighted that the facility will use a new aircraft detection lighting system to make the night-time lights on the turbines blink only when aircraft are detected.

David Hardy, Ørsted executive vice president and chief executive of Region Americas, said this is the company’s first clean energy project in Kansas. “With Sunflower Wind, we now have 13 operational wind farms in the US, generating 832 MW in the Southwest Power Pool,” Hardy added.

Ørsted at the moment has almost 6 GW of onshore renewable energy capacity in operation or under construction. It targets 17.5 GW of onshore renewables globally by 2030.