Fowler Ridge Wind Farm (Photo: Scott Gable/bp)bp has completed a technology upgrade at its Fowler Ridge 1 wind farm in northwest Indiana that the company says will enable the site to produce up to 40% power more efficiently and with greater reliability.
The project involved upgrading 40 turbines, including the installation of 120 individual blades and 40 new nacelles, and bp’s capital investment was around $100 million.
The newly installed Vestas turbines are expected to produce up to 40% more energy, and are estimated to generate an average of 314,000 KWh each year. bp says the new technology produces power more efficiently at lower wind speeds, creating more electricity from available wind resources.
bp operates all three Fowler Ridge wind farms, which collectively have 355 turbines generating enough power to support about 195,000 Indiana homes annually. The Fowler Ridge 1 and 3 wind farms are 100% owned by bp. bp operates nine onshore wind farms across six states and owns an interest in a tenth wind asset in Hawaii, with a current gross US onshore wind capacity of 1.7 GW (1.3 GW net capacity).
bp plans to recycle the decommissioned blades, keeping up to 3.3 million pounds of material from ending up in landfills. The decommissioned blades are planned to be shredded and blended with raw materials to make cement products.
