FirstEnergy Corp. this week announced that it has entered into a 23-year agreement to purchase 80 megawatts (MW) of wind power from the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm, a new wind power generation project being developed near Altoona, Pennsylvania, by Gamesa Energy USA.

The Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm site, encompassing parts of Cambria and Blair counties, is planned to have 40 turbines rated at 2 MW each for Phase I, which is expected to be operational by early 2007.

Once built, the project would be the largest wind farm in Pennsylvania, and one of the largest in the entire Mid-Atlantic region.

Earlier this month, Gamesa also announced it would be building three new advanced technology plants in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for the production of wind mill blades and towers and the assembly of nacelles, which house the wind turbines. These plants will join the existing blade plant Gamesa is building in Cambria County, a few miles away from the proposed project location.

NewsClip: FirstEnergy to Purchase Wind Farm’s Electricity

3/31/2006