On January 18, 2022, Great River Energy, an electric transmission and generation cooperative in Minnesota, announced that it has reached an agreement to receive energy from Apex Clean Energy’s 400 MW wind energy project in Mclean County, North Dakota.[1] The Discovery Wind project is expected to reach commercial operations in 2025 and will be the largest project in North Dakota. Electricity from the project will be delivered via a 436-mile high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission system. According to the press release, the project will fulfill a large portion of Great River Energy’s renewable energy needs and deliver wind energy west of the Twin Cities. In 2020, the cooperative announced plans to phase out the remaining coal in its portfolio and more than double its renewable energy.

The cooperative is converting the coal-based Spiritwood Station power plant located near Jamestown, North Dakota, to be fueled mostly with natural gas and developing a 1 MW, multiday, grid-scale battery in Cambridge, Minnesota. Great River Energy is also currently in the process of selling its 1,100-MW Coal Creek Station power plant and the 436-mile HVDC transmission system, both located in Mclean County, to Rainbow Energy Center and Nexus Line, respectively. The transaction will be finalized upon approval from Great River Energy’s member-owner cooperatives. The cooperative is on track to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by more than 80% by 2025, achieving Minnesota’s emissions target decades ahead of schedule.

[1] https://greatriverenergy.com/great-river-energy-to-sign-agreement-with-apex-clean-energy-for-400-megawatt-discovery-wind/