Among the almost 150 wind farms in the region, these were the only two wind energy projects that were fast-tracked due to having no impact and minimal system upgrades required for interconnection.
The fast-tracking of these two projects should allow Crownbutte to take advantage of a current US Treasury grant program to aid renewable energy development. The Company believes that with electrical transmission availability forming a significant hurdle in the renewable energy sector, this fast-track through the interconnection process places the Elgin and Wibaux projects at a significant advantage and means that they can begin construction when they finish the last stage in the queue and are granted an interconnection agreement without having to wait for new transmission lines to be built.
Crownbutte Wind Power, Inc.: Established in 1999, Crownbutte Wind Power, Inc., is a North Dakota based developer of merchant wind energy parks, with a current pipeline of over 640 MW of projects in various stages of development across North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.
Crownbutte has strategically sized these projects to fit into the existing power grid so as to require only minimal transmission system upgrades, and therefore expects to be able to begin construction and operation much sooner than would be the case for larger projects requiring new transmission.
