Traverse, the largest wind farm built at one time in North America and one of three new wind facilities providing clean energy to Public Service Company of Oklahoma customers, has begun commercial operations.
The 998-megawatt Traverse facility in Blaine and Custer Counties is part of the 1,484-MW North Central Energy Facilities (NCEF) project. All three wind farm facilities have cold-weather packages, which will increase performance during extreme weather.
“PSO customers expect clean, renewable energy to be part of our energy mix, and the completion of this wind farm delivers on our commitment to meet those needs,” said PSO President and Chief Operating Officer Peggy Simmons. “This investment in Oklahoma will save our customers approximately $1 billion during the time the facilities are in service and will help mitigate the impact of spikes in market prices.”
If the fuel-free NCEF project had been fully online during the winter storm of February 2021, over $200 million in savings could’ve been realized.
In addition to the 356-turbine Traverse facility, the NCEF project includes the 199-MW Sundance wind farm, which began commercial operation in April 2021, and the 287-MW Maverick wind farm, which began commercial operation in September 2021. In total, the facilities will generate enough energy to power 440,000 homes.
PSO will receive 675 MW from the NCEF project. Southwestern Electric Power Company will receive 809 MW.
The NCEF projects were developed by Invenergy and purchased by PSO and SWEPCO at completion. PSO and SWEPCO are local operating companies of American Electric Power.
