Enel Green Power starts operation of HillTopper, its first wind farm in the U.S. state of Illinois

HillTopper, which is located in Logan County, is supported by three long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Bloomberg LP, General Motors as well as Constellation, an Exelon company.

“The completion of HillTopper represents our commitment to continued growth, through expansion into new areas and markets to serve new corporate and industrial customers,” said Antonio Cammisecra, Head of Enel Green Power. “Through this first project in Illinois, we are helping our customers meet their clean energy goals with competitive solutions that adapt to their power needs and business objectives.”

The investment in the construction of HillTopper, which is expected to generate around 570 GWh annually, amounts to approximately 325 million US dollars.

Under a long-term PPA with Bloomberg LP, Enel will sell the power generated from a 17 MW portion of the wind farm to help the global business and financial information and news leader reach its 100% renewable energy goal by 2025.

The energy generated by a 100 MW portion of HillTopper will be sold to the global mobility company General Motors under a second long-term PPA. The wind energy will provide 100% renewable electricity to all of General Motors’ Ohio and Indiana manufacturing facilities and help the company achieve 20% energy supply from renewables.

Under a third long-term agreement, the power produced from a  23 MW section of HillTopper will be sold to retail energy products and services provider Constellation, who will then sell the power to two corporate customers through separate retail agreements.

Over the past year Enel signed around 570 MW of commercial and industrial (C&I) PPAs in the US, including 10 MW to Adobe and around 320 MW to Facebook through a gradual purchase of the full output, at its Rattlesnake Creek wind farm and 100 MW to Kohler at its 300 MW Diamond Vista wind farm. Both projects are expected to begin operations this year. With the PPAs for HillTopper, Enel has already signed, directly or indirectly, more than 1.2 GW of power supply contracts in the US with C&I customers to date. Through these agreements, Enel is able to create tailor-made solutions for its corporate customers, with the aim to provide them with long-term access to an affordable, sustainable and reliable source of power.

The HillTopper wind farm brings the total renewable capacity connected by Enel Green Power to grids around the world from January 2018 to date to approximately 1,981 MW.