Enel Green Power North America started constructing the 300 MW Seven Cowboy Wind project. The construction is based in the Oklahoma counties of Kiowa and Washita. Moreover, Enel invests in its growing workforce through a new training center and office in Oklahoma City.
“With another Oklahoma wind farm on the way, we’re increasing our focus on developing a strong clean-energy workforce,” said Paolo Romanacci, Head of Enel Green Power in the US and Canada. “Our process is straightforward: invest in STEM education to inspire students to join our industry, execute on our ambitious growth strategy to create new skilled jobs, and train new hires in-house to equip them for our open positions in Oklahoma and beyond.”
The new office
In addition, the new office space will include classrooms as well as state of the art simulation facilities for working inside wind turbines. Likewise, the courses will cover safety, professional development, working at heights, ladder rescues, turbine repair and troubleshooting topics, among others.
Moreover, in these classrooms, trainees will learn in multiple settings which include classroom discussion, hands-on simulation and virtual reality. On the other hand, new wind workers will simulate the experience of climbing and maintaining a wind turbine with trainings held year-round inside an office space. This office space can also support up to 25 office-based employees.
Seven Cowboy
There is an expectation for the 107 Seven Cowboy turbines to generate over 1.3 TWh of energy each year; this is equivalent to the electricity needs of over 120,000 US households. Moreover, this quantity of energy allows the avoidance of over 758,000 tons of CO2 emissions each year.
Additionally, the project is expected to generate over $55 million in new local tax revenue for schools and public services. Also, over $41 million in payments to landowners over its lifetime. Likewise, its construction will involve over 300 construction jobs and the site will employ around 15 permanent positions. Operations are set to begin by the end of 2022.
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Enel Green Power
Enel Green Power North America is a leading developer, long-term owner and operator of renewable energy plants in North America. It has presence in 14 US states and one Canadian province. Moreover, the company operates 64 plants with managed capacity of over 7.6 GW powered by renewable wind, geothermal and solar energy. In addition, it started operating its first Oklahoma wind farm, Rocky Ridge, in 2012. Since the company has built or started construction on 13 wind farms representing over 2 GW of operating capacity, establishing it as Oklahoma’s second-largest wind operator.
