About The Projects
Current Efforts
After acquiring the project from the previous developer, Invenergy began developing the Towner Energy Center in 2014. Our efforts have been largely focused on partnering with landowners, conducting necessary engineering and environmental studies, land leasing, and stakeholder and tribal engagement.
We are excited to share that the Kiowa County 1041 Permits for the Towner East and Towner West Wind Projects were successfully approved on March 14, 2024!
This is an exciting step forward for the Towner East and Towner West Wind Projects and for Kiowa County. These projects will bring great benefits to the County and its residents. We are grateful to the County for their support and countless hours of hard work throughout this process.
Although the 1041
permits have been approved and issued, there is still more work to be done. We
are working with the County and State to obtain additional permits needed for
the projects including Road Use Agreements, Building Permits, and State Regulatory
Approval, among others.
We appreciate the community’s continued support as we
progress toward the construction and operations of the Towner Energy Center.
Economic Benefits
During the life of the project, Towner Energy Center is projected to pay over $240 million in property taxes, lease payments to landowners, and salaries to employees, resulting in a significant increase in economic activity in Kiowa County and surrounding communities. Local schools and county infrastructure will benefit from the increase in tax revenue.
Why Kiowa County?
Invenergy develops projects where there is a strong resource, interested customers and landowners who want to participate in the project.
We are committed to our host communities and look forward to continuing to work closely with Kiowa County, contributing to the region's economic development, and providing clean, homegrown energy to Colorado.
Wind Benefits Colorado
- Total Investment: Wind developers like Invenergy have invested over $9.8 billion in Colorado
- Annual Landowner Payments: Every year, wind farms in Colorado pay landowners over $18 million
- Wind Industry Employment: The wind industry employs over 7,600 people in Colorado
Why Colorado?
Colorado is one of the nation's leaders in renewable power generation. According to the American Clean Power Association (ACP), 27.9% of the electricity in Colorado is generated by windfarms, or enough to power over 2 million homes.1
To date, total wind energy investment in Colorado has reached $9.8 billion2 and in 2022 alone, clean power including wind, solar and storage provided $38 million in taxes and land lease payments to farmers, ranchers, and other Colorado landowners.3
The clean power industry has also created more than 15,000 jobs for workers across the state.4
1ACPA Colorado Wind Energy Fact Sheet (https://cleanpower.org/wp-cont...)
2ACPA Colorado Wind Energy Fact Sheet (https://cleanpower.org/wp-cont...)
3ACPA Colorado Fact Sheet (https://cleanpower.org/wp-cont...)
4ACPA Colorado Fact Sheet (https://cleanpower.org/wp-cont...)
Environmental Benefits
To avoid and minimize impacts to wildlife and other natural resources, we work with state and federal agencies along with other interested stakeholders to site, build, and operate our facilities responsibly. The cornerstone of that effort is our commitment to act in accordance with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Land-based Wind Energy Guidelines, which include robust pre-construction wildlife and habitat surveys, early and often communication with wildlife agencies, and operational monitoring to ensure risk to wildlife is minimized.
Impact on County Roads
Invenergy will work with Kiowa County to establish a road use agreement for the Towner Energy Center, ensuring all county roads and infrastructure will be well-maintained during construction and left in the same or better condition than they were prior to their use for construction or ongoing maintenance of the project.
Land Use
Wind turbines and their access roads have a small footprint. Approximately 98-99% of land for the project will remain in agricultural use, allowing wind energy to support the agricultural industry and landowners to continue harvesting their land.