Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives (IEA), an infrastructure construction company with renewable energy and specialty civil expertise, has been awarded a wind construction contract for the Shady Oaks II Wind Farm in Illinois.

Algonquin Power & Utilities, a growing renewable energy and regulated utility company, awarded the project to White Construction, a subsidiary of IEA that manages utility-scale renewable energy and heavy civil infrastructure projects.

“Algonquin is a global leader in renewable energy, and IEA is honored to support them on their latest wind construction project in Illinois,” said Chris Hanson, IEA’s executive VP of renewable energy. “We look forward to supporting the full EPC needs of this project, in addition to installing advanced computer systems for real-time monitoring and control of each of the wind turbines on site.”

The award is for the construction of a 118-MW utility-scale wind farm in Lee County, Illinois. IEA will self-perform all of the EPC needs of the project, including the construction of access roads, the improvement of nearby public roads and the erection of collection systems, foundations and substations for the wind farm. The construction team will also implement a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor the wind turbine generators on site.

The first wind farm opened in Illinois in 2003. Since that time, the state has attracted nearly $11 billion in wind projects and is now the third-largest employer in the nation for wind energy with over 8,000 wind jobs as of 2019 according to the most recent data available from the American Clean Power Association. The Shady Oaks II Wind Farm will add to this industry employment total and bring an additional 22 wind turbine generators to the site located roughly 50 miles west of Chicago.

“Construction of Shady Oaks II is an important step in executing Algonquin’s sustainability goals,” said Jeff Norman, Algonquin’s Chief Development Officer. “We are very pleased to partner with IEA on the Shady Oaks II project, which will increase our company’s already substantial wind footprint in the state of Illinois.”

To date, IEA has constructed more than 20 GW of renewable energy projects across North America.

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