Boston (Platts)--6Feb2013/458 pm EST/2158 GMT

Pioneer Green Energy plans to build a wind farm of up to 80 MW in northeastern Alabama that would be one of the largest facilities of its kind in the Deep South, the company said Wednesday.

The Noccolula wind farm, to be built in Etowah County, will consist of up to 40 wind turbines and could beginning commercial operation as soon as the second or third quarter of 2014, Austin, Texas-based Pioneer said in a statement. No power purchase agreement has been signed to date, but one is being pursued.

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Pioneer previously announced plans to build an 18.4-MW wind farm in Cherokee County -- also in northeastern Alabama -- that will sell its output to the Tennessee Valley Authority under a long-term PPA. The Shinbone wind farm, as, that project is known, is expected to come online in either the first or second quarter of next year, Pioneer said.

"New technology has made wind energy generation cost-effective in more areas of the country, including the Southeast," the company said. "Alabama's proximity to good wind areas, combined with manufacturing expertise, could make the state a manufacturing powerhouse for the sector."

Alabama Power, the state's largest utility, already has committed to buy 404 MW of wind power from projects in Kansas and Oklahoma.

--Housley Carr, newsdesk@platts.com
--Edited by Richard Rubin, richard_rubin@platts.com

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