Construction will begin this fall on a 600-megawatt wind project in southwest Missouri/southeast Kansas, following approval of the plan by the Missouri Public Service Commission, Kallanish Energy finds.

Liberty Utilities-Empire District told the Joplin Globe newspaper it’s received the needed regulatory approval to go forward with the $1 billion project.

The turbines will be split among two locations in southwest Missouri and a third location in southeast Kansas. The two sites in Missouri, which will generate 150 MW each, are being called King’s Point and North Fork Ridge, and turbines will be located in parts of Jasper, Barton, Lawrence and Dade counties, the Globe reported.

Roughly 140 wind turbines will be installed in Missouri. Tenaska, based in Omaha, Nebraska, will develop and manage the Missouri wind turbines.

The other half of the company’s wind production, 139 turbines, will be built in Neosho County, Kansas. Apex Clean Energy, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, will develop and manage the Kansas wind turbines, the Globe reported.

“This approval marks the beginning of the construction phase for the company’s wind generation sites, which will be the first of their kind in southwest Missouri,” the company said, in a statement. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

The Globe reported Liberty-Empire expects to meet a significant portion of the financing requirements through the use of existing federal tax credits, and is projecting customer savings of $169 million over the first 20 years after implementation, and $300 million over 30 years.

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