Blattner Builds $750M Philip Wind Project in South Dakota
South Dakota’s Board of Economic Development authorized up to $6.1 million in tax rebates Oct. 13 for the $750 million, 333-MW Philip Wind Energy Center, with Blattner as contractor, ENR reports.
Market Impact
The project is set to become the largest wind farm in South Dakota. Philip Wind Partners, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Invenergy, is developing it across about 110 square miles north of Philip, in Haakon County, roughly 85 miles east of Rapid City. Plans call for up to 87 turbines and about 5.5 miles of 230-kV generator transmission tie line. ENR says output would power the equivalent of about 121,000 homes. Blattner is a unit of Quanta Services, which acquired it for $2.7 billion in 2021, according to ENR.
The rebates come from the state’s Reinvestment Payment Program, which refunds sales and use taxes paid on qualifying construction and equipment costs. Projects must exceed $20 million to qualify. The regulatory application projects about 200 construction jobs and 12 operating positions. Over 30 years, Philip Wind Partners estimates about $85 million in landowner payments, $50 million in property taxes and $10 million in other state and local taxes.
Construction began in July. A Sept. 30 progress report to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission says Blattner has finished the laydown yard and batch plant and started mud-mat construction. Crews are also handling stormwater controls, silt fence, topsoil stripping, public road improvements, access roads, site grading and turbine foundation excavation. The commission approved the project’s permit in February. Chairman Chris Nelson said at the time that the facility “will be the largest in the state.”
The schedule has turbine installation continuing into 2027, followed by balance-of-plant work. Commercial operation is expected by March 2028.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Collection system work is underway or imminent. The project team planned to mobilize in October for conduit boring and cable trenching. Boring and trenching crews should ask Blattner now whether any of those packages are still open, since they may already be placed. The source does not say which are self-performed and which are subcontracted.
- Substation and O&M building civil work is starting now. Grading for both was expected to begin in October. Electrical and civil subs in the region should know the substation and the 5.5-mile, 230-kV tie line follow that grading, though the source gives no dates for either.
- Balance-of-plant is a 2027 story. Turbine installation runs into 2027, with balance-of-plant after that and commercial operation by March 2028. Crane and erection support is needed through turbine installation, and commissioning support will follow late in that stretch. Our inference: the later trades should line up with Blattner and Invenergy well before turbines finish.
- Local hiring will be modest. With about 200 construction jobs projected for a site north of Philip, about 85 miles from Rapid City, expect much of the crew and equipment to be sourced from across the region. Haul-route and public road work is already underway, so trucking and aggregate suppliers should engage early.
- The incentive points to real spend. The $6.1 million rebate covers sales and use taxes on qualifying construction and equipment costs, and projects must exceed $20 million to qualify. That is consistent with a large, equipment-heavy build with committed capital.
