HUTCHINSON, Kan. — For the first time ever, the Kansas State Fair will be entirely powered by Kansas wind energy.

Enel Green Power, in partnership with Westar Energy and KCP&L, is retiring renewable energy credits equivalent to the amount of electricity expected to be consumed by the 2019 Kansas State Fair from the Diamond Vista wind farm in Kansas. This marks the first time that 100% of the Kansas State Fair’s energy usage will be offset by renewable energy credits.

Diamond Vista, owned and operated by Enel Green Power, is a 300 MW wind farm located in Marion and Dickinson counties that began operation at the end of 2018. Diamond Vista’s 95 wind turbines produce about 1,300 GWh per year, enough to meet the electricity needs of more than 100,000 Kansas households. The 1 GWh of clean, renewable energy generated for the 2019 Kansas State Fair is equivalent to 123 homes’ energy use and avoids greenhouse gas emissions equal to removing 150 passenger cars off the road for one year.

In Kansas, Enel Green Power operates six wind power plants, representing more than $2.1 billion in total investment and more than 210 full-time employees working in the state. With its acquisition of Lenexa-based developer Tradewind Energy this year, Enel Green Power has expanded its presence in Kansas, where the company is the largest wind operator with more than 1.4 GW of operational wind capacity.

During the past decade, Westar Energy and KCP&L, which merged in 2018, have increased their generation from renewables by more than 12.5 times, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 40% from 2005 levels. Today, Westar and KCP&L customers get nearly a third of their energy from wind and another 25% from nuclear power. So far in 2019, nearly 55% of energy is coming from emission-free resources.