A 106-megawatt wind farm built to give Indianapolis Power&Light Co. a new green supply of energy began operating this week in Northwest Indiana, one of several developments under way in the growing number of turbines in the state.

The Hoosier Wind Project near Fowler in east central Indiana consists of 53 turbines and was built by enXco, which announced this week that the farm will be delivering carbon-free electricity to IPL.

It is the second wind farm to begin supplying power to Indiana in two weeks. A wind farm capable of generating enough power to light 60,000 average homes was dedicated last week in northwestern Indiana of Horizon Wind Energy’s operations near the town of Brookston.

IPL is buying the energy from the Fowler operations under a 20-agreement from California-based enXco, a part of France-based EDF Energies Nouvelles Co.

Steve Peluso, enXco’s Midwest development vice president, said the company is “proud to bring our first wind project in Indiana to completion and begin delivering renewable energy to IPL customers.”

In April 2008, when IPL announced the partnership with enXco, IPL forecast that it could reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by about 230,000 tons per year.

Ground was broken on the project in April.

IPL’s parent company, AES Corp., said in the summer that it plans to build wind turbines in an area that would span the line between Clinton and Tipton counties, a project that would cost up to $1 billion. The counties are north of Indianapolis.

A public hearing Dec. 8 will consider the proposal to put wind turbines in southeastern Clinton County. The proposal by AES Wind Generation LLC, a Virginia-based company, calls on installing and operating up to 200 2.5-megawatt windmills. The farm will cover roughly 32,000 acres in the eastern portion of the county.

“By size, it will be the largest (wind farm) project in the area,” said Mark Mills, director of the Clinton County Area Plan Commission.

Clinton County Commissioner Bill Beard said he’s excited about the wind farm potential.

“I’d say that has the potential to double the assessed valuation in the county, thereby reducing tax rates,” Beard said.

In other recent news about wind farms in Indiana, officials last week celebrated the completion of the first of three phases of the Meadow Lake Wind Farm near Brookston in northern Indiana. The Meadow Lake farm has 121 turbines already, and the second phase will add 66 turbines.

Call Star reporter Tom Spalding at (317) 444-6202.