Westar Energy Inc. issued its first green bonds this week to support renewable energy projects in Kansas.
The company issued $350 million in bonds, which will be used to invest in wind energy projects, primarily the construction of Western Plains Wind Farm.
The company announced in April of 2016 that it would build the 280-megawatt wind farm in Ford County, Kansas, to be operational by early 2017.
In 2012, just $2.6 billion of green bonds were issued, according to Climate Bonds Initiative. But the environmentally friendly bonds moved forward strongly from there with issuance in 2013 at $11.5 billion; 2014, $37 billion; and in 2015, $41.8 billion.
“We have for a decade now been a leader in green energy in Kansas, and this is kind of an outgrowth of that commitment to renewables,” spokeswoman Gina Penzig said of Westar’s entry into the green bond market.