Duke buys wind energy

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy placed an order with Vestas for 91 megawatts of wind-turbine power.

Duke will use the turbines in the first phase of its Notrees project in Ector and Winkler counties in western Texas. The 55 turbines are scheduled to arrive at the site in the second half of 2008 and begin service by the end of the year, the North Carolina Business Journal reported. Neither Vestas nor Duke released the financial terms of the sale.

When completed in 2009, the Notrees wind-power project is expected to provide about 150 megawatts of electricity. The deal follows a recent announcement by Duke that it was purchasing 100 wind turbines from General Electric Co. of Connecticut, the paper said. The turbines, capable of generating a total of 150 megawatts of power, are expected to be placed into service in 2009 and 2010 at sites under review in the West and Southwest.

Duke has been heavily involved in the wind energy business this past year, especially with the purchase of assets of Tierra Energy, a wind power development company in Austin, Texas. That deal included more than 1,000 megawatts of wind assets under development in the western and southwestern United States, the paper said.