Vestas wins 124 MW wind energy order under RES Americas master supply agreement in U.S.

Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas) places order for 62 V100-2.0 MW wind turbines for the 150 MW Border Winds Project in North Dakota in the United States.

Vestas has received an order for 62 V100-2.0 MW turbines for the 150 MW Border Winds Project in North Dakota. The initial 26 MW were announced in connection with signing the master supply agreement (MSA) in September 2013.

The order is a call-off on the master supply agreement (MSA) announced in September 2013 for multiple U.S. projects, the potential of which totaled 610 MW. With today’s order, Vestas has secured 184 MW directly with RES Americas or their affiliates under this MSA. Vestas has realized 444 MW of the MSA’s total potential of 610 MW, either through orders directly from RES Americas or from other parties who purchased the RES Americas projects prior to placing a firm and unconditional order with Vestas (see note below).

The Border Winds Project will utilize the V100-2.0 MW turbine, which was launched to the market in 2013 and features an improved drive train and generates approximately 13 per cent more annual energy production (AEP) than the V90-1.8 MW at medium wind speeds. In addition the order includes a three-year Active Output Management (AOM) 5000 service agreement. AOM 5000 is an energy-based availability guarantee that ensures the turbines are operational when the wind is blowing.

“The announcement of the Border Winds Project is another demonstration of the strong relationship between Vestas and RES Americas,” says Chris Brown, President of Vestas’ sales and service division in the United States and Canada.  He continues: “Vestas and RES Americas have previously worked together on several projects over the last year, including the 150 MW Origin Wind Project now owned by Enel Green Power, and the 110 MW Keechi Wind Project, now owned by Enbridge, which are being built in 2014 and 2015.”

“RES Americas is committed to providing competitively priced sources of carbon-free electricity from projects such as Border Winds” said Rob Morgan, Chief Development Officer of RES Americas. “The cutting-edge technology developed by leading companies like Vestas is essential to the wind industry’s ability to continue driving down costs while increasing clean energy production, and significantly reducing carbon emissions from our nation’s energy sector.”
The Border Winds Project will have an annual energy production of approximately 643,000 MWh per year, which will avoid the emission of 320,000 tons of CO2 on an annual basis. The project will provide clean energy for the electricity consumption of approximately 141,000 people in the U.S.

Delivery of the Border Winds Project is expected to take place in the third quarter of 2015 with commissioning expected in the fourth quarter of the same year. Vestas’ factories in Colorado are expected to be involved in the manufacturing of the nacelles, blades and towers.

Following commissioning, ownership of the Border Winds Project will be transferred from RES Americas to Xcel Energy.

Note:  Vestas’ original MSA with RES Americas included up to 610 MW in potential orders.  Since this agreement was signed, RES Americas and Vestas have agreed to transfer components used for qualification for the Production Tax Credit (PTC) as well as production slots reserved by RES Americas via the MSA, to other parties, in line with RES Americas’ business model of developing and selling projects. Vestas has previously announced several of these orders independently and without reference to the original MSA with RES Americas. These MW were part of the original 610-MW potential, previously disclosed by Vestas.  As noted above, 26 MW of the 150 MW project announced today were disclosed in connection with announcing the MSA in September 2013.

See enclosed table for details.

 

Since 1979, Vestas has supplied more than 51,000 wind turbines and over 60 GW in 73 countries – 52 percent more than its closest competitor. Vestas entered the U.S. market in 1981, selling its first wind turbine for a project in California. Since then, the company has delivered 12,616 turbines to the United States and 1,611 to Canada. Combined, Vestas’ installed capacity is 14,212 MW in 28 U.S. states and every Canadian province – enough to power about four million households. Vestas employs about 16,600 people worldwide including about 2,500 throughout the United States and Canada at service and construction sites, sales offices, and at four manufacturing facilities in Colorado. Vestas’ U.S. and Canadian sales and service headquarters is in Portland, Oregon.
Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas) is a fully-integrated renewable energy company that develops, constructs, owns, and/or operates projects across North America. The company employs approximately 275 full-time professionals working throughout North America, has a construction portfolio of more than 7,000 MW of renewable energy, and offers a full suite of development and construction services for wind, solar, transmission, and energy storage projects. RES Americas’ corporate office is located in Broomfield, CO with regional offices located in Austin, TX and Minneapolis, MN. RES Americas is part of the RES Group, a leading international renewable energy developer.