Vestas wind energy receives 200 MW wind power order in Texas

First Wind orders 100 V100-2.0 MW wind turbines for the South Plains wind farm in Texas, expanding its relationship with Vestas.

 

Vestas has received a firm and unconditional order in the United States for 100 V100-2.0 MW turbines corresponding to 200 MW. The order was placed by First Wind.

The order comprises supply and commissioning of the wind turbines as well as a 10-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 order is in addition to the 718-MW master supply agreement announced in December of 2013 by First Wind and Vestas.

Today’s announcement adds to the turbine models that First Wind has purchased from Vestas, which now include the V100-1.8 MW, the V100-2.0 MW, the V110-2.0 MW and the V112-3.0 MW, in each case accompanied by 10-year service agreements.

“South Plains is the fifth project Vestas has announced with First Wind since 2011. That record speaks to the depth and strength of the relationship between our two companies,” says Chris Brown, President of Vestas’ sales and service division in the United States and Canada. “Each wind project is different, and we have worked hard to bring the right technical and business solutions to each of First Wind’s developments. We’re very pleased to support First Wind’s success in the U.S.”

The South Plains announcement brings Vestas’ announced orders in Texas in 2013 and 2014 to almost 1,500 MW, in addition to more than 1,200 MW of Vestas turbines already in operation in this state.

“We’re pleased to be moving forward with the South Plains project and are glad to be continuing our relationship with Vestas,” said First Wind CEO Paul Gaynor. “Our partnership with Vestas has been successful to date at other projects across the country and we’re confident that will be the case here as well.  As we move ahead with our second project in Texas, we’re looking forward to investing in the local economy and delivering competitively-priced clean energy to Texas homes and businesses.”

South Plains is projected to produce enough emissions-free electricity to power more than 62,000 US homes. The project should be completed and online by the end of 2015.

Since 1979, Vestas has supplied more than 52,000 wind turbines and over 62 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 12,667 turbines to the United States and 1,616 to Canada. Combined, Vestas’ installed capacity is 14,325 MW in 28 U.S. states and every Canadian province – enough to power about four million households. Vestas employs about 17,500 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.

First Wind is an independent renewable energy company exclusively focused on the development, financing, construction, ownership and operation of utility-scale renewable energy projects in the United States.  Based in Boston, First Wind is operating or building renewable energy projects in the Northeast, the West and Hawaii, with combined capacity of nearly 1,300 MW – enough to power more than 375,000 homes each year.