Mar 10 2009
Duke Energy's plan to build a 66-turbine wind power project near Casper, Wyo., remains on schedule to start construction this spring, thanks to a unanimous vote by a state environmental commission to approve the project's permit.
On March 5, the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council voted in favor of Duke Energy's application for a permit to build the Campbell Hill Windpower Project. Under the Wyoming Industrial Development Information and Siting Act, permits are required of all projects with construction costs of $178.9 million or more.
The Campbell Hill project will generate 99 megawatts (MW) of clean, renewable energy when it comes on line at the end of the year. Duke Energy expects to receive the permit to build the Campbell Hill project from the state in April, after which construction will begin.
PacifiCorp, which operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming, will purchase all of the power from the project as part of a 20-year agreement announced in September 2008. Wind turbines at the Campbell Hill site will be capable of producing power for approximately 25,000 to 30,000 homes annually.
"The Campbell Hill Windpower Project will be good for the state, good for the regional economy and good for the environment," said Wouter van Kempen, president of Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a business unit of Duke Energy that owns and develops renewable energy assets. "Our collaboration with state officials and other key stakeholders is paving the way to bring more renewable energy to Wyoming."
This will be Duke Energy's second wind power project in Wyoming. The 14-turbine, 29-MW Happy Jack Windpower Project near Cheyenne began commercial operation in September 2008. It produces clean energy for Cheyenne Light Fuel & Power customers in Laramie County.
By April, Duke Energy will have more than 500 MW of wind power in operation and another 5,000 MW in development in 14 U.S. states.