Reported by Staff

Duke Energy continues to grab the biggest share of power-generating wind in Wyoming with its announcement of the Top of the World project in Converse County. The company already owns and operates the 29-MW Happy Jack Windpower Project in Cheyenne, and will soon complete the nearby 42-MW Silver Sage Windpower Project nearby. With these projects and the additions of Campbell Hill and Top of the World, the North Carolina-based power giant will be owner/operator of approximately 370 MW of wind energy in Wyoming by the end of 2010.

The company will build the Top of the World development on roughly 17,000 acres of private and public land it holds in the area under a long-term lease. When it commences expected operation at the end of next year, Duke Energy expects to generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 50,000 to 60,000 homes on an annual basis.

The purchaser of all the electricity generated by the Top of the World development will be PacifiCorp, which operates in the state as Rocky Mountain Power. Included in the 20-year power purchase agreement will be the associated renewable energy credits (RECs). PacifiCorp previously contracted to buy all of the output and RECs from Duke Energy’s nearby 99-megawatt (MW) Campbell Hill Windpower Project, scheduled to come on line later this year.

“We’ve always believed Duke Energy could become a major player in the wind power industry if we adhered to our strategy for organic as well as opportunistic growth,” Wouter van Kempen, president of Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), told Reuters. “Including Top of the World - which will be our second-largest renewable energy facility - we’ll have committed to four new wind projects totaling more than 360 megawatts this year alone.”

Duke Energy says it anticipates starting the construction phase of the Top of the World project in by the end of this year or early 2010, upon receipt of all necessary permits. In particular, the company is adhering to Gov. Freudenthal’s executive order concerning the conservation of greater sage grouse, and will build outside sensitive core Grouse areas.

According to the power company, a minimum of 66 G.E. turbines - each capable of producing 1.5 MW - will be installed at site. The units represent the balance of turbines Duke Energy arranged to purchase from G.E. in a procurement order announced a year ago. The remainder of the wind turbine supply is currently being negotiated by Duke and G.E.

In total, Duke Energy has more than 500 MW of wind-powered generation projects in operation - a figure that will rise to more than 700 MW by the end of 2009. The company also has an additional 5,000 MW in potential development projects.