Vestas Wind Systems has received an order to develop wind turbines for MidAmerican Energy Co., the largest utility owner of wind energy in the United States, as part of the 2,000-megawatt Wind XI project in Iowa.
MidAmerican Energy is purchasing V110-2.0 MW turbines to produce 153 megawatts of energy. The turbines will be manufactured at Vestas’ Colorado factories with expected delivery in 2017.
“By employing wind energy, the Wind XI project will bring clean, domestic, low-cost energy to MidAmerican customers as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefits to Iowa communities and long-term American jobs through the manufacturing, construction, and operations of Wind XI,” says Chris Brown, president of sales and service division in the United States and Canada at Vestas.
Wind XI follows MidAmerican Energy’s commitment to providing customers with 100 percent renewable energy generation. MidAmerican Energy, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, is the largest regulated utility owner of wind energy in the United States. With the investment in Wind XI, the utility will generate 85 percent of its retail load from wind.
Potential future order intake under the 2,000-megawatt Wind XI project is expected to occur as partial deliveries under the master agreement and will be announced firm and unconditional consistent with Vestas’ order announcement policy.
Vestas has recently received additional orders to develop wind turbines, including a 270-megawatt order for the Sapphire Wind Farm project in Australia, on Dec. 12, and a 79-megawatt order for the Jenasen wind power plant in Sweden, on Dec. 7.
The Sapphire Wind Farm project is an engineering, procurement and construction project to be delivered by Vestas under a consortium agreement with civil and electrical balance of plant contractor Zenviron. The order was placed by SWF Nominees Pty Ltd., a partnership between CWP Renewables and funds managed and/or advised by global private markets investment manager Partners Group. Installation and commissioning of the turbines is expected to be completed in second half 2018.
The Jenasen wind power plant will be the first plant in a larger wind power project in Sundsvall, Sweden. Delivery of the wind turbines is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2018.