The Los Vientos II Windpower Project, which is built and owned by Duke Energy Renewables, will add 201.6 MW of wind power, while the Whitetail Wind Energy plant, which is built and owned by Exelon Wind, will add 92.3 MW of wind power to Austin Energy’s generation portfolio.
Located near Harlingen, Texas, the Los Vientos project comprises 84 turbines with a capacity of 2.4MW each.
Whitetail is situated near Laredo, Texas and features 57 turbines with 1.62MW capacity each.
With the two contracts, Austin’s total energy portfolio from wind will touch 851MW and its total renewable energy supply up to 27%.
Austin Energy general manager Larry Weis commented that the company is pleased to partner with Duke and Exelon for these two new wind contracts.
"Wind is currently one of the cheapest and cleanest forms of generation we can invest in and we were able to significantly increase our renewable portfolio without jeopardizing our affordability goals," Weis said.
The company seeks to produce 35% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
