Duke Energy Opens New 12,000 Acre 207 Megawatt Wind Farm

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Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions (DESS), a nonregulated commercial brand of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), today announced it has placed into commercial operation the 207-megawatt (MW) 12,000-acre Ledyard Windpower project in Kossuth County, Iowa.

“More than 10% of the nation’s wind power is in Iowa, and it’s exciting for our company to begin operating in that market,” said Chris Fallon, president of Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions. “We also have a terrific customer in Verizon, and we’re pleased to help them advance their own renewable energy portfolio for their operations.”

Verizon Communications is supporting the project through a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for 180 MW of power from the Ledyard project.

“Verizon’s support of renewable energy is a key enabler to achieving our goal of net-zero emissions in our operations by 2035,” said James Gowen, Verizon’s chief sustainability officer and senior vice president, global supply chain. “Through investments in clean energy solutions – like this agreement with Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions – Verizon is doing its part to green the U.S. energy grid.”

While Duke has not provided exact construction costs, the Charlotte Business Journal estimates that the entire project likely costs $630-640 million, based on US Energy Information Agency information.

This is DESS’s first project in the state, providing enough renewable capacity to power the equivalent of 75,000 U.S. homes. It consists of 46 Vestas V150 4.5-MW turbines.

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