Duke Energy’s wind turbine project at Texas starts spinning

Turbine blades have started spinning at Duke Energy Renewables’ 200 megawatt Mesteno Windpower project in Starr County, Texas.

In an announcement on 6 January, Duke Energy said that the facility, with its 56 3.6 megawatt (MW) wind turbines from Danish firm Vestas, would generate energy to power roughly 60,000 typical homes each year. Duke Energy said at 590.5 feet, the turbines were “some of the tallest” in the U.S. and able to “harness stronger winds,” producing more energy in the process.

“The combination of taller towers and V136-3.6 MW technology is perfectly designed to extract the abundant resource at the site, and deliver low-cost, reliable energy to the community and customer,” Chris Brown, who is president of Vestas’ sales and service division in the U.S. and Canada, said in a statement.

Wind turbines at Los Vientos wind farm, another project of Duke Energy which is located a few miles from the Mesteno WIndpower. (Duke Energy)
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Texas is known for its oil production, but it is increasingly a major player in wind energy. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the Lone Star State had more than 27 gigawatts of installed wind capacity and 14,198 wind turbines during the third quarter of 2019. The nearest rival in terms of installed capacity, Iowa, had less than half (8.965 GW) of Texas’ installed capacity during the same period. Capacity refers to the maximum amount that installations can theoretically produce.

Source: CNBC