Duke Energy Renewables acquires Colorado Solar Project

- It's the company's first solar project in Colorado

- Duke Energy Renewables now has 50 solar sites in nine states

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Dec 08, 2016, 09:00 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy Renewables today announced the acquisition of the 13-megawatt Victory Solar Power Project in Adams County, Colo., from developer juwi Inc.

"Victory is our first solar project in Colorado, where we already have an operating wind energy site," said Rob Caldwell, president, Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology. "It's the 50th solar project in our growing U.S. renewables footprint, and juwi's high-quality site marks another milestone in expanding our solar presence in the western part of the country."

Sedalia-based Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA) is purchasing the electricity generated by the project under a 25-year agreement. The solar site began operating this week and can power about 2,600 average homes.

"IREA has been tremendous to work with throughout all stages of this project and should be praised for its leadership in bringing clean, safe and reliable energy to its customers," said Michael Martin, CEO, juwi Inc. "We are particularly excited to have played a role in delivering a major industry player like Duke Energy its first utility-scale solar project in our home state of Colorado."

"IREA is pleased to have worked with juwi to bring this facility into production ahead of schedule," said IREA Chief Executive Officer Patrick Mooney. "We look forward to Duke Energy providing clean renewable energy to IREA's customers for years to come."

The Victory site was built by juwi's construction affiliate, JSI Construction Group LLC, and JSI O&M Group LLC will be performing operations and maintenance services. The project consists of 47,880 ground-mounted panels.

In its commercial business and regulated utilities, Duke Energy owns and operates about 2,900 MW of wind and solar energy – enough to power 800,000 average homes at peak production. The company has invested more than $4 billion in renewable energy.

About Duke Energy Renewables

Duke Energy Renewables, part of Duke Energy's Commercial Portfolio, is a leader in developing innovative wind and solar energy generation projects for customers throughout the United States. The company's growing portfolio of commercial renewable assets includes 20 wind projects and 50 solar facilities in operation in more than a dozen states, totaling about 2,800 megawatts in electric-generating capacity.

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About juwi Inc

juwi Inc. (juwi) is a privately-held renewable energy company based in Boulder, Colorado. juwi's primary business is the development, design, construction, operation and maintenance of utility-scale (1 MW and larger) solar energy generation facilities in North America. To date, juwi has developed and built large-scale solar projects in 14 states in the United States, totaling more than 300 MWs of operating capacity. It has also developed numerous operating large-scale wind energy projects in North America.

About Intermountain Rural Electric Association

Intermountain Rural Electric Association is a nonprofit electric distribution cooperative that serves more than 150,000 customers inside a 5,000-square-mile service territory along Colorado's Front Range. Its headquarters is in Sedalia, and district offices are in Conifer, Strasburg and Woodland Park. For more information, contact Josh Liss at 720.733.5543.

Contact: Duke Energy, Tammie McGee
800.559.3853

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SOURCE Duke Energy