Duke Energy Renewables completes the final Los Vientos wind project in Texas

- 200-megawatt (MW) Los Vientos IV near Rio Grande City begins operations

- Together, the five Los Vientos wind projects total 900 MW

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Aug 03, 2016, 09:00 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The 426^th turbine of the Los Vientos wind power projects is now spinning and serving customers near the Rio Grande in Starr County, Texas.

It marks the completion of Los Vientos IV, the last of the five area projects to begin operation.

Duke Energy Renewables has installed more than 1,500 MW of wind energy in Texas, more than double its owned wind capacity in other states combined.

"Four years ago, we first began capturing the winds off the gulf with Los Vientos I and II in Willacy County," said Rob Caldwell, president, Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology. "Since then, we've brought three other Los Vientos wind projects on line, delivering 900 MW of clean energy to South Texas.

"With 500 MW of that total in Starr County, we'd like to thank county leaders and our business partners for helping us deliver clean, low-cost renewable energy to south Texas customers and provide economic benefits to this region."

"Duke Energy has been a great partner and member of our community," said Eloy Vera, Starr County Judge. "We look forward to continuing with them to provide more wind farm opportunities for our residences."

The Los Vientos projects generate the majority of their power during the day, when customer demand is greatest.

Austin Energy is purchasing the power and associated renewable energy credits from the 200-MW Los Vientos IV wind farm under a 25-year agreement, increasing its total output purchased from Duke Energy Renewables to more than 665 MW.

Los Vientos IV is located approximately 35 miles northwest of McAllen, near Rio Grande City.

Vestas supplied 100 V110-2.0 MW turbines for Los Vientos IV and will service the project under a three-year operations and maintenance agreement.

"With the turbines installed at Los Vientos IV, Vestas crossed a historic milestone -- 75 gigawatts installed in 75 countries. We're especially proud to have accomplished this on the Los Vientos IV project, a testament to our valued partnership with Duke Energy, a demonstrated renewable energy leader," said Chris Brown, president of Vestas' sales and service division in the United States and Canada.

The facility was constructed by Wanzek Construction. Amshore US Wind provided development support for the project.

Duke Energy Renewables' projects in Texas: 1,563 MW

Sweetwater Windpower Project, Nolan County, 283 MW (of 585 MW total)
Ocotillo Windpower Project, Howard County, 59 MW
Notrees Windpower Project, Ector & Winkler Counties, 153 MW
Blue Wing Solar Power Project, San Antonio,14 MW
Notrees Battery Storage Project, Winkler County, 36 MW
Los Vientos I Windpower Project, Willacy County, 200 MW
Los Vientos II Windpower Project, Willacy County, 202 MW
Los Vientos III Windpower Project, Starr County, 200 MW
Mesquite Creek Windpower Project, Borden & Dawson Counties, 106 MW
Los Vientos IV Windpower Project, Starr County, 200 MW
Los Vientos V Windpower Project Starr County, 110 MW

News editors
Link to photographs of the Los Vientos projects

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 approximately 20 wind projects and more than 40 solar facilities in operation in roughly a dozen states, totaling about 2,700 megawatts in electric-generating capacity. Learn more at www.duke-energy.com/renewables.

About Austin Energy
Austin Energy is a municipal electric utility, owned and operated by the City of Austin, Texas, engaged in the generation, distribution, and transmission of electricity to more than 440,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Travis and Williamson Counties, Texas.

Austin Energy's governing body is the City Council of Austin. Austin Energy has approximately 4,400 MW of generation capacity, either wholly owned or subject to long-term Power Purchase Agreements. This diverse portfolio includes nuclear, coal, natural gas, biomass, wind, and solar.

About Vestas
Since 1979, Vestas has supplied about 50,000 wind turbines and over 57 GW in 73 countries — 62 percent more than its closest competitor. Vestas entered the U.S. market in 1981, selling its first wind turbine for a project in California. Since then, the company has delivered 12,396 turbines to the United States and 1,419 to Canada. Combined, Vestas' installed capacity is 13,387 MW in 28 U.S. states and every Canadian province — enough to power about four million households. Vestas employs about 2,500 people throughout the United States and Canada at four manufacturing facilities in Colorado, service and construction sites, and sales offices. Vestas' U.S. and Canadian sales and service headquarters is in Portland, Ore., and its global headquarters is in Aarhus, Denmark. To learn more, visit www.vestas.com.

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Media contact: Tammie McGee
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SOURCE Duke Energy