Vestas lands 11th North American order for 2011

BRIGHTON — Wind turbine giant Vestas Blades announced the receipt of orders totaling 139 megawatts from Boston-based energy development firm First Wind.
    The two-part order is for a pair of wind energy projects located on either corner of the northern U.S.  The 104-megawatt Palouse wind project, located in Whitman County, Wash., includes 58 of the company’s V100-1.8 MW turbines while the 34.2-MW Bull Hill wind power plant in Hancock County, Maine, will feature 19 V100-1.8 MW turbines, according to a Vestas release last week.
     The contracts for both projects include delivery and commissioning along with 10-year service and maintenance agreements. Deliveries for Palouse Wind and Bull Hill are scheduled for mid-2012. Both projects are expected to be commissioned in late 2012.
    According to Vestas communication specialist Andrew Longeteig, the major assemblies for the projects will be sourced statewide, including the local plant in Brighton. “Our blade factory in Windsor, nacelle factory in Brighton and tower factory in Pueblo all will be building components for these orders,” Longeteig said, adding that per company policy, Vestas doesn’t release the value of it’s orders.
    “We are very pleased to be working with a new customer, First Wind, to build two U.S. energy projects,” said Martha Wyrsch, President of Vestas-American Wind Technology, Inc. “The V100-1.8 MW is proven technology that’s well-designed for wind speeds of this area.”
    The Palouse wind power plant will provide enough electricity to power more than 30,000 Washington homes while Bull Hill will generate enough electricity to power more than 15,000 homes in Maine.
     Vestas supplied its first turbines to Washington in 2001 and has 816 MW of installed capacity in the state. This will be the second wind power plant in Maine using Vestas turbines, the first being installed in 2009.
    The sale is Vestas’ 11th North American order announcement in 2011, for a combined total of 1,558 megawatts. It’s also the 10th contract for a project using V100-1.8 MW turbines in North America since 2010.

Contact Staff Writer Gene Sears at gsears@metrowestnewspapers.com or 303-659-2522 ext. 217.