Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a Duke Energy commercial businesses unit, will purchase the Blue Wing Solar project from juwi solar, based in Boulder, Colorado.
The 14MW (16MW direct current) project will consist of 214,500 ground-mounted First Solar thin film panels. With the acquisition comes a 30-year power purchase agreement to sell all of the output from the solar farm and associated renewable energy credits to San Antonio-based CPS Energy, a municipality-owned utilities in the US.
Wouter Kempen, president of DEGS, said: “Duke Energy’s acquisition of the Blue Wing Solar project adds an exciting new dimension to our renewable power business. We took our wind energy business from zero megawatts to more than 730MW in under three years, so I’m very confident we can grow our solar power business.”
The construction will follow the completion of the acquisition, which is expected in the first quarter of 2010. The 139-acre project is expected to be completed and energized by the fourth quarter of 2010.
Blue Wing will be the first commercial solar power project Duke Energy will own and operate. Duke Energy Carolinas, part of the company’s regulated business, is installing solar panels on select business and residential customers’ rooftops as part of a $50m program.
Duke Energy owns and operates 733MW of commercial wind power generation, a figure that will rise to nearly 1,000MW by the end of 2010. In total, the company has committed over $1bn since 2007 to build its wind energy business.
Although Duke Energy plans to wholly own the Blue Wing project, the company continues to look for opportunities to jointly develop commercial solar power projects in the US with China-based ENN Group, pursuant to an agreement signed in October 2009.
