Duke Energy announced the commencement of commercial operations for the 207MW Ledyard windpower project in Kossuth County, IOWA. The project is the company’s first wind farm in Iowa, even though it accounts for 10% of the U.S.’s wind power. According to Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions’ president, Chris Fallon, Iowa has more than 10% of the country’s wind power, and nothing could be more exciting than operating in such a market. He also mentioned that the company is pleased to partner with Verizon as it would help them advance their renewable energy portfolio.
Duke Energy partnered with Amshore Renewable Energy Co. to develop the project. Verizon Communications is also a significant contributor to the project as they signed a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement of 180MW of its output. Verizon’s Chief sustainability officer and senior vice president, James Gowen, has expressed that being part of the project is a crucial enabler to achieving their goal of net zero emissions in their operations by 2035.
Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is a sustainable energy global leader. It is a non-regulated commercial brand of Duke Energy, one of the energy-holding giants in the U.S. Duke Energy is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. The company helps big enterprises reduce power costs, Increase resiliency and minimize emissions. Over 1000 projects in the U.S. benefit from the company’s total electric capacity of over 5100 MW of non-regulated renewable energy. On top of managing energy services, Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions provides, solar, wind, and resilient backup power.
Since its first windpower project launching in 2008, Duke Energy renewables has deployed 2100 MW of wind power in 21 wind farms across the country. Furthermore, the company owns and operates up to 500MW of photovoltaic solar power projects in 50 solar plants across the U.S.
Other Duke Energy corporation’s subsidiaries that are registered for business transaction in different states across the country include;
The subsidiaries may be branded as Duke Energy Sustainable Solution for marketing reasons.
The famous 207 MW Ledyard Windpower project constitutes 46 Vestas V150 4.5-MW turbines which can provide enough renewable energy capacity to power up to 75,000 homes in the U.S. Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is tasked with the site’s operations and long-term maintenance.
Some of the positives that the project came with include, over 200 jobs during peak construction and a 12,000-acre agriculture site that farmers will continue to use. As if that’s enough, the project is meant to provide significant local tax revenues during the commercial operations assessment years to the local, and county school districts. Participating landowners will also get meaningful payment.
Besides all the positive impact the Ledyard Windpower project has on the community in Kossuth, Iowa, the Duke Energy Foundation and the Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions are supporting the Ledyard fire department’s efforts in procuring a tanker pumper truck. They recently awarded the department a grant of $60,000.
The project’s completion is anticipated at the same time Duke Energy plans to sell its renewable energy business. In August 2022, the company announced that they are looking to focus on regulated utility business. Its commercial renewable energy business portfolio comprises 5GW solar, wind, and battery capacity. The entire business unit was valued at $4 billion with a $1.6 billion debt. This is just a representation of 5% of Duke Energy’s total earnings.
